The Grant

Research management training, competence mapping and the quality label

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In the 7th episode of the RM Framework Series, I’m joined by Cristina Borrás Sardà and Cristina Bosch Pla from Generalitat de Catalunya / AGAUR to talk about the Spain pilot in the RM Framework project. We start with the training scheme they already run in Catalonia: a structured programme developed with universities and built around two microcredentials, one focused on pre-award and one on post-award. It covers everything from the EU funding system, consortium building and impact to grant agreement management, financial reporting and lump sum implementation — and is designed as a practical, modular and highly interactive offer for early-career research managers.
From there we move into the pilot itself. Cristina and Cristina explain how the RM Framework handbook and RMcomp helped them map their existing training more clearly against competencies, identify where learning outcomes were already strong, and spot areas where the programme could become more explicit and coherent. We also talk about the value of in-person delivery, peer interaction, mentoring and the growing need for a European reference point that can support quality, mobility and career development across the research management profession.

Time codes:

02:14 Guest introduction and fly in
05:08 RM Training Good Practices
12:57 Experiences from the Pilot Testing Phase
19:13 Why the RM Framework Matters at EU Level
24:07 Expectations & Final Reflections

Talent Attraction and EU Funding – A Regional Development Lens w/Maria Haglund and Nikolaj Lubanski

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In this episode I’m joined by Maria Haglund and Nikolaj Lubanski to talk about how talent attraction can be supported through EU funding. Maria brings the perspective of a smaller region on the west coast of Finland, where the challenge is not only retaining university students but also attracting the skilled and blue-collar workforce needed by the regional economy. Nikolaj brings more than a decade of experience from Greater Copenhagen, where EU funding has helped build national and cross-border collaboration around international talent attraction, digital campaigns and long-term regional positioning. Together, they open up a very practical conversation about why funding matters in this area — and why it is about much more than just “getting money.”
We then move into the how. What kinds of EU instruments actually make sense for talent attraction? How do you build a partnership that is based on trust rather than opportunism? What should a smaller region consider before stepping into its first bigger EU project? And how do you measure impact in a field where results can be diffuse and long-term? We talk about social funds, regional funds, Interreg, project structure, partnership agreements, cross-border cooperation with Umeå, and the importance of having both a strong idea and a realistic path to implementation. It’s a very useful episode for anyone working in regional development, international talent, place branding or skills policy.

Time codes:
01:55 Guest introduction and fly in
05:55 The Motivation – Why Look at EU Funding?
21:20 Before You Apply – What Organisations Need to Consider First
44:10 Building Partnerships and Entering the EU Ecosystem
58:00 The Application Process – What Actually Happens?
01:17:14 Reflections and Advice
01:22:07 The toughest challenge

Coordinating Innovation in Bioeconomy – Beyond Project Management with Anna Franciosini from PNO Innovation Italy

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In this second episode of the PNO Innovation Series, produced in paid collaboration with PNO Innovation, I’m joined by Anna Franciosini to talk about coordination in bioeconomy and agri-food innovation projects. Anna explains why project coordination is not just administration, reporting and timelines. In a field like bioeconomy, coordination also means understanding the sector, the policy context, the innovation bottlenecks and the different actors across the value chain — and then translating all of that into a project vision that makes sense for both the consortium and the European Commission.
We use the C4B project as a concrete case. The project focuses on circular bio-based business models and on creating fairer value distribution for primary producers and other actors in the bioeconomy. From there, we talk about stakeholder alignment, replication, cascade funding, open calls and why coordination is such a strategic function when projects aim to create real change in complex innovation ecosystems. Anna also shows how PNO’s cross-border teams work together in practice, combining sector expertise, communication, digital tools and innovation support across the life of the project.

Time codes:
01:47 Guest introduction fly in
03:27 Why PNO Is More Than a Coordinator
14:42 Case Example – The C4B Project
21:29 From Project to Market Impact
27:24 Reflections and Advice

Four Years of The Grant – Reflections on EU Funding
A solo anniversary episode on pressure, change, community and what I’ve learned

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In this four-year anniversary episode, I take a step back from the usual guest format and reflect on what The Grant has shown me about the EU funding world. Over more than 200 episodes, I’ve spoken with grant consultants, research managers, researchers, NGOs, innovation actors and policy people from all over Europe and some of the same themes keep returning. Solitude. Hidden work. Stress. Rejection. Deadline pressure. Burnout. The emotional cost of a sector that often presents itself as technical and rational, but is in reality full of deeply human effort and vulnerability. In this episode, I talk openly about those patterns and about why I have insisted on making space for them in the podcast.
I also reflect on what has changed in the ecosystem during these four years: the rise of AI and its impact on proposal pressure, the growing professionalisation of the sector, the shift in funding priorities around security and dual-use, and the continued inequality in access to strong funding networks and support structures. At the same time, I share what I think strong organisations do differently: they work strategically, they understand their role, they build long-term partnerships, and they take care of the people carrying the funding work. This is an anniversary episode, but also a positioning episode: a reminder of what The Grant is for, and why I intend to keep building this space for the full reality of EU funding.

Time codes:
02:12 Introduction
04:03 Why This Episode Now
08:31 What Surprised Me Most
15:21 The Ecosystem Has Changed
27:42 What Strong Organisations do differently
31:51 Things People Still Don’t Talk Honestly About
42:05 What Changed My Own Thinking
47:40 Closing remarks

The Hidden Work of Research Managers w/Isabel from RISE Processum
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In this episode I’m joined by Isabel Burdallo from RISE Processum to talk about the hidden work of research managers. We start from a simple but important gap: what many people think research management is, and what it actually is in practice. From the outside, the role is often reduced to administration, paperwork, budgets and compliance. Isabel explains why that is only part of the picture. In reality, research management is also about translation: translating research ideas into fundable structures, funding rules into workable decisions, and institutional constraints into something project teams can live with.

From there we go deeper into the invisible tasks that make projects hold together. Isabel shares how this role often means stepping into complex situations, spotting risks early, smoothing communication between very different people, and handling the kinds of coordination, timing and compliance issues that nobody notices when they go well. We also talk about why this work is still so often misunderstood inside research organisations, how the role differs across countries and institutions, and why research managers need to make themselves more visible — not out of ego, but because the profession deserves clearer recognition for the value it creates.

Time codes:
02:03 Guest introduction and fly in
05:45 What People Think vs Reality
12:52 The Hidden Tasks – What Actually Happens Behind the Scenes
25:21 Why It’s Invisible and the Human Side
36:47 Navigating and Owning the Role
42:28 Advice
44:08 The toughest challenge