Continuing its efforts to reform its national R&D system ( Nature Med., 4; 751, 1998 & Nature, 392; 531, 1998), Italy is expected to issue a decree later this month outlining how university professors should be appointed. The initial legislation, drawn up by the Senate in July, has been revised to include detailed criteria that universities and candidates must meet to ensure merit-based selection. Furthermore, pending appointments must be posted on the internet for general inspection as a means of guaranteeing greater 'transparency' in the recruitment process.

The government revised the July legislation in response to fierce criticism from prominent scientists who found it to be inadequate for eliminating the risk that new appointments may be used to exchange favors. "Italian universities will [continue to] lie in the hands of the academic mafia unless proper rules for assessing candidates are introduced," said Nobel prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini.

The reform is designed to give universities full autonomy in recruiting academics. This is in contrast to the previous system, which was dominated by the Minister for Research, who appointed national committees in various research disciplines to evaluate thousands of requests for professorships every five years. This system, centralized to Rome, often ground to a halt when the committees failed to consider applications in a timely manner, and a beaurocratic nightmare often ensued when applicants sued the committees for failing to review applications thoroughly. Under the new system, universities will establish their own committees that will be able to appoint academics as frequently as required. However, pessimists say that the reform will simply shift power from Roman to local mafias.

The government hopes that the decree will be seen as a clear sign that it is serious about restructuring the university system in line with international standards. However, some scientists are dubious about the latest efforts to improve the academic research system. Jacopo Meldolesi, scientific director of DIBIT, the research institute of the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, says the measures are still not enough to ensure that Italian universities can compete on an international scale.