The Grant

Tidligere på året udsendte The Grant i samarbejde med Aalborg Universitets Missionssekretariat en podcastepisode som introducerede forskere og forskningsteams til missions-tilgangen. Nu er det blevet tid til en samtale om hvordan man effektmåler i den missionsdrevne forskningstilgang, når flere forskellige forskningsdiscipliner og samfundsaktører er involveret.

I episoden taler jeg med Maria Abel Nissen og Jacob Brix fra Aalborg Universitet om, hvad der gør effektmåling i missionsdrevet forskning anderledes end i et traditionelt forskningsprojekt. Samtalen tager udgangspunkt i, at en mission ikke kan vurderes alene på resultaterne fra de enkelte projekter. Effekten opstår i samspillet mellem projekter, forskningsmiljøer og de aktører uden for universitetet, som skal være med til at omsætte ny viden til konkrete forandringer.

Vi ser blandt andet på forskellen mellem teknologisk modenhed og samfundets evne til faktisk at optage og anvende nye løsninger. Her kommer begreber som Technology Readiness Level (TRL), Societal Readiness Level (SRL) og implementeringskraft i spil. Derefter går vi tættere på arbejdet med et impact framework: Hvordan kan man skabe en ramme, der forbinder missionens overordnede samfundsmål med porteføljer, projekter, aktiviteter, adfærdsændringer og den effekt, man i sidste ende ønsker at skabe?

Endelig diskuterer vi arbejdet med tippepunkter – de steder i en forandringsproces, hvor man begynder at kunne se, at noget reelt har flyttet sig – og hvad hele denne tilgang betyder for forskerne selv. For hvis effektmåling skal have værdi i en missionsdrevet tilgang, skal den ikke alene fungere som dokumentation og rapportering. Den skal også kunne bruges som et redskab til læring, prioritering og til at forstå, hvordan den enkelte forskningsindsats bidrager til en større samfundsmæssig forandring.

Tidskoder:
02:22 Gæsteintroduktion
05:52 Åbning: Hvorfor er det her spørgsmål vigtigt?
13:58 Hvad er særligt ved missionsdreven forskning?
24:02 Fra teknologi til samfund: TRL, SRL og implementeringskraft
30:59 Impact framework: Hvordan bygger man en ramme for at forstå effekt?
40:12 Tippepunkter: Hvornår kan vi se, at noget har flyttet sig?
51:05 Hvad betyder det for forskerne?
01:04:50 Afslutning: Hvad er næste skridt?

Adjusting the Course – When EU Projects Don’t Go to Plan

Implementation Series #17 with Antonietta Pizza from ENCO ConsultingSee how you can collaborate with The Grant

Check out the episode website

Nothing goes exactly according to plan in a multi-year EU project. Activities are delayed, technical results differ from expectations, one work package becomes dependent on another, partners go quiet, or assumptions made during proposal writing simply turn out not to hold.

In episode #17 of the Implementation Series, I’m joined by Antonietta Pizza, Head of EU Projects Unit at ENCO Consulting, to look at how coordinators should respond when this happens. We discuss the difference between ordinary turbulence and a structural problem, why bilateral conversations with partners matter, how to keep the consortium aligned and why the project officer should hear about emerging problems early rather than receive surprises later.

We then move into adjusting the project itself: tasks, resources, budgets, formal amendments, documentation and the knock-on effects across the rest of the project. Antonietta also explains why a technically disappointing result does not necessarily mean that the work has no value—and why negotiations around money and budget reallocation can be the toughest challenge of all.

Time codes:
02:11 Guest introduction and fly in
05:56 Recognising That the Plan Is No Longer Working
19:02 Leading the Consortium Through Uncertainty
28:47 Adjusting the Project Without Losing the Project
45:04 When Failure Creates Better Results
53:57 Reflections and Advice
56:53 The toughest challenge

Inside the Proposal Deadline – Life at a Grant Consultancy
An in-person recording with Søren Houmøller, Maria Battistel and Tereza Marie-Jo Berk from 1st Mile
Check out the episode website with links, photos from the session etc.

What does a grant consultancy actually look like when several proposal deadlines are approaching at once?
For episode #243, I visit 1st Mile at DTU during a busy proposal period. Together with founder Søren Houmøller and team members Maria Battistel and Tereza Marie-Jo Berk, I look behind the scenes at how a small consultancy organises several applications in parallel: who manages the proposal, who writes what, how budgets and work plans are handled, how people move between teams, and what happens when something goes wrong close to submission.

But this episode is just as much about people as proposals. We talk about the relationships with clients, why team fit matters, how 1st Mile tries to create enough redundancy for colleagues to step in when needed, and why being able to say “no” early can be healthier than promising something you cannot deliver. Finally, Søren explains how he thinks about leadership, recovery after deadlines and building a workplace where intense periods do not become the permanent norm.

Time codes:
00:00 Arrival & Introduction
04:40 What's on the Table?
13:31 Building Proposals as a Team
33:32 When the Deadline Takes Over
52:20 Managing the People Behind the Proposals
01:03:24 After the Deadline
01:12:03 Goodbye

Testing the RM Framework – What the Pilots Taught Us
RM Framework Series #10 with Marcos Gomes

Check out the episode website for more information

In episode #10 of the RM Framework Series, I’m joined again by Marcos Gomes from the University of Coimbra to look at the first lessons from the project’s pilot-testing phase. Different training providers across Europe have been using the draft handbook, working with RM Comp and testing elements of the proposed quality label in real training environments. The purpose was simple: does the framework actually work outside the project consortium?

Marcos shares the patterns emerging from the feedback. The framework provides useful structure, but testers also asked for more practical examples, templates and guidance. And one message comes through particularly strongly: the goal is not to create one standard European training programme. It is to establish a shared foundation that different organisations can adapt to their own educational, institutional and national realities.

Time codes:
01:50 Guest introduction and fly in
05:24 How the Pilot Testing Was Done
09:15 What Did the Pilots Tell Us?
30:20 Reflections & Next Steps

From Idea to Market – Building Walk With Path with EU Funding
An in-person conversation with founder Lise Pape

Check out the episode website

For episode #242, I travelled to Walk With Path’s Copenhagen office for an in-person conversation with founder Lise Pape. We start with the technology and the story behind it: a medtech journey influenced by Lise’s experience of her father’s Parkinson’s disease, followed by more than a decade of product development, clinical validation and work with users. Today, Walk With Path develops wearable technology including a connected sensor-based insole for mobility, gait analysis and diabetic foot care.

Then we follow the funding journey. Smaller grants eventually led to a €2.3 million SME Instrument project, and Walk With Path has since built experience across several European funding schemes and collaborative projects. Lise explains how a five-person company manages multiple funded projects alongside the commercial business, when external consultants make sense, how public support services can help, and why the long-term goal is increasingly to move from project funding towards commercial growth.
Time codes:
00:00 Arrival in Copenhagen
05:47 Guest introduction and fly in
08:22 The Company and the Story Behind
16:35 Experience with Funded Projects
39:12 Help and Support
44:40 What Have You Learned?
49:47 Future
52:33 Reflections and The Toughest Challenge