Melissa Mancini, Research Manager secondment in UNSAM

Melissa Mancini is currently working as Research Manager at University of Camerino (Italy) in the Research and Technology Transfer Unit. She has +10 years of experience of both grant writing and project management, with an extensive knowledge of EU and International funding programs and procedures. She specializes in research and innovation projects, especially on ERC and MSCAs.

In order to exchange knowledge and practices on research management, especially related to the Horizon Europe programme and its funding opportunities, she has travelled to Argentina for a 1-month secondment in Instituto de Nanosistemas from UNSAM. Two seminars have been organized at UNSAM on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd of December, 2023 during the secondment.

In the first part of the day-one session, it has been covered the Horizon Europe's overall mission, basic rules of participation (focus on third countries) and legal aspects. Following this presentation, details of Pillar 1 were explored, specifically ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), diving deeper with a practical session to learn how to draft a grant application in MSC Postdoctoral Fellowship (PF) funding scheme. The talk also focused on how to find and to understand the specifics of calls for proposals, as well as how to navigate the application process and draft the Part B (technical part of the application).

In the day-two session, Pillar 2 was explored, the EU Policies at the basis of the Work Programmes and how to effectively find relevant project partners. In the second part of the session, a workshop on how to go from project idea to proposal development, using tools like 'Proposal Canvas' and 'Concept Note', was presented.

Melissa's secondment in UNSAM is taking place at the moment, from December 14th, 2023 to January 15th, 2024.