PHOTOTHERAPORT researchers Pau Gorostiza and Rossella Castagna recently took part in different events aimed to help new EIC Pathfinder proposals to be successful, by sharing they experience and expertise.
Every year several seminars and workshops are organized at universities and research institutions around Europe to assist researchers who wish to submit a proposal in the EIC Pathfinder Open, a very competitive programme managed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) that funds early-stage disruptive research projects, without thematic restrictions, with grants of up to €3 million, among them, PHOTOTHERAPORT. It aims to support pioneering scientific and technological developments that can generate new markets or transform existing ones.
Those specialised workshops are designed together with the Horizon Europe National Contact Points, to discuss the opportunities offered by the EIC Pathfinder Open. The aim is to provide practical and useful information on how to write successful proposals, through expert presentations.
In this context, Rossella Castagna, researcher leading PHOTOTHERAPORT project at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (LIOS), took part in an event organized by the Latvian Council of Science at the University of Latvia, on the 20 February. This event was held as an informal talk and counted with the participation of 25 researchers that aim to submit a proposal to the EIC Pathfinder Open program. Castagna introduced the topic of PHOTOTHERAPORT project to the audience and then shared some tips for the preparation of the proposal. Some of the questions she had to answer were: What was more challenging: developing the project idea and objectives, drafting the project outline, or bringing everything together into a coherent proposal? How difficult was it to form a strong consortium, and what were the key factors in selecting the right partners? or even How do you manage project milestones and ensure alignment with EIC expectations?
On the other hand, Pau Gorostiza, coordinator of PHOTOTHERAPORT project at the Institut of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona was also invited to share his experience as a grant recipient and coordinator of an EIC Pathfinder Open project to an audience of about 60 people. The event took place the 17 March in Barcelona and was organized by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) together with Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT).
Gorostiza took part in the round table entitled “How to convince in an EIC Pathfinder proposal” and provided insights on the writing process and key strategies to prepare successful proposals, highlighting subjects such as finding the correct equilibrium between innovation, risk and previous scientific knowledge. He also attracted the attention to the fact that the proposal shall be written collectively by all partners to transmit a homogeneous project and the good connection among those who will lead the project if granted.
The program of the event also counted on those topics: How to prove that the AI I use is robust? What Open Science practices should I follow in the Project? How to protect and exploit a new technology? What roadmap should a biomedical device follow to successfully reach the market and how can the EIC help you?
These learning and networking spaces are essential to promote innovative projects and promote scientific collaboration. For sure the participation of PHOTOTHERAPORT researchers provided very useful insights into proposal preparation strategies, as well as important advice to help researchers and managers succeed in the upcoming 2025 call.
