The Grant

The SET Plan & EU Funding – Inside the Machine Room
How EU energy R&I priorities are made, funded and implemented

More: www.thegrant.eu/208

In this episode I’m joined by Eric Lecomte from the European Commission’s DG Energy – the first time I’ve had a Commission representative on the podcast – to unpack the SET Plan, or Strategic Energy Technology Plan, and its role in EU funding. Eric explains how the SET Plan started in 2007, was reshaped in 2015 as the research & innovation pillar of the Energy Union, and has since been anchored in the European Green Deal, the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Draghi report on competitiveness and coordination. We talk about the overall aim: aligning national and European R&I priorities on energy technologies so Member States, associated countries, industry and research are not all pulling in different directions.
We then zoom into the “machine room”: a steering group plus 14 Implementation Working Groups covering renewables, energy systems, efficiency in buildings and industry, transport, carbon capture and nuclear. Eric walks through how these groups co-develop Implementation Plans with concrete R&I activities that feed into Horizon Europe Cluster 5 topics, inspire national R&I programmes, and even shape calls in LIFE and discussions with the Innovation Fund. We explore concrete examples – industrial heat pumps and waste heat recovery topics, cooperation between the paper and heat pump sectors now replicated in the food & drink industry, and large-scale projects like green steel – before ending on the big challenges: mobilising national funding, avoiding duplication, overcoming Europe’s fear of failure and turning world-class technology into market uptake and manufacturing in Europe.

Time codes:
00:01:32 Introduction
00:03:44 Fly in
00:07:23 Introduction to the SET Plan
00:11:36 The SET Plan structure and governance
00:23:16 The role of the SET Plan in funding and competitiveness
00:45:26 Challenges and future outlook
00:48:09 The toughest challenge

Supporting Postdoctoral Fellowships at FAU’s EU Research Office
Masterclasses, proposal review, internal services and rising competitionMore: www.thegrant.eu/207
In this episode I’m joined by Svenja Talv and Martina May, who run the EU research office at FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg). We start with the backstory: how FAU’s leadership decided to set up a dedicated EU pre-award office, how Martina began alone and later teamed up with Svenja, and how they defined their service package from first idea to submission. They describe the amount of internal networking it took to find their place in the university: talking to post-award, ethics, export control, open science, data management, graduate services and faculty-level research support – and then doing the hard work of presenting themselves in meetings, newsletters and events so researchers know they are not alone in the EU jungle.
We then dive into postdoctoral fellowships as a concrete example. Svenja and Martina explain why this scheme has become a central focus: postdocs are highly motivated but often first-time EU applicants, demand is very high, and success rates are dropping as applications grow from around 10,000 to 17,000 with a slightly decreasing budget. They describe how they partnered with a German national support provider running a Postdoctoral Fellowship Masterclass, reached out via supervisors to identify potential fellows, and brought applicants together for an online workshop that goes beyond basics. After the masterclass, they keep in touch with participants, offer structured proposal review and feedback, and try to manage expectations honestly in such a competitive setting – all while juggling everyday support for many other EU calls.

Time codes:
00:02:05 Introduction
00:06:04 Fly in
00:08:35 Complementary backgrounds and team setup
00:12:34 Building the research office and strategy
00:23:21 Postdoctoral Fellowships support
00:42:12 Expanding the strategy
00:51:51 Reflections and advice
00:54:24 The toughest challenge

From Bird View clusters to objectives, WPs and a realistic structureMore: www.thegrant.eu/204-206
In this third and final episode of the Idea Development Workshop series, I’m joined by Ana-Marija Špicnagel (IPS Konzalting) to build what we call the project spine of a Horizon Europe proposal. We start from where episode 2 left off – with a Bird View canvas full of challenges, opportunities, stakeholders and future logic – and show how to distil that into a clear backbone: the main objectives, the key results you want to see, and a small number of work package lines that together can actually deliver the call’s expected outcomes.
We then use the spine as a decision tool: what clearly belongs inside the project and what should be parked or moved to a different idea; which strands need which types of partners; where coordination, impact and exploitation work should sit; and how to sequence activities so the story makes sense for evaluators and for the people who will have to run the project. The aim is to leave you with a simple structure that you can explain in a few minutes – and that can grow into a full Part B without collapsing under its own weight.

Time codes:
00:02:45 Introduction and fly in
00:05:05 The project shaping workshop
00:36:55 Closing remarks

Idea Development Workshop (2) – Outlining the canvas model

Objectives, outcomes, logic and what belongs in your Horizon idea

More info and presentation: https://www.thegrant.eu/204-206

In this second episode of the Idea Development Workshop mini-series, I’m back with Ana-Marija Špicnagel (IPS Konzalting) for an episode where Ana will share the and explain the canvas model she is using for idea development - the Bird View Canvas Model, an innovative tool developed by IPS Konzalting and adapted here for Horizon Europe proposals. Instead of jumping straight from the call to work packages, we stay at “bird’s-eye” level and map a concrete case on the Bird View canvas: internal and external challenges, opportunities that sound like a project, the unique selling proposition, who the “customers and channels” really are, and what a plausible future (including business logic and sustainability) might look like.
From there we follow the real process: a messy Bird View sheet full of notes and arrows (like the one on slide 10) gradually turning into a more structured concept where emerging work packages are sketched around the central idea (slide 11). We talk about who to invite to a Bird View session, how to keep the discussion anchored in the call’s expected outcomes and scope, and how this step makes it easier to talk honestly about exploitation, long-term collaboration and what should not be in the project. The goal is simple: use Bird View to create a shared project model before anyone starts fighting over templates and task lists.

Time codes:
00:02:45 Introduction and fly in
00:05:02 The Bird View Canvas Model
00:25:05 How to run the brainstorm

Idea Development Workshop (1) – Reading a Horizon Europe Call
Budgets, outcomes, scope and decoding the fine print

Here you find all the information you need for this episode: https://www.thegrant.eu/204-206

In this first episode of this three-part Idea Development Workshop mini-series, I sit down with Ana-Marija Špicnagel (IPS Konzalting) to take the time to read and analyse a Horizon Europe call text, line by line.
Using an old Horizon Europe Mission Soil call on soil biodiversity, we start with the basics that shape your whole idea – budget per project, number of projects to be funded, type of action and co-funding rates (including what 70% means for SMEs and how grants to third parties change your consortium logic). We then look at how the call anchors itself in EU strategies like Farm to Fork, the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the SDGs, and why that matters for partner choice and story-telling.
From there we unpack expected outcomes, scope and proposed activities: what the Commission really expects you to deliver, how to read the small words (“need to”, “should”, “may”), and how to see when you must cover all bullets rather than “at least some”. We also touch on demonstration and on-field work vs purely lab research, multi-actor requirements, links to sister projects and platforms, and why exploitation planning is now baked into the call text. Throughout the episode, Ana shares practical habits like re-reading the call every two weeks during proposal development to make sure your great idea still fits what is actually being asked.

Time codes:
00:02:35 Introduction
00:06:18 Fly in
00:08:52 Call at a glance
00:17:18 The Expected Outcomes
00:21:20 The Scope (what you actually have to do)