The Grant

Interreg – An Introduction
With Viktoria Nilsson from Lund Municipality

Check out the episode website for links

In this episode I introduce the Interreg funding scheme together with Viktoria Nilsson from Lund Municipality. Interreg is one of the EU’s oldest territorial cooperation programmes, and its core idea is both simple and important: many societal challenges are shared across borders, so neighboring regions should work on them together. We talk about why Interreg exists, how it sits inside EU cohesion policy, and why it has become such a central instrument for cross-border collaboration in areas like innovation, green transition, sustainable transport and labour mobility.

We also make the episode practical. Viktoria explains how a typical Interreg project is structured, what kinds of partners usually take part, how funding rates and project types work, what the secretariat does during the application phase, and what applicants should keep in mind around communication, indicators, end users and long-term impact. It’s the first episode in what I hope will become a broader Interreg series, and it is meant as a clear and usable entry point for anyone who wants to understand the scheme better.

Time codes:

01:31 Guest introduction and fly in

08:36 EU motivation for the funding scheme

19:16 Structure of funding scheme

36:00 Target group stakeholders

39:47 How to apply

01:01:04 Evaluation

01:05:06 When funding is received

01:09:23 Do's and don't's

01:16:44 The toughest challenge

How Regions Build the Foundations for EU Funding
With Alina Totti from Provincie Noord-Brabant

Check out the episode website

In this episode I’m joined by Alina Totti from Provincie Noord-Brabant to talk about how regions build the foundations that eventually lead to EU funding. Noord-Brabant is one of Europe’s most innovative regions, with strong advanced manufacturing traditions and a global industrial profile. But what interested me in this conversation is not only the region’s success. It is the work underneath that success: building relationships with other regions, understanding what Brussels is doing, shaping a regional story around innovation, and creating the long-term trust that makes later project collaboration possible.

We go into smart specialisation, the Vanguard Initiative, the importance of interregional networks, and how stepping-stone instruments can help SMEs move toward bigger European calls. Alina explains very clearly that proposals do not start when the call opens. They start much earlier — when regions know who they are, what they are good at, who they should work with, and how they want to position themselves in Europe. It is a really strong episode for anyone working in regional development, innovation ecosystems or the strategic side of EU funding.

Time codes:

01:39 Guest introduction and fly in

06:21 What Provincie Noord-Brabant is

13:36 The Vanguard Initiative and Smart Specialisation

35:05 The Importance of Relationships

51:14 Long-Term Lobbying and Why the Region Invests in It

01:08:33 Reflections and advice

01:10:45 The toughest challenge

With Thomas Brent from Science Business

Check out the episode website

In this episode I’m joined by Thomas Brent from Science Business for a practical status update on Widening in FP10. We go back to the roots of the debate: why Widening was created in the first place, how it was meant to help countries with weaker research capacity connect more effectively into the framework programme, and why some people have long argued that it does not fit neatly inside an excellence-based funding system. Thomas explains why that debate is now less dominant than before and why, despite some remaining criticism, Widening now looks likely to remain part of the next framework programme.

From there we dig into what is actually on the table in the FP10 discussions. We talk about the proposed increase in the Widening budget, the idea of placing Widening in a new fourth pillar, the possible creation of “transition countries”, and the controversial conditionality around public investment in research and development. We also touch on the current state of the negotiations, the role of member states, and why the coming months should give a clearer picture of where the political compromises are heading. It’s a useful episode for anyone trying to follow the Widening file without getting lost in Brussels process language.

Time codes:

01:46 Guest introduction and fly in

04:06 The Original Debate – Excellence vs Development

11:34 The FP10 Proposal – Splitting the Widening Countries

23:58 The Conditionality Debate

31:33 Where the Political Negotiation Stands Now

38:04 Reflections and What Comes Next

A documentary-style episode from Hamburg on vocational excellence, inclusion and SMEs

Check out the episode website

In this episode I try something new: a documentary-style montage recorded live during a WIN4SMES event in Hamburg. Instead of one long sit-down conversation, this episode moves through soundscapes, field notes, participant voices and short interviews to give a more immediate sense of what an Erasmus+ Centre of Vocational Excellence project looks like on the ground. WIN4SMES focuses on workplace innovation in SMEs, and the project’s different national pilots are working on themes such as inclusion, entrepreneurship, newcomers and skills development.

Across the episode, I speak with the coordinator team about the training programme, hear from participants working with agile methods, design thinking and AI in vocational education, and zoom in on two of the particularly strong COVEs from the project. One from Hungary uses an entrepreneurship camp to support highly talented young people in developing business ideas. Another from Lithuania works with hotels and restaurants to create real job pathways for young people with disabilities. The result is a more atmospheric and people-centered episode about how vocational excellence is actually built in practice — not only in policy papers, but in classrooms, workshops, company relationships and human lives.

Time codes:

00:00 Airport opening

01:25 Arriving and introducing the training programme w/Anna Maria Czarny

06:43 Meeting the training classes

11:40 The Partner Dinner w/Maëla Barcon

15:34 Introducing day 2

19:13 The Hungary COVE - Supporting Entrepreneurship w/Tamas Rettich

28:20 The Lithuanian COVE - Young People with Disabilities w/Egle Lizaityte

48:16 WIN4SMES - Status and where it is moving w/Max Hogeforster

01:01:55 Farewell and outro

Building Your Funding Team – Skills, Structure & Survival
With Stephanie Harfensteller and David Christensen

Check out the episode website

In this episode I’m joined by Stephanie Harfensteller and David Christensen to talk about one of the most difficult and under-discussed challenges in EU funding: how to build a funding team that actually works. Stephanie has been building up an EU funding function at FIR since 2019, while David has been doing something similar inside BOFA on Bornholm. From very different organisational settings, they describe a remarkably similar reality: a strong funding unit is not just a service desk for forms and deadlines. It needs to support proposal development, project execution and long-term networking and positioning — and in smaller organisations, the same people often need to move across all of those roles.

From there we dig into the real difficulties: how to identify the right skills, how to recruit people when profiles are hard to find, how to train juniors without losing all the knowledge when they move on, and how to create some form of knowledge management when most of the most important know-how still sits in people’s heads. We also talk about management commitment, public perception, long-term vision, the pain of falling proposal success rates, and the need to balance patience with pressure. It’s a very honest conversation for anyone trying to professionalise funding work inside an organisation without the luxury of a large specialist department.

Time codes:

01:48 Guest introduction and fly in

07:01 What Is a Good Funding Support Unit?

18:08 The Skills Question

28:28 Building the Team in Reality

40:05 Keeping Knowledge in the Organisation

50:45 Working Under Organisational Constraints

01:06:07 Reflections and advice

01:10:24 The toughest challenge

Explain Science (1) – NoVOC, Batteries & Life Cycle Assessment
With Kristin Fransson from RISE

Check out the episode website with links to webinar, scientific paper, the NoVOC project etc.

In the first episode of Explain Science, I’m joined by Kristin Fransson from RISE to talk about the NoVOC project and the science of life cycle assessment in battery innovation. Kristin explains that NoVOC is working on one very practical challenge: reducing the hazardous solvents used in battery manufacturing and exploring alternative dry and wet production methods that could make battery production more sustainable. From there, we use the project as an entry point into a much bigger discussion about how Europe develops cleaner battery technologies and why environmental thinking has to be built into research projects from the start.

We then unpack what life cycle assessment actually means. Kristin explains how LCA looks across a product’s full life cycle, why it matters for battery research, and why it is so difficult to get right when projects are still working at lab or pilot scale. We talk about methodological choices, data collection, scale-up, recycling assumptions and the challenge of making sure that an innovation that looks promising in one corner does not create problems somewhere else. It’s a very accessible first episode for anyone curious about batteries, sustainability and what science communication can look like when EU-funded research is explained properly.

Time codes

02:40 A word from the collaboration partner

03:55 Guest introduction and fly in

08:17 What is Life Cycle Assessment?

11:46 Why does this matter for Europe?

18:28 Why is battery LCA difficult?

27:19 Closing and event promotion

Research management training, competence mapping and the quality label

Check out the episode website

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

Check out the episode website

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

Check out the episode website

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

Check out the episode website

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