It is a time of big changes in Italy: a new government, a new president, and a new Rectors' Conference president. CRUI, the Italian Rectors' Conference, has just elected Professor Guido Trombetti as its new president with an overwhelming majority.

A graduate in Mathematics, Professor Trombetti is Rector of the Università Federico II in Naples. He is the author of numerous publications and in 2003 he received a gold medal for merit in the field of education, culture and arts from Italy's President. Following his election, Trombetti stated that, as the new CRUI's President, he will focus his work on four areas that are of particular importance to Italian universities: resources, evaluation, transparence and autonomy. He also welcomed the declarations of the newly-elected Minister for University and Research, who appears to put the issue of financing as the top priority in his agenda.