In episode #237 of The Grant, I’m joined by Patricia Castillo, Director of Impact at Eurecat, to explore the role of research and technology organisations, or RTOs, in the European innovation ecosystem. Patricia has spent more than 20 years working with research, innovation and European projects as a proposal writer, project manager, coordinator and trainer. She describes RTOs as applied research organisations positioned between universities, companies, start-ups and public authorities. Their role is not simply to transfer finished knowledge from a laboratory. It is to help turn promising research into technologies that can be manufactured, scaled, financed and used in the real world.

We then zoom in on the distinctive Spanish RTO model. Unlike several prominent European RTOs with stronger national baseline funding, Spanish RTOs are generally private non-profit organisations that combine industry contracts with competitive regional, national and European funding. That creates a constant balancing act. An organisation such as Eurecat must respond to companies’ immediate needs while investing years ahead in capabilities such as quantum technologies, cognitive robotics and biotechnology. Patricia explains why impact management therefore has to look beyond individual projects: at organisational direction, potential negative consequences of technology, long-term capacity, industrial relationships and the tacit knowledge accumulated by researchers working in real production environments. We also discuss falling proposal success rates, generative AI, research management and Patricia’s Spanish-language book on the complete lifecycle of publicly funded projects.

Time codes:

01:39 Guest introduction and fly in