That terrace overlooking the Bank of Italy

She graduated from Bocconi in 1994 and only returned in 2013 as a Full Professor at the Department of Finance. She did her PhD at the London School of Economics, then taught at Mannheim and Frankfurt, before returning to Italy, at the European University Institute in Florence. A passion for the world of banking, at the intersection between economics and finance, perhaps written in her destiny since, as she says, "I was born in La Spezia right in front of the local branch of the Bank of Italy. From the terrace of my building I watched theirs. And I saw my future as a part of that world".

Elena Carletti is the new Dean for Research, an increasingly central area in the challenges of the present and the future for the university headquartered in Via Sarfatti. But it is also one of the areas in which the University has made giant strides in recent years, becoming one of the centers of European excellence in research. An extremely sensitive but also stimulating task: "There are essentially two types of research", explains Elena Carletti, "one more methodological and the other more applied, which have equal importance and dignity. My job will be to valorize research, award prizes and incentives, take care of grant applications and the journals in which we publish our research". But not only that. Because research must increasingly enter the classrooms and pervade the outside world. "In particular with regard to applied research, we must increasingly involve the community of alumnae and alumni, who have shown considerable interest. And I also want to try to better understand the impact of our research". This also in light of the considerable complexity brought by the birth of whole new departments, like computing sciences: "The heterogeneity of research is important, the job of the Dean for Research will also be to understand how to evaluate these new areas". In addition to her scientific reputation, Elena Carletti was chosen because she does not live in the ivory tower where pure scientists are said to reside: "I don't live only for research", she explains, "I take part in institutional committees and company boards, and for me research has mostly been about coming into direct contact with the world. And I am certainly very open to listening to and welcoming new ideas about how to enhance research both inside and outside our university. Over the years Bocconi has become a truly research-oriented institution, and I was given the task of making the University take another leap forward".