On 26 March 2025, the ERA-Shuttle project hosted a dynamic webinar titled “Making Sense of the EU Maze: Navigating Your Way to EU Funding for Research & Innovation,” offering valuable insights into EU project proposal development and funding strategies for researchers and research support staff.
The session kicked off with a short description of the ERA-Shuttle project and the opportunities that this EU-funded initiative is offering to participating universities. This was followed by an engaging presentation by Rebecca Zammit, Head of EU Projects and Business Development at Across Limits, a Maltese SME addressing social challenges through trans-European R&I collaboration. Rebecca oversees EU-funded R&I projects and has been involved in project management since 2016, specializing in gender equality and education initiatives such as Women TechEU and WINBLUE. She holds a BA in European Studies and an MA in European Public Affairs.
Rebecca provided an in-depth overview of the EU project proposal process, helping attendees make sense of the complex EU funding landscape.
Participants gained practical advice on:
Understanding key EU funding programmes suitable for R&I.
Crafting concept notes and aligning them with relevant calls for proposals.
Building strong consortia and developing competitive proposals.
Ensuring balanced and complete submissions with a focus on dissemination and well-defined key performance indicators (KPIs).
This webinar served as a primer for the ERA-SHUTTLE Summer School in Gdańsk (September 2025), where participants will engage in a hands-on proposal writing course, applying the concepts introduced in this session. However, even for those not planning to attend the Summer School, the webinar provided a great opportunity to gain valuable insights into EU funding for Research & Innovation.
In line with ERA-Shuttle’s goal of boosting research and innovation capacity across Europe, the webinar outlined actionable next steps for participants, including:
Exploring secondment opportunities via the ERA-Shuttle website
Consulting national contact points for EU funding guidance
Registering as experts with the European Commission
Leveraging tools such as the Funding and Tenders Portal and CORDIS.
The recording of the webinar is now available below for anyone interested in advancing their engagement with EU research funding.
To further support researchers, additional webinars will be held in the coming months, covering related topics aligned with the project’s focus. Stay informed and keep an eye out for upcoming sessions.