In this episode of The Grant, I have Oliver Cressall from Venturenomix in the virtual podcast studio to talk about a topic I’ve wanted to cover for years: young professionals in EU funding. Oliver is still early in his own journey, working mainly on the proposal support side with consortium building, partner coordination and the administrative side of project development. That makes this episode especially valuable, because the conversation stays close to the actual experience of being junior in the field: the jargon, the invisible barriers, the feeling that everyone else already understands the system, and the fear of saying the wrong thing in public or at a project meeting.

From there, we move into what the sector looks like from the junior perspective: where the entry points actually are, why many young people disqualify themselves before anyone else does, and what they are really looking for when they step into this world. Oliver talks about meaningful work, flexibility, mobility, autonomy and the chance to contribute to something larger than a paycheck — especially in areas like climate and sustainability. We also talk very openly about bad management, well-being, social media pressure, the need for safe spaces and why younger professionals need both real responsibility and real support if this field wants to keep them.

Time codes:

02:12 Guest introduction and fly in

09:05 The invisible barrier: “I’m not experienced enough”

22:25 Entry points into EU funding: more paths than you think

33:38 What young professionals are really looking for

44:37 Safe spaces and communities: why they matter

59:43 Advice to young professionals – and to the system

01:05:31 The toughest challenge