Shows
The Grant#178 Organisational Framework - Research Management Shorts Series (2)Episode siteIn episode #178 of The Grant, we continue the Research Management Shorts series by focusing on how to build an effective organizational framework for research management teams. Niels is joined again by Stefanie, who walks us through the process of shaping team roles, navigating silos, and building strong internal collaboration. The episode underscores the importance of strategic role distribution, complementarity, and allowing space for new team members to co-develop work dynamics organically.The conversation also dives into timeline development, the value of agile methods, and how to create quick wins without...
2025-06-2233 min
Thomas & Kristian Podcasten#60 – Niels Skovmand: Radiolegenden i nyt lys!Vi har inviteret den nordjyske radiovært og komiker Niels Skovmand på podcasten til at høre om hans rejse i nordjysk underholdning. Hertil lærer vi nye sider af Niels at kende, da vi finder ud af hvilken uddannelse han har.
2025-02-091h 59
The Grant#98 Shorts - 1st job: Programme Committee Member (Insights to my career)This is the third of the three first episodes of The Grant Shorts. I zoom in on my time in the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation and you have just listened to the first two episodes with a general introduction to that work and resuming the things that National Contact Points can help you with.
Here in the last episode on my work in the agency I zoom in on the role as Programme Committee member under the EU R&D framework programme. I was in the programme committes for energy programme and for the...
2024-03-0321 min
The Grant#95 Building funding capacities in research w. guest Stephanie HarfenstellerBuilding up an EU funding approach from scratch in a research institute can seem like a monumental task. And it is. Especially if you are more or less one person to start it off. How do you attack that? How do you get the research teams involved? How do you secure some sort of results coming in not to late? And how do you build up the international and - not least – the Brussels network?
Stephanie Harfensteller, EU-Research Coordinator at the ICT research institute FIR an der RWTH Aachen, did exactly this. She had the idea to ge...
2024-02-251h 24
The Grant#94 Startups and EU R&D funding w. guest Violetta BonenkampStartups and EU funding is unfortunately not a very successful match. Both sides struggle a lot to meet the other one, but the meeting most often results in frustration, anger and misunderstanding.
This episode’s guest, entrepreneur and startup founder, Violetta Bonenkamp, wrote a blogpost about the horrors of getting involved in EU R&D funding. And she slams both the proposal phase, the evaluation regime and the project implementation. It was heart-breaking to read, but also relieving that someone said it out loud.
The Grant is here to give these kind of people a vo...
2024-02-181h 32
The Grant#93 Chemistry research and EU funding w. guest Blaz LikozarI have an endless amount of contacts from my many years working within this field. And they all have interesting things to share. One of my dear old contacts is Blaz Likozar from the National Research Institute for Chemistry in Slovenia. I dragged him into several of my proposals in the past and he became a much appreciated contact of mine.
Of course I have invited him into The Grant to share how they work with EU funding in their institute. Why? Because this organisation has managed to professionally build up their EU funding approach and pushing...
2024-02-1144 minThe Grant#92 Enterprise Europe Network and brokerage w. guest Thomas RoeblreiterSome of the contacts I have acquired over the years are of big interest for many of you. This episode’s guest is surely one of them. He is the godfather of the brokerage concept. Thomas Roeblreiter, Consultant, FFG in Austria developed together with a contact the well-known company b2match which almost monopolized the market for brokerage and matchmaking event services.
I used to work on a proposal with Thomas and decided to drag him into the studio for a talk about how he and his business partner developed the business concept and then we have a...
2024-02-041h 25The Grant#91 Horizon Europe evaluation (part 2) w. expert panelOne of the key concerns for all proposal writers is the evaluation of their proposals. Or more: HOW they will be evaluated. Whenever I have been asking guests for requests on who they would like to be on The Grant, most of them have replied “an evaluator”.
Well, this week I have a treat for you all. I have not only one, but three evaluators in the virtual podcast studio to solidly reply to your request out there. In this monster panel I have gathered CEO Alessia Melasecche Germini, META Group; Research and Grants Officer Marie Daniela Angi...
2024-01-281h 06The Grant#90 Horizon Europe evaluation (part 1) w. expert panelOne of the key concerns for all proposal writers is the evaluation of their proposals. Or more: HOW they will be evaluated. Whenever I have been asking guests for requests on who they would like to be on The Grant, most of them have replied “an evaluator”.
Well, this week I have a treat for you all. I have not only one, but three evaluators in the virtual podcast studio to solidly reply to your request out there. In this monster panel I have gathered CEO Alessia Melasecche Germini, META Group; Head of Funding and Innovation Maria Dani...
2024-01-2155 minThe Grant#89 The LIFE Programme - An introduction (part 2) w. guest Maite Zazpe CenozThe LIFE programme is one of the most popular EU funding schemes. Administered by European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency the programme is funding primarily 1) pilot and demonstration activities related to sustainable technologies and 2) securing that EU sustainability measures is integrated in national, regional and local policies. Many working with Horizon Europe within these areas will be familiar with the programme.
Of course The Grant will also zoom in on this funding scheme. As always I start out with the authoritative The Grant introduction to the funding scheme. For this I have invited LIFE programme expert...
2024-01-151h 15The Grant#88 The LIFE Programme - An introduction (part 1) w. guest Maite Zazpe CenozThe LIFE programme is one of the most popular EU funding schemes. Administered by European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency the programme is funding primarily 1) pilot and demonstration activities related to sustainable technologies and 2) securing that EU sustainability measures is integrated in national, regional and local policies. Many working with Horizon Europe within these areas will be familiar with the programme.
Of course The Grant will also zoom in on this funding scheme. As always I start out with the authoritative The Grant introduction to the funding scheme. For this I have invited LIFE programme expert...
2024-01-0752 minThe Grant#87 REDOL - A Horizon Europe project w. guests Jorge Arroyo and Diego Redondo TabernerOne of the core missions of this podcast initiative is to open up the complex world of proposal development and project implementation for everybody in this community and share approaches and ways of doing things.
Presenting how to manage a Horizon Europe proposal has been in my list for as long as I have done this podcast. It has proven more difficult than expected, but I finally managed. The REDOL project is financed under the Processes4Planet calls which this podcast has also dug into earlier. The Spanish R&D institute CIRCE is coordinating the project and...
2023-12-311h 31The Grant#86 Eat the frog - A tool for coordinators w. guest Isabel BurdalloCoordination of EU proposals and projects is one long line of prioritization of tasks and, not least, uncomfortable tasks. And the uncomfortable tasks often seem like they are endlessly coming onto your coordinator desk.
This week’s guest in The Grant podcast has a solution for coordinators: Eat the frog. Isabel Burdallo, Senior Researcher at RISE in Sweden, has lots of experience working with both EU proposals and implementing EU projects. Which makes her very familiar with all the small, medium and big problems and challenges you have to handle as a coordinator.
To make a...
2023-12-241h 00The Grant#85 "Collaboration in EU projects" - A book conversation w. guest Giulia ParolaThis is a quite special episode. Some months ago I was approached by one of my regular listeners with a request: If I would write a recommendation for the back cover of her soon-to-be-released book about collaboration in EU projects.
Truth is that I was silent for a while. Being a podcaster indeed sometimes takes you places you had never imaged you would go. Then, of course, my reply was a BIG “yes” followed be an exclamation mark and, needles to say, followed by an invitation to join the show for a talk about her book.
Co...
2023-12-171h 24
The Grant#84 Innovation strategy in research organisations w. guest Gabriella LovaszResearch organisations are – naturally – very strong on research. That’s what they do. However, for getting access to big chunks of the Horizon Europe requires that research organisations have an innovation and impact-related focus also. Alas the difference between generating new knowledge through investigation and applying this knowledge to improve concrete products, services or processes.
Some segments of the research environment is very strong on this, but other segments find it either difficult or are out-right hesitating to incorporate an innovation and impact-driven approach to their research capacities. That you can of course stick to as research organi...
2023-12-101h 08The Grant#83 The National Contact Points - An introduction w. guest Ana SutcliffeThis is an episode I have been wanting to do since I started planning this whole podcast thing out back in 2020. Why? Because the National Contact Points are a vital component in the support structure to get more beneficiaries onboard approaching the EU R&D funding schemes. The National Contact Point – or NCPs – are the extended arm of the EU Commission reaching out to take beneficiaries in the hand and guide them in the right direction.
I have been one myself back from 2008-2010 so I know how important they are. So, of course I will on a re...
2023-12-031h 14
The Grant#82 EMDESK - Managing proposals and projects w. guest Stefan DetschewIt is time for another episode under my segment Consultants Corner where I invite in private consultancy companies working with EU R&D funding schemes to share their approach, their business models and conditions in that peculiar shadow sector.
Updates from EMDESK often pops up in my LinkedIn feed. The company has developed a tool for funding proposal developers and project managers that makes life a little bit easier for coordinators and partners. The combined process of proposal development and project implementation is one long exercise in coordination and planning capacities for all involved. Especially for the...
2023-11-261h 30
The Grant#81 Erasmus+ proposal preparation (part 2) w. expert panelI slowly build up information and content on different funding schemes. I started out with Horizon Europe Pillar II and have moved into European Defence Fund, ERC and Erasmus+. More is to come. The next two weeks I will be looking into proposal preparation within the Erasmus+ funding scheme.
As regular listeners will know I have developed The Timeline Series that goes through the proposal preparation process step-by-step. That is for Horizon Europe Pillar II proposals, but has a lot of generic elements that also apply to funding schemes in general. However, there are important specificities for...
2023-11-191h 07
The Grant#80 Erasmus+ proposal preparation (part 1) w. expert panelI slowly build up information and content on different funding schemes. I started out with Horizon Europe Pillar II and have moved into European Defence Fund, ERC and Erasmus+. More is to come. The next two weeks I will be looking into proposal preparation within the Erasmus+ funding scheme.
As regular listeners will know I have developed The Timeline Series that goes through the proposal preparation process step-by-step. That is for Horizon Europe Pillar II proposals, but has a lot of generic elements that also apply to funding schemes in general. However, there are important specificities for...
2023-11-121h 08The Grant#79 An ICT SME in the funding world w. guest Esen KuntBeing an innovative SME is a rough job. The founders are die-harders that have worked the lower part of their back off to build up their company. But they can’t sit still even when they have passed the first dangerous years – they have to keep moving on improving their technologies and solutions and fend off competitors and large industrial companies that might go into their market.
The EU Commission is doing a lot of efforts to support the SMEs of the continent. On the funding side the target is to take off the majority of the risk...
2023-11-051h 29
The Grant#78 Ocean Energy Europe - From keeping afloat to riding the waves w. guest Rémi GruetOcean energy is one the technologies that has been long under way. And is still under way. The has traditionally been quite research heavy, but over the last years a certain level of private industry involvement has occurred. The area is facing the big paradox that energy from the different ocean energy technologies could provide substantial and sustainable energy to the continent, but the research, development and innovation costs are very high to get there because of a harsh environment.
I have myself supported the Danish ocean energy sector over a period of 4 years back in the...
2023-10-291h 24
The Grant#77 Circular Bio-based Europe (part 2) w. guests Virginia Puzzolo and Dieter BrigittaOne of my goals with this podcast is to shed light on the Brussels eco-system and open it up, take out the mystery and share how the different organisations work and how you can get involved.
Some time ago I recorded a special on the Circular Bio-based Europe Infoday with Programme Officer & Call Coordinator Dieter Brigitta representating the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. Of course the natural follow-up to that episode was an episode zooming in on Circular Bio-based Europe itself.
Circular Bio-based Europe is part of the European Partnership framework. It is in the...
2023-10-2239 min
The Grant#76 Circular Bio-based Europe (part 1) w. guests Virginia Puzzolo and Dieter BrigittaOne of my goals with this podcast is to shed light on the Brussels eco-system and open it up, take out the mystery and share how the different organisations work and how you can get involved.
Some time ago I recorded a special on the Circular Bio-based Europe Infoday with Programme Officer & Call Coordinator Dieter Brigitta representating the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. Of course the natural follow-up to that episode was an episode zooming in on Circular Bio-based Europe itself.
Circular Bio-based Europe is part of the European Partnership framework. It is in the...
2023-10-151h 02The Grant#75 Horizon Results Booster - Fixing impact (part 2) w. guest Alessia M. GerminiThe impact problem is a constant. Making sure that the projects that are being funded moves on into self-sustainable initiatives post-project is not as easy as it seems. Or at least as simple as the EU Commission THOUGHT that it would be.
Back in episode #60 I had freelance science journalist Catherine Collins in the studio where we talked about the EU Commissions initiatives to get project results out and working in the free normal non-funding world. Here we touched upon the initiative Horizon Results Booster funded by the EU Commission itself.
The initiative is headed...
2023-10-081h 01The Grant#74 Horizon Results Booster - Fixing impact (part 1) w. guest Alessia M. GerminiThe impact problem is a constant. Making sure that the projects that are being funded moves on into self-sustainable initiatives post-project is not as easy as it seems. Or at least as simple as the EU Commission THOUGHT that it would be.
Back in episode #60 I had freelance science journalist Catherine Collins in the studio where we talked about the EU Commissions initiatives to get project results out and working in the free normal non-funding world. Here we touched upon the initiative Horizon Results Booster funded by the EU Commission itself.
The initiative is headed...
2023-10-011h 07The Grant#73 Like a lice between two nails w. guest Ilaria RudisiSome times when you record a podcast episode magic happens in the interaction in-between the guest and the host. You are about to listen to one of the most heart felt The Grant episodes I have recorded to date.
I was supposed to record an episode with two other podcasters on how we are working with our podcasts for you all. One of them got ill, but instead of cancelling independent consultant and podcaster Ilaria Rudisi and I carved out a topic on the spot where we would dig into the instances where everything goes wrong with...
2023-09-241h 06
The Grant#72 NTNU - EU funding approach (Project support office panel)I have been looking very much forward to release this weeks episode. Universities and their project support departments are heavy users of the EU R&D funding programmes. Therefore it has been an ambition since I started this podcast last summer to get representatives from a university project support office into the studio to share with you all how they work and support their research teams.
As regulars will know I already had Massimo Busuoli from the NTNU Brussels Office in the studio last year. That spinned off a contact to their project support unit back home...
2023-09-171h 27
The Grant#71 West Norway Office - Representing a region w. guest Merete MikkelsenSomehow Norwegians seem to like to be on The Grant… I have a good handful of recordings in the box now with organisations from our dear associated friends in the North. There is a great R&D and innovation environment in Norway, so I am very happy to be able to share that with you all.
This week I am zooming in on the area of regional representation in Brussels. Brussels is filled with regional representations from all over Europe that is both working with general policy and concrete project facilitation for stakeholders from the home region....
2023-09-101h 33
The Grant#70 Artificial intelligence R&D and EU funding w. guest Antonio M. OrtizIt is time to harvest the fruits of lots of sowing. Research organisations are quite difficult to get on board the podcast and I have managed a few since I started, but now I am finally having a handful of research organisations already recorded or lined up for recordings.
This week I have Senior Researcher Antonio M. Ortiz from the Norwegian private research organisation NORCE in the virtual podcast studio. Not only is Antonio researcher with more than 15 years of experience – he has also worked as research project manager in two different ICT companies. And on top of...
2023-09-031h 27The Grant#69 European Defence Fund - An introduction (part 2) w. guest Margherita VolpeEurope is at war. Not just since February 2022, but actually since 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. That incident triggered a reaction in the former European Commission under President Juncker. It was decided to establish a defense fund to strengthen European defence industry and military capacities. We all know what happened later on and as such establishing the fund is almost prophetical.
Calls are up this autumn for the funding scheme and hence I considered it a good idea to record an authoritative The Grant introduction to the funding scheme to help everybody that is working with proposals for...
2023-08-2758 minThe Grant#68 European Defence Fund - An introduction (part 1) w. guest Margherita VolpeEurope is at war. Not just since February 2022, but actually since 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. That incident triggered a reaction in the former European Commission under President Juncker. It was decided to establish a defense fund to strengthen European defence industry and military capacities. We all know what happened later on and as such establishing the fund is almost prophetical.
Calls are up this autumn for the funding scheme and hence I considered it a good idea to record an authoritative The Grant introduction to the funding scheme to help everybody that is working with proposals for...
2023-08-2049 min
The Grant#67 Tuscany in Brussels (part 2) w. guest Simona CostaBrussels has a lot of university liaison offices representing universities from all over Europe. They do a tremendous work – I have seen it with my own eyes.
Some universities decide to gather into a collaboration around their Brussels activities. I have an old contact that is representing exactly such an initiative in Brussels. Simona Costa is Head of Office of the university collaboration Tour4EU. It is a collaboration of seven Tuscan universities where they have decided to join forces with a spearhead office in Brussels.
Of course I needed to invite in Simona for a...
2023-08-1352 min
The Grant#66 Tuscany in Brussels (part 1) w. guest Simona CostaBrussels has a lot of university liaison offices representing universities from all over Europe. They do a tremendous work – I have seen it with my own eyes.
Some universities decide to gather into a collaboration around their Brussels activities. I have an old contact that is representing exactly such an initiative in Brussels. Simona Costa is Head of Office of the university collaboration Tour4EU. It is a collaboration of seven Tuscan universities where they have decided to join forces with a spearhead office in Brussels.
Of course I needed to invite in Simona for a...
2023-08-0654 minThe Grant#65 Energy companies and EU funding w. guest Amy RadlbergerLarge energy companies are very popular in the EU funding eco-system. If you manage to get one of these babies onboard your EU energy proposal then you know that you have just made your chance bigger to access funding. Even better if it is from one of the continents big capitals!
I happen to be so lucky that The Grant has a regular listener from exactly such an organisation. Amy Radlberger is EU Funding Expert in Wiener Stadtwerke which is the energy company of Vienna.
I reached out to invite her in for a talk...
2023-07-301h 18
The Grant#64: Q&A - Erasmus+ Partnerships for CooperationI am very proud to present to you all a new episode concept in this podcast: The Grant Q&A.
The concept is as simple as it is hopefully informative:
1. A guest has some questions in relation to EU funding
2. Another guest is a capacity and can reply those questions
Through this concept other beneficiaries throughout Europe approaching the same funding scheme can get enlightened on issues that they have already stumbled into or will eventually stumble into.
I will slowly add episodes to The Grant Q&A as I move on. There are no limit...
2023-07-231h 22The Grant#63 Large industry and EU funding w. guest Agnes ZollerLarge industry and EU funded projects are a particular combination. The EU Commission is eager to get them involved in especially Horizon Europe Pillar II projects because of potential big effect that their participation has on impact of the rolling out project results post-project. However, from the face of it large industry rarely needs to funding – they can just pay for the research and innovation and choose the partners they want onboard. And they don’t have to share the results with anybody…
However, it is more complex than that. Because the kind of network and collaboration partners that EU projec...
2023-07-161h 37The Grant#62 The EU funding system - A mountain of complexity w. guest Maxence ViallonThe complexity of the overwhelmingly large EU funding system is massive. In spite of standardization measures over the years and efforts to make funding more accessible from the EU Commission, the system has grown so big that it has proven almost impossible to make a make it simpler to apply for funding. It seems when one big measure from the EU Commission to simplify and standardize has been implemented, another bureaucratic or practical issue grows larger and makes the overall experience from the beneficiaries more or less the same – complex and challenging to approach.
The issues are ma...
2023-07-091h 30
The Grant#61 The Research Manager w. guest Alice BarbaglioThe research manager is a title that is becoming more and more common in the university world. In short, a research manager is the supportive and facilitating function in the university administration that supports the researchers and research teams towards public funding. And with this of course also EU funding.
The increasing importance of EU funding to universities throughout Europe has raised the importance and numbers of research managers. However, the role is still falling somewhat in-between several chairs in the traditionally conservative world of universities and recognition of the importance of the role is still lacking behind.
More and...
2023-07-021h 20The Grant#60 Utilizing project results w. guest Catherine CollinsFor many many years there has been an imbalance between all the funding for projects and efforts carried out in these projects versus the actual utilization of the project results after the projects end. The EU Commission has over many years tried to deal with this fundamental and critical imbalance in the whole funding-based system.
I was reminded of this when I saw a post on LinkedIn by Catherine Collins, freelance science journalist, writing for among several Horizon Magazine, Science Business, Science Calling and EU Observer. The post was pushing an article she had written on a...
2023-06-251h 22The Grant#59 The wine sector and EU funding w. guest Andrea Casquete BurebaDigging into specific sectors and how they work with EU funding is also part of what I intent to unfold in this podcast. It is through examples from the stakeholders out there that the importance of EU funding really becomes clear.
The Technological Platform of Wine (or PTV) from Spain is an association that facilitates innovation and development for the wine producing sector in Spain. The organisation has in recent years started to engage itself and its members in regionally funded and EU funded projects. The sector is, like agriculture in general, facing many challenges due to...
2023-06-1851 minThe Grant#58 ERC - An Introduction (part 2) w. guest Yoram Bar-ZeevThe Horizon Europe framework programme for R&D funding is a bush with many flowers. I have troughout the last year built up content on particular Horizon Europe Pillar II which is focused on collaboration projects solving socio-economic challenges. Now it is time to have a look at one of the other flowers in the bush: The ERC programme for researchers.
The programme is THE most important funding programme for the research community broadly speaking. It has a quite different structure and characteristic than the Pillar II part of Horizon Europe. Focus is here to support the...
2023-06-1151 minThe Grant#57 ERC - An Introduction (part 1) w. guest Yoram Bar-ZeevThe Horizon Europe framework programme for R&D funding is a bush with many flowers. I have troughout the last year built up content on particular Horizon Europe Pillar II which is focused on collaboration projects solving socio-economic challenges. Now it is time to have a look at one of the other flowers in the bush: The ERC programme for researchers.
The programme is THE most important funding programme for the research community broadly speaking. It has a quite different structure and characteristic than the Pillar II part of Horizon Europe. Focus is here to support the...
2023-06-0453 minThe Grant#56 Erasmus+ and NGO's w. guest Daiana HuberLately the Erasmus+ programme has opened up to me. I have gained nice contacts that work with the programme regularly and through them of course I am becoming aware of the large dedicated community working with this funding scheme. So, I decided to open up The Grant for this area and start giving the stakeholders a voice.
Given the nature of Erasmus+, funding education in all aspects, you also have a lot of NGOs, non-profit organisations and generally organisations with few resources. And many of them are power houses of energy and dedication to the subject they...
2023-05-281h 27
The Grant#55 The gender aspect in Horizon Europe w. guests Lachlan Smith and Jakob Feldtfos Christensen - The Timeline Series (24)The gender aspect in the EU R&D framework programmes has long lived a life as sections of the R&D proposals that was not really taken serious. Standard generic 10-lines paragraphs, rolling eyes, frowns and in general being ridiculed as absolutely irrelevant. Those times are slowly fading away. The EU Commission keeps pushing for real gender-related reflections and input both in specific sections and organically in for example the Excellence section. And the Commission has here shown itself a head of time. Most people acknowledges - at least – that it is a subject you need to have an op...
2023-05-211h 20The Grant#54 AI and proposal writing (panel debate)In the beginning of the year ChatGPT blew to world away – and continues to do so. The level of complexity of the feedback from ChatGPT made it clear for all that here we are dealing with a ground-breaking technology that will have a major impact on development of society. Very quickly after the launch of ChatGPT the number of posts on the impact on grants proposal writing exploded In my LinkedIn feed. Because indeed this technology will have a huge impact on the proposa-based funding system and whoever is employed and involved in it. A couple of my LinkedIn co...
2023-05-141h 40The Grant#53 Erasmus+ funding programme - An Introduction (part 2) w. guest Ulla-Alexandra MattlI have slowly moved into including other funding schemes than Horizon Europe. The Grant is thought to cover broadly the main European funding schemes. Not long ago I had a double-episode presenting an Erasmus+ project, so the natural step for me was move to Erasmus+ next. Therefore, this episode is an introduction to the Erasmus+ programme. Or Erasmus+ the EU programme for education, training, youth and sports as it is officially named.
I have little experience with this funding scheme. So I have invited one of my good old contacts Ulla-Alexandra Mattl, Project director at the consultancy...
2023-05-0749 minThe Grant#52 Erasmus+ funding programme - An introduction (part 1) w. guest Ulla-Alexandra MattlI have slowly moved into including other funding schemes than Horizon Europe. The Grant is thought to cover broadly the main European funding schemes. Not long ago I had a double-episode presenting an Erasmus+ project, so the natural step for me was move to Erasmus+ next. Therefore, this episode is an introduction to the Erasmus+ programme. Or Erasmus+ the EU programme for education, training, youth and sports as it is officially named.
I have little experience with this funding scheme. So I have invited one of my good old contacts Ulla-Alexandra Mattl, Project director at the consultancy...
2023-04-301h 01
The Grant#51 Submission (part 2) w. guest Miguel Gallardo Linacero - The Timeline Series (23)I have reached the end of the line. The Timeline, that is, naturally. And it is of course the submission episode that you are about to listen to. Submitting the Horizon Europe proposal is the last intense stretch in a marathon that has lasted for months. And it IS intense. And there are many things you need to deal with that you didn’t realize you had to pay attention to. Together with the things that you INDEED knew you had to pay attention to…
I have invited Miguel Gallardo Linacero from the Spanish grants consultancy company Sust...
2023-04-241h 02
The Grant#50 Circular Bio-based Europe Info Day Special w. guests Maria Andrielou and Dieter BrigittaWhen calls are about to open for submission the European Commission and the different European Partnerships arrange infodays on the different thematic sections in the work programmes. Circular Biobased Europe is the European Partnership covering the circular biobased industries that are growing significantly these years. The partnership has its own dedicated section in the Horizon Europe work programme with 18 calls available for the deadlines in 2023.
Their Info Day is coming up. 20 April 450 people will gather in the heart of the European area in Brussels for a day dedicated to the circular biobased industry calls. The info days are designed to...
2023-04-171h 16The Grant#49 Submission (part 1) w. guest Miguel Gallardo Linacero - The Timeline Series (22)I have reached the end of the line. The Timeline, that is, naturally. And it is of course the submission episode that you are about to listen to. Submitting the Horizon Europe proposal is the last intense stretch in a marathon that has lasted for months. And it IS intense. And there are many things you need to deal with that you didn’t realize you had to pay attention to. Together with the things that you INDEED knew you had to pay attention to.
I have invited Miguel Gallardo Linacero from the Spanish grants consultancy company Su...
2023-04-091h 03
The Grant#48 Crowdhelix - An open innovation platform w. guest Michael BrowneFacilitating networking within EU R&D funding is an animal with many heads. It is quite complex to structure the internet interface or platform. The best solutions are often sector specific which secures that the facilitator can zoom in on the stakeholders and the community within that specific sector. The EU Commission is the only organization that has made a broad platform covering all sectors – however then it tends to water out with too many dead and inactive profiles.
Michael Browne, founder of the platform Crowdhelix, has given it a try. With a background in research he de...
2023-04-021h 16
The Grant#47 The budget in real life (part 2) w. guest Jonas Hansen - The Timeline Series (21)I am moving slowly towards the end of The Timeline Series. In the last episode in theseries we went through the budget template itself and how to fill it in. However, when preparing the budget the smallest part of it is knowing the budget categories and terms – the biggest part of the work is related to collecting
the information, correcting this information, negotiating the budget levels for the partners and all in all dealing with inconsistencies in communication and
difficult budget fights in-between in the partners.
I invited my old colleague and friend Jonas Hansen who is Se...
2023-03-261h 05
The Grant#46 The budget in real life (part 1) w. guest Jonas Hansen - The Timeline Series (20)I am moving slowly towards the end of The Timeline Series. In the last episode in the series we went through the budget template itself and how to fill it in. However, when preparing the budget the smallest part of it is knowing the budget categories and terms – the biggest part of the work is related to collecting the information, correcting this information, negotiating the budget levels for the partners and all in all dealing with inconsistencies in communication and difficult budget fights in-between in the partners.
I invited my old colleague and friend Jonas Hansen who is...
2023-03-191h 01
The Grant#45: Processes4Planet - A European Partnership (part 2) w. guests Angels Orduna and Ludo DielsBack in the summer of 2022 I had one of my first guests on the show, Marie Latour, who gave us all a broad introduction to the European Partnerships. An immediate realization was that I wanted to explore these partnerships in more detail to give you, dear listeners, an idea of what these organisations do, what role they play in the whole EU R&D funding programme framework and how they interact with their members, stakeholders and not least the EU Commission.
I reached out to one of the partnerships that I know best, A:Spire – the partnership co...
2023-03-1250 min
The Grant#44 Processes4Planet - A European Partnership (part 1) w. guests Angels Orduna and Ludo DielsBack in the summer of 2022 I had one of my first guests on the show, Marie Latour, who gave us all a broad introduction to the European Partnerships. An immediate realization was that I wanted to explore these partnerships in more detail to give you, dear listeners, an idea of what these organisations do, what role they play in the whole EU R&D funding programme framework and how they interact with their members, stakeholders and not least the EU Commission.
I reached out to one of the partnerships that I know best, A:Spire – the partnership co...
2023-03-0551 min
Diversity in Research PodcastHow do research grant writers think about diversity? A conversation with Niels Tudor-Vinther from The Grant.Admittedly we sometimes live in a bubble where all things diversity and internationalisation are incredibly interesting and incredibly important. And they are. But how about the research managers and administrators who support researchers in writing grant proposals? We needed a snap back to reality, and who better to help us with that than Niels Tudor-Vinther. Niels was work with European research funding in different ways for a number of years, several of them as a proposal writer. Now he’s the host of “The Grant”, a podcast dedicated to European research funding. So not only can he talk ab...
2023-02-281h 02
The Grant#43: No writing! - Alternative grants consultancy w. guest Nikolaos FloratosI am myself an old private grants consultant and it is a sector and people I care about. That’s why I have allocated a specific corner of The Grant to this sector under the label Consultants Corner. Here, I give the sector a voice and dig into all kinds of issues relevant for this shadow sector like business models, the work as a grants consultant, how they develop business concepts, how they deal with insane work pressure and so on and so forth.
This weeks guest reached out to me and requested to join the show. Ni...
2023-02-261h 35
The Grant#42 Tools and social skills - Networking for EU funding (part 2) w. guest Lara Valentín CarreraNetworking is one of the most important elements of working within this field. The ability to navigate in this big ocean is vital for success with grants proposals.
There are many layers to be aware of and to work with. In the autumn I reached out to Lara Valentín Carrera from FUNDITEC in Spain to get her involved in The Grant. We have known each other for a long time and our conversation moved into the issue of networking because that was how we met.
So, we carved out an episode digging into networking b...
2023-02-1954 min
The Grant#41 How to brokerage - Networking for EU funding (part 1 ) w. guest Lara Valentin CarreraNetworking is one of the most important elements of working within this field. The ability to navigate in this big ocean is vital for success with grants proposals. There are many layers to be aware of and to work with. In the autumn I reached out to Lara Valentín Carrera from FUNDITEC in Spain to get her involved in The Grant. We have known each other for a long time and our conversation moved into the issue of networking because that was how we met.
So, we carved out an episode digging into networking both from a...
2023-02-1348 min
The Grant#40: The foRMAtion Project (part 2) - Implementing an ERASMUS+ project w. guest Virág ZsárFor a long time I have been looking for a guest who would like to present a concrete project and tell about the practical implementation of the activities.
I managed to connect to Senior Grant Advisor Virag Zsar from the Hungarian private research organization HETFA. They initiated an ERASMUS+ proposal some years ago with the focus of building an EU project manager education sat university level. They got the funding and have implementet the project the last three years.
So, this episode is a nice practical piece with insights into what it entails to carry...
2023-02-0642 min
The Grant#39 The foRMAtion project - An ERASMUS+ example (part 1) w. guest Virág ZsárFor a long time I have been looking for a guest who would like to present a concrete project and tell about the practical implementation of the activities.
I managed to connect to Senior Grant Advisor Virág Zsár from the Hungarian private research organization HETFA. They initiated an ERASMUS+ proposal some years ago with the focus of building an EU project manager education sat university level. They got the funding and have implementet the project the last three years.
So, this episode is a nice practical piece with insights into what it entails to...
2023-01-3053 minThe Grant#38: Horizon and waste handling - Managing scale-up of proposals and projects (2/2) w. guest David ChristensenPublic waste handling organizations stand at the frontline of the transition to circular economy and a true sustainable society and the EU stands ready with lots of funding to boost and facilitate this dramatic shift. And getting involved in EU R&D proposals and projects as a local municipal organization can be a great way to fund these strategies since they are often costly and with a big element of risk. But how do you attack this big animal as a public entity with limited resources for both developing proposals yourself and paying private consultants to write the proposals...
2023-01-2355 minThe Grant#37: Horizon and waste handling - Boosting circular economy strategies with EU R&D funds (1/2) w. guest David ChristensenPublic waste handling organizations stand at the frontline of the transition to circular economy and a true sustainable society and the EU stands ready with lots of funding to boost and facilitate this dramatic shift. And getting involved in EU R&D proposals and projects as a local municipal organization can be a great way to fund these strategies since they are often costly and with a big element of risk. But how do you attack this big animal as a public entity with limited resources for both developing proposals yourself and paying private consultants to write the proposals...
2023-01-161h 01
The Grant#36 The budget template explained w. guest Jelena Kajganovic - The Timeline Series (19)I have reached the budget in my Timeline Series which is one of the last things to finish in the proposal process. To fill in the budget template you need to be aware of the terminologies, the different budget categories and the partner categories.
This I have actually done myself a couple of times, but to make sure that I get the explanations right, I have invited Horizon Europe budget specialist Jelena Kajganovic from Europa Media into the virtual podcast studio to take us all through the budget template, how to fill it in and what to...
2023-01-081h 01
The Grant#35 Recruiting in grants consultancy (part 2) - Job dating concept w. guest Sara ArrynRecruiting consultants in the private grants consultancy sector is rough. EU R&D grants consultancy is a low-fee consulting area which affects the salaries you can pay and the conditions you can offer. On top of this, the work that it entails to be a grants consultant is rough and tough on work-life-balance. That means you really have to stand out as a company if you want to attract the right people. Ayming is a French global HR and finance consultancy company that is also involved in grants consultancy.
I invited their HR Business Partner Sara Arryn i...
2023-01-0252 min
The Grant#34 Recruiting in grants consultancy (part 1) - Strategy to attract w. guest Sara ArrynRecruiting consultants in the private grants consultancy sector is rough. EU R&D grants consultancy is a low-fee consulting area which affects the salaries you can pay and the conditions you can offer. On top of this, the work that it entails to be a grants consultant is rough and tough on work-life-balance. That means you really have to stand out as a company if you want to attract the right people.
Ayming is a French global HR and finance consultancy company that is also involved in grants consultancy. I invited their HR Business Partner Sara Arryn i...
2022-12-2646 min
The Grant#33 Christmas Special - Proposal preparation during Christmas w. guest Celia HadjichristodoulouIt’s Christmas and of course The Grant also serves you a Christmas Special. The season is wonderful – most people will agree - but for grants consultants and anyone forced to deal with proposals with deadlines in January it is a time with mixed feelings. And for many the focus on the celebrations and lovely time with the family and friends is lost in proposal anxiety and overwhelming amounts of work.
Back in autumn I invited founder and managing director of the Cypriotic boutique grants consultancy company GrantXpert Celia Hadjichristodoulou to have a Christmas Specia. She is Orth...
2022-12-1850 min
The Grant#32 VITO's way up - Building a research organisation on EU funds w. guest Ludo DielsAll research organisations struggle with how to attract enough resources to develop the research activities that is strategically important. Using EU funds is one way to go, but can be trouble-some.
VITO is one of the strongest private research organisations in Europe and they are continously at ranking in the top of research organisations collecting most EU R&D funding. I had a talk with Ludo Diels who has a long career in different research leading positions in VITO. He is now a professor emeritus and for VITO he is involved in Processes4Planet as Chairman of t...
2022-12-111h 17
The Grant#31 No-Copy-Approach - Shaping winning communication sections w. guest Sean JonesSome time ago I noticed a nice post from a guy called Sean Jones that posted a video interview called Thought Leaders as part of the communication strategy of an EU project. It was quite different communication approach than I am used to so I reached out to Sean for an interview. It showed that Sean is an enthusiastic guy focused on doing communication and dissemination activities with a big focus on real values and not copy-paste approach as many they do. He has even formed his own NGO with exactly this focus. In other words, Sean has a...
2022-12-051h 17
The Grant#30 Get to the point! Research input in Horizon proposals w. guest Yoram Bar-ZeevFounder and Director of the Israeli grants consultancy company Enspire – Yoram Bar-Zeev - asked if he could join the show and share his knowledge on how to fold out the research input for the Excellence section.
Of course he received a big YES from me and I am happy he reached out because this conversation became a very nice talk about how to develop the Excellence section from scratch and . The key focus in the talk is on what the evaluators are paying attention to, what you have a big influence on yourself when developing the text an...
2022-11-281h 19
The Grant#29 The Implementation section 3 - The tables and diagrammes - The Timeline Series (18)This is a Timeline Series episode. I have reached to the Implementation section and have already shared with you all the guest episode with Georg Melzer-Venturi on the work package descriptions. We didn’t manage to cover the remaining part of the Implementation section 3 which mainly consists of a large handful of tables and diagrammes.
I have decided to make a solo episode on this. Mainly because I have dealt with this many times myself, but also because it is pretty straight forward. The tables and diagrammes are summing up on efforts, things to deliver to the EU...
2022-11-211h 00
The Grant#28 The Implementation section 3 - The Work Package descriptions (2/2) w. guest Georg Melzer-Venturi - The Timeline Series (17)I have now reached to the Implementation section 3. Or more precisely: Section 3 Quality and efficiency of the implementation. This is where you describe how you will actually in all practicality carry out the activities to reach the projects targets and it is also here you will have to share the organization between the work packages, detailed timeline and so on.
This is the second half of a double-episode on the Work Package descriptions. I have invited independent grants consultant, Georg Melzer-Venturi into the virtual podcast studio to share his views, experience, tips and tricks with you and...
2022-11-1441 min
The Grant#27 The Implementation section 3 - The Work Package descriptions (1/2) w. guest Georg Melzer-Venturi - The Timeline Series (16)Recently I have been running through the actual proposal sections, bit by bit, and have now reached to the Implementation section 3. Or more precisely: Section 3 Quality and efficiency of the implementation. This is where you describe how you will actually in all practicality carry out the activities to reach the projects targets and it is also here you will have to share the organization between the work packages, detailed timeline and so on.
This is one of the proposals sections I have been doing on a regular basis, but to make sure I get critical mass in...
2022-11-0748 min
The Grant#26 EIC Accelerator - From idea to project concept w. guest Sandra AnicIn this episode I am exploring the idea development for EIC Accelerator proposals. Through LinkedIn I got in contact with Sandra Anic who is a Business development manager in the Croation grants consultancy company Aestus Consulting.
In this exchange Sandra shares with me how to unfold the technology concept that you have developed into a full proposal concept. How to understand lab test concept, how to fold out a strong business model and market analysis and what tools you can use for this. Especially the canvas tool is presented and discussed. In short, we discuss how to...
2022-10-311h 11
The Grant#25 Four day working week w. guest Christina AchilleosThis summer I released an episode focusing on the hardships of writing proposals over the summer and on the deadline structure in Horizon Europe. It is one the most popular episodes and many people got back to me afterwards thanking me for picking up the subject.
Briefly after I picked up a LinkedIn post by the Cypriotic grants consultancy company GrantXperts that flagged that they were running a 4-day working week over summer.
Therefore I invited Head of Erasmus Unit Christina Achilleos from GrantXperts into the virtual podcast studio for a talk about how they m...
2022-10-231h 10
The Grant#24 The NTNU Brussels Office (2/2) - Lobby and proposals w. guest Massimo BusuoliThe Grant has finally reached the university world. Under the label The Grant Campus I will also cover this crucial area as I move on.
First episode zooms in on the Brussels Office of the Norwegian University for Science and Technology. Many universities throughout Europe have chosen to establish an office in Brussels to get closer to the EU R&D eco-system both decision-makers, influencers and collaboration partners of strategic importance for the university faculties.
I have invited Head of NTNU Brussels Office Massimo Busuoli into the virtual podcast studio to share with us the...
2022-10-1748 min
The Grant#23 The NTNU Brussels Office (1/2) - The connection back home w. guest Massimo BusuoliThe Grant has finally reached the university world. Under the label The Grant Campus I will also cover this crucial area as I move on.
First episode zooms in on the Brussels Office of the Norwegian University for Science and Technology. Many universities throughout Europe have chosen to establish an office in Brussels to get closer to the EU R&D eco-system both decision-makers, influencers and collaboration partners of strategic importance for the university faculties.
I have invited Head of NTNU Brussels Office Massimo Busuoli into the virtual podcast studio to share with us the w...
2022-10-0943 min
The Grant#22 The Impact section 2.2 - How to structure it w. guest Gabriella Lovasz - The Timeline Series (15)I have reached to the actual proposal writing and now it is time to dig into the Impact section. I am now looking at chapter 2.2 Measures to maximize impact. This is where you describe how you will spread your results, communicate to different segments about your great project and exploit the results for the benefit of your organization, the sector and society.
I have invited Director of Europa Media, Gabriella Lovasz onboard sharing her career-long experience working with exactly this for clients – communication, dissemination and exploitation. Both in writing proposals and implementing. Further, Europa Media is one of...
2022-10-021h 08
The Grant#21 The Impact section 2.2 - The template explained w. guest Gabriella Lovasz - The Timeline Series (14)I have reached to the actual proposal writing and now it is time to dig into the Impact section. The last two weeks I covered 2.1 Project’s pathways towards impact and now the next two weeks it is time for chapter 2.2 Measures to maximize impact. This is where you describe how you will spread your results, communicate to different segments about your great project and exploit the results for the benefit of your organization, the sector and society.
I have invited Director of Europa Media, Gabriella Lovasz onboard sharing her career-long experience working with exactly this for cl...
2022-09-261h 01
The Grant#20 Impact 2.1 - How to structure it w. guests Melanie Büscher and Barbaro Spano - The Timeline Series (13)I have reached to the writing phase in The Timeline Series and will now dig into the Impact section. The Impact section has two distinct sections: one on results and impact (2.1) and one on how to share results and spread them (2.2). I have therefore decided to record two episodes covering 2.1 Project’s pathways towards impact and two episodes covering 2.2 Measures to maximize impact.
I have written a handful of Impact sections myself, but to get critical mass on the guidance I have invited Team Lead of Research Support at the IT University in Copenhagen Melanie Büscher and...
2022-09-1939 min
The Grant#19 The Impact section 2.1 - The template explained w. guests Melanie Büscher and Barbara Spano - The Timeline Series (12)I have reached to the writing phase in The Timeline Series and will now dig into the Impact section. The Impact section has two distinct sections: one on results and impact (2.1) and one on how to share results and spread them (2.2). I have therefore decided to record two episodes covering 2.1 Project’s pathways towards impact and two episodes covering 2.2 Measures to maximize impact.
I have written a handful of Impact sections myself, but to get critical mass on the guidance I have invited Team Lead of Research Support at the IT University in Copenhagen Melanie Büscher and...
2022-09-1257 min
The Grant#18 The Excellence section - How to structure it w. guest Marie Prouteau - The Timeline Series (11)In my Timeline Series I have reached to the actual writing phase and start of course with the Excellence section. Even though I have written some Excellence sections myself this is not my core expertise and therefor I have invited one of my Advisory Board members onboard to make sure that I cover it right. Private consultant Marie Prouteau has 13 years of experience working with EU funding incl. EU R&D policies support, EU project implementation, EU R&D grants consultancy with strong capacities in especially proposal development and evaluation. She is also an EU project Expert Evaluator on H...
2022-09-041h 03
The Grant#17 The Excellence section - The template explained w. guest Marie Prouteau - The Timeline Series (10)In my Timeline Series I have reached to the actual writing phase and start of course with the Excellence section. Even though I have written some Excellence sections myself this is not my core expertise and therefor I have invited one of my Advisory Board members onboard to make sure that I cover it right. Private consultant Marie Prouteau has 13 years of experience working with EU funding incl. EU R&D policies support, EU project implementation, EU R&D grants consultancy with strong capacities in especially proposal development and evaluation. She is also an EU project Expert Evaluator on H...
2022-08-2844 min
The Grant#16 The European Partnerships w. guest Marie LatourIn this episode I have invited Advisory Board member Marie Latour in to give an introduction to the European Partnerships in Horizon Europe. Marie Latour is the Secretary General for the European Association of Innovation Consultants She has 20 years of experience working within the EU Brussels community both in relation to funding and policy.
Marie takes me through the historical background of the European Partnerships and the importance they have the framework of R&D funding and influencing the content of the work programmes. It is a vast and complex framework that requires a little bit of att...
2022-08-221h 10
The Grant#15 Break on through to the other side - Commucating on Horizon Europe w. guest Casper Ravnsted-LarsenIn this episode I have invited Advisory Board member Casper Ravnsted-Larsen onboard to have a talk about the challenging task to do communication on EU R&D funding. Casper is a journalist currently working for the Danish Trade Union for Social Sciences, Business and Law as a journalist for the membership publication, communicating on research and innovation. He has 8 years past experience from Brussels as a journalist in the Danish regional EU R&D funding support eco-system.
I have invited him in for a talk about how to maximize impact of the communication efforts on EU R...
2022-08-141h 16
The Grant#14 Innovation clusters and Eastern Europe w guest Katarzyna KowalskaIn this episode I have invited my third Advisory Board member Katarzyna Kowalska into the virtual podcast studio where we dig into the work of innovation clusters and the role they play in the Eastern European context. Katarzyna is President and co-founder of the UNIMOS Alliance which is a Polish independent agro business innovation cluster for specifically SMEs in the agro-bio-economy sector. Further, she is also an Assistant at the International Management and Marketing Institute at the Warsaw School of Economics. She has more than 18 years experience working with the EU R&D funding programmes.
In this e...
2022-08-081h 19
The Grant#13 SME's and Horizon Europe w. guest Jonas HansenI have my second Advisory Board member Jonas Hansen onboard for this episode where we dig into SMEs and Horizon Europe. Jonas is project manager in the Danish national innovation cluster for ICT where he facilitates R&D and innovation in especially SMEs in the ICT sector. He has more than 12 years experience working with the EU R&D funding programmes.
Jonas has also recently been working for a SME which results in an excellent talk about what it actually entails for SMEs to embark on EU proposals and how to implement the winning projects. We discuss...
2022-07-311h 28
The Grant#12 Preparing for the writing phase - The Timeline Series (9)In this episode I look at the important things to be aware of before you enter the writing phase in the proposal preparation.
The writing process itself is quite complicated and complex and therefore it is vital that you prepare yourself as good as you can before the train is rolling. It can spare you many problems and save valuable time. I go through a handful of things to be aware of including your own planning, the set-up in your internal writing-team, work package group meetings preparations, gathering input for excellence-section and first budget expectation exercise.
2022-07-2439 min
The Grant#11 The Summer Struggle (Part 2) w. guests Ivana Todorovic and Georg Melzer-VenturiIt is time to have a talk about proposal writing during the summer. Nobody ever really talks about this. But we need to, because it is a rough task that is made much more complicated by different holiday calendars, disrupted work flows and general ignorance vis-à-vis the complex challenges that the proposal writers face. The consequences are more than just a lost trip to the beach – anxiety, heavy stress, solitude, neglect of spouses and kids, bottomless despair and burn-outs are the reality for many individuals during and after submission of proposals in August and September.
This is...
2022-07-1755 min
The Grant#11 The Summer Struggle (Part 1) w. guests Ivana Todorovic and Georg Melzer-VenturiIt is time to have a talk about proposal writing during the summer. Nobody ever really talks about this. But we need to, because it is a rough task that is made much more complicated by different holiday calendars, disrupted work flows and general ignorance vis-à-vis the complex challenges that the proposal writers face. The consequences are more than just a lost trip to the beach – anxiety, heavy stress, solitude, bottomless despair and burn-outs are the reality for many individuals during and after submission of proposals in August and September.
I have invited NGO-representative Ivana Todorovic and...
2022-07-171h 20
The Grant#10 The coordinator - The Timeline Series (8)In this episode I dig into the coordinator issue - to be a coordinator and to find a coordinator. I run through who is normally coordinating Horizon Europe proposals. Then I elaborate on the key elements on being a coordinator including the key responsabilities. If you dont have a coordinator I then share with you the approach related to choosing a coordinator among the consortium partners and finally, if no one wants to pick it up, I give tips and advices on how to identify and find a coordinator. This is a subject that I will get back to...
2022-07-1129 min
The Grant#9 Completing the consortium - The Timeline Series (7)In this seventh episode of The Timeline Series I move into the area of completing the comsortium. When the partners agree to join you need to formally get them onboard. Now is also the time where you need to get your practical organisation in place if you haven't already set up your systems. I share how I deal with my organisation when I coordinate these processes. Further, I share how you get from draft consortium to final consortium including all the difficulties you will most likely run into getting the final confirmations. In the end of this episode I...
2022-07-0446 min
The Grant#8: How to develop a clear concept with clever angles w. guest Kristjan ZemljicThis is the first Advisory Board episode. In the Advisory Board concept I will have a core group of experts that on a regular basis drops by the virtual podcast studio to exchange, discuss and enlighten me and the listeners on issues within grants application.
In this episode I have the first The Grant Advisory Board member Kristjan Zemljic onboard. Kristjan has the independent consultancy company Global Disruption together with his partner. Kristjan has been working with EU R&D grants application for more than 10 years in different connections, but now primarily works with high-tech SME's and i...
2022-06-271h 19
The Grant#7 Partner value chain and partner search - The Timeline Series (6)In this sixth episode on The Timeline Series I move on to the partner value chain definition and the partner search activities. I run through how to define your partner value chain for your proposal and move on to giving tips for your partner search strategy. Second half of the episode is dedicated to more practical elements on how you reach out to possible partners and how you deal with follow-up meetings and onboarding to the consortium. The episode has lots of tips and good advice on how to structure your outreach and not least how to identify and...
2022-06-2052 min
The Grant#6 Concept note - The Timeline Series (5)In this fifth episode of The Timeline Series I give some tips and advice on how to make a strong concept note for your project concept. The concept note is needed to recruit partners to your proposal, but it also serves as the first short coherent written outline of your project concept. I run through the function of the concept note, I give advice on how to structure the document and share some thoughts on what to be aware of. Finally, I give my view on what are the toughest challenges with this part of the proposal preparation process.
2022-06-1332 min
The Grant#5 Idea and concept development - The Timeline Series (4)In this fourth episode of The Timeline Series I am digging into the process of developing the basic idea into a full Horizon Europe proposal concept. I will run through overall elements to be aware of to make a good project concept. Second, I will give some advice on how you need to get a team involved before you start this part of the process. In the third - and main - part of the episode I will give some input and tips on how to attack the idea development process and explain how I normally deal with this. I...
2022-06-0641 min
The Grant#4 Reading the call text - The Timeline Series (3)In this third episode of The Timeline Series of the The Grant podcast I will be digging into how to read and analyze the Horizon Europe work programme call texts. When you have identified the specific call, you are faced with a strategic R&D call text where a little bit a guidance is beneficial for the interpretation and analysis before you continue developing the overall project concept.
The episode is divided into three sections: call text structure, analysing the call text and key elements to be aware of. I run through how the texts are structured a...
2022-01-0647 min
The Grant#3 Identify the funding - The Timeline Series (2)The is the second episode of The Timeline Series of the The Grant podcast. In this episode I outline ways to identify the concrete funding calls that you will need to match your R&D project ideas. I will explain the structure of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and the work programme documents are build up. Secoind, the episode contains information on how to find and identify the concrete call in the work programmes. The episode contains tips and tricks on how to easiest find possible funding calls relevant for you and which support structures that are available to h...
2022-01-0523 min
The Grant#2 The basic idea - The Timeline Series (1)The is the first ordinary episode of The Grant podcast. I start building a batch of generic episodes covering each phase of preparing an EU R&D funding proposal from the initial idea is born until submitting the final proposal to the EU Commission. I have labelled this The Timeline Series. Here in the first Timeline Series episode I dig into the basic project idea and what to be aware of when considering applying for EU funding. The episode covers the origin of an idea; strenght of the idea; European added value; has it been done before?; duration of...
2022-01-0441 min
The Grant#1 The Grant OpeningThis is the intro episode of The Grant - The EU Funding Podcast.
There is a hole in the podcast market - there are no podcasts on EU R&D funding even though thousands and thousands of people every day are trying to get their heads around how to develop the best proposals to realize their research and innovation projects. This podcast will answer to this. The podcast will focus on the Horizon Europe funding scheme and will focus on challenges and give suggestions how to solve them with tips, tricks and a heavy luggage of experience. F...
2021-12-2819 min