The Department of Statistical Sciences and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement within the framework of STAREBEI (STAges de REcherche BEI-EIB research internships), a programme of the EIB Institute that provides university scholarships to fund young researchers in carrying out research projects proposed by the EIB Group (EIB and EIF).

The title of the project that Sapienza will develop as a result of the agreement is La Bei e le divergenza geografica nell'Unione europea (The EIB and geographical divergence in the European Union); the period of activity will be March 2021-March 2022. The assigned researcher is Roberta Di Stefano; project member and academic tutor for Sapienza are Marcella Corsi and Carlo D'Ippoliti, respectively, while for the EIB, Massimo Cingolani and Nicola Pochettino are co-tutors.

Since the definition of Article 130 of the EEC Treaty of March 1957, the European Investment Bank's objective has been to contribute to the development of the European single market by guaranteeing loans and investments to less developed regions to support their growth. After the 2008 financial crisis, the EIB has become even more strategically important for economic recovery in the EU. More recently, the EIB Group has been given additional prominence in the European strategy to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. The research project aims to provide an empirical and theoretical background to support European and particular EIB institutions' work by focusing on the aspect of regional convergence. The main activity will be to estimate the impact of public and EIB's investment through a regional multiplier approach in relation to the priority objective of economic and social cohesion in peripheral regions, which is the subject of the EU's convergence policy.