The Grant

A Novel MSCA PF Training Model – The MSCA Catalyst Approach w/Rita Gil Mata from FUNDamentally SCIENCE

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In this new episode of The Grant Collaboration, produced in paid collaboration with FUNDamentally SCIENCE, I’m joined by Rita Gil Mata to talk about a structural problem in MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships: Europe has talent, but too often the preparation system around applicants is not strong enough. Rita brings more than 20 years of experience supporting researchers in European funding, and she explains why the sharp rise in MSCA PF submissions and the drop in success rates should be read as a warning sign. In her view, the issue is not a lack of excellent researchers, but the fact that applicants, supervisors and institutions are often not prepared in a sufficiently aligned and strategic way.

That is exactly why she created the MSCA Catalyst training model. We unpack how it works in practice: a structured applicant training built around the real template, supervisor mentoring so the academic side is fully engaged, and expert review for the strongest proposals selected by the institution. What I like in this conversation is that it goes beyond “another training offer” and instead treats MSCA preparation as an ecosystem challenge. If Europe wants to keep strong young research talent in the system, then programmes like this matter — not only for better proposals, but for the long-term health of the research landscape itself.

Time codes:
02:05 Guest introduction and fly in
05:44 Motivation - A Spark to Build Something New
10:31 Why Traditional Support Is Not Enough
16:48 The Training Concept
25: 47 Why This Matters

Life Cycle Assessment in EU Projects – Sustainability by Design w/Mirko Busto from ENCO Consulting
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In this final episode of The ENCO Series produced in paid collaboration with ENCO Consulting, I’m joined by Mirko Busto to talk about life cycle assessment and why it has become such an important part of EU-funded research and innovation.

Mirko explains that sustainability is not something you can judge from one isolated number or one nice-looking innovation claim. A solution may reduce emissions in one place while creating problems somewhere else. That is why life cycle thinking matters: it forces you to look at the whole picture — from materials and manufacturing to use, disposal and possible recycling — and ask whether the innovation really improves the system overall.
We also go into the practical side of the work. Mirko explains the three connected methodologies used in sustainability assessment: life cycle assessment, life cycle costing and social life cycle assessment. We talk about how they enter both proposal writing and project implementation, why data collection and benchmarking are so difficult in innovative projects, and how these methods help technical teams avoid hidden trade-offs.

Using the SEEDS project as a case, Mirko shows how this plays out in practice when comparing agricultural systems in different MENA contexts and trying to assess future sustainability under climate and resource pressure.

Time codes:
01:56 Guest introduction and fly in
04:05 Why sustainability assessment matters
08:12 Sustainability methodologies in EU projects
10:48 Integrating sustainability in innovation projects
17:14 Practical challenges
25:12 Success Story – The SEEDS project

Strategy, partnerships and proposal work with limited resources

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In this episode I’m joined by Alessio Caracci from Unknown Group to talk about what it really means to work across multiple funding schemes at the same time. Alessio’s role touches different parts of the organisation — the university, the campus and startup-related activities — so he has to navigate very different programme logics, target groups and funding opportunities. We talk about how that changes the work compared with specialising in a single scheme, and why the first task is not writing proposals but building a strong map of what is relevant, what is strategic and what the organisation actually wants to become in the next few years.
From there we move into the practical side: how a small team can survive this complexity, why trusted external partners matter so much, and how long-term collaboration makes proposal work faster and more realistic under pressure. Alessio explains how Unknown works through a mix of self-led initiatives, alliances, consultants and ecosystem relationships, and how this lets them stay involved in different programmes without pretending they can do everything alone. We also talk about deadline clustering, the danger of tunnel vision, and why the most important discipline is often not chasing more opportunities but staying close to your organisation’s real mission and strengths.

Time codes:
01:55 Guest introduction and fly in
12:21 Working Across Many Programmes
21:09 Managing Complexity – Systems, Shortcuts and Survival
38:51 Partnerships and Collaboration as Strategy
49:44 Reflections and advice
54:21 The toughest challenge

How EU projects can move from visibility to real use and impact

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In this episode of The Grant, I’m joined by Borut Razbornik for a conversation about dissemination in EU projects — and why the traditional approach often does not work.
We talk about the difference between simply making a project visible and actually getting people to use, adopt or engage with the results. Too often, dissemination becomes a matter of quantity: posting on websites, sharing on social media, counting impressions and promoting outputs one by one. Borut argues that this misses the real point. Dissemination should be about impact, usefulness and action.
The episode then moves into Borut’s marketing perspective. We discuss attention as a scarce resource, why generic project messages fail, and why dissemination needs to speak directly to the needs of a target group. Borut also introduces his “flagship strategy”: identifying the most useful project result and building a focused dissemination pathway around it, instead of scattering attention across too many isolated outputs.
We also cover LinkedIn, stakeholder engagement, project constraints, partner dynamics, creative thinking and why dissemination should be embedded in implementation from the start.
A practical episode for anyone working with EU project communication, dissemination, exploitation or impact.

Time codes:
01:47 Guest introduction and fly in
06:09 The Problem: Dissemination That Doesn’t Work
16:06 Understanding Attention – A Marketing Perspective
26:05 A Different Approach – The Flagship Strategy
41:42 Embedding Dissemination in the Work Itself
48:12 Working Within Constraints
57:06 Reflections and Advice
58:47 The toughest challenge

How ENCO works with visibility, stakeholder engagement and market uptake

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In this second of the ENCO Series, produced in paid collaboration with ENCO Consulting, I’m joined by Rosanna Buonfiglio and Marco de la Feld to talk about one of the most important but often blurred areas in EU projects: communication, dissemination and exploitation. We unpack the differences between the three and why it matters to keep them distinct. Communication is about making the project visible and understandable. Dissemination is about making sure the right people can actually access and use the results. Exploitation is about what happens when you want those results to go further into strategy, market positioning, business models and real uptake.
We then move into how ENCO works with these areas in practice. Rosanna explains how communication and dissemination strategies are built from the proposal stage by identifying audiences, messages and the right channels, while Marco shows how exploitation connects project results to business plans, competitor analysis, IPR strategy and post-project development. Using the SYMBA project as a case, they show how these three dimensions can reinforce each other when they are designed together from the start. It’s a practical episode for anyone writing proposals, managing EU projects or trying to make sure that project results do not just sit on a website after the funding ends.

Time codes:
02:05 Guest introduction
06:26 Why communication matters
10:37 Communication, dissemination and exploitation
14:16 ENCO’s approach to C&D&E strategy
23:54 Delivering communication in practice - the SYMBA case
32:28 Outro