In episode #238 of The Grant – the EU funding podcast, I’m joined by Luziana Hoxha from the Agricultural University of Tirana for a view into a part of the European research and funding landscape that receives far too little attention: the Western Balkans. Albania is associated with Horizon Europe, which means Albanian universities and researchers can participate in the programme and can in principle take both partner and coordinating roles. But formal eligibility does not automatically create equal participation. Luziana explains the practical gap between having access to European programmes and being able to compete with universities that have decades of consortium experience, mature research support structures, extensive laboratory infrastructure and deeply established European networks.

The episode therefore becomes a conversation about capacity, confidence and networks. We discuss how Erasmus+, earlier Tempus projects and other European programmes have helped universities modernise curricula, develop laboratories, build project offices and give researchers practical experience with international collaboration. Luziana also shares her own journey from working with EU projects to succeeding with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship, and how that changed both her confidence and her position in international research networks. Her central message is simple but important: researchers and institutions from the Western Balkans need to show up, contribute, build trust and keep applying. The challenge is not an absence of knowledge or potential; it is building the infrastructure, experience, visibility and relationships that allow that potential to become part of competitive European consortia.

Time codes:

01:55 Guest introduction and fly in

05:39 The View from Albania – What Opportunities Exist?

16:08 The Challenges of Competing in European Funding

32:18 Building Capacity Through European Collaboration

47:03 From Participant to Contributor

58:42 Reflections and advice

01:04:34 The toughest challenge