Mr Raphael de Vivans is the CEO and founder of European Fund Management Consulting.

After ten years in the private sector as an SME manager, he decided to join the European Commission as an external auditor for the DG RTD. He has been in charge of on-the-spot controls of beneficiaries to ensure that their accounting and recording systems comply with the financial requirements of the RTD contract. His role was to verify that costs charged by contractors abide by the RTD contract. He was in charge of evaluating audit findings and proposing changes in the RTD contract’s systems, procedures, and financial aspects.

He audited public and private companies, Universities, Small & Medium size Enterprises, and non-profit organizations all over Europe. During these years, he realized that many beneficiaries have difficulties with the rules of the European contracts. Many of them are looking for support when they have to face administrative & financial issues in managing their projects and facing an audit carried out by the European Commission services. In addition, Raphael brings this experience to bear in constructing sound and eligible budgets for Horizon Europe proposals for applicants.

Marco Liviantoni is a Senior Expert Proposal Writer & Financial Expert for Horizon Europe. Marco is one of our Senior Trainers who delivers open trainings, and specialised in-house trainings all over Europe for a wide range of organisations. Marco specialises in the financial and administrative preparation of applicants for H2020 calls. In addition, he conducts pre-audits for organisations that wish to ensure they would pass an EC audit and delivers bespoke consultancy services related to EU projects.

He holds a degree in law from the University of Perugia (IT), 15 years of professional experience in EU affairs as a freelance consultant working with Public and Private Organisations such as Public Regional Agencies, Business Associations, Consulting Firms, Universities, Large Companies, and SMEs. He has also been the coordinator and project manager in many EU-funded projects under CIP-IEE, CIP-EEN, EuropeINNOVA initiative, FP6 and FP7, LDV DOI, COSME, H2020, EDII Initiative, EIT Digital, AL-INVEST IV, gaining a proficient knowledge of rules and procedures governing the EU programmes. Areas of expertise include internationalisation of SMEs, business start-up and incubation, innovation, strategies for business development. IMP3rove (A.T. Kerney) certified expert (level 1). Marco was also head of the European Projects Area at the Umbria Regional Agency for Internationalization from 2011 to 2017 and a lecturer at the University of Perugia.

Filipe Santos is a Senior Expert in European Union External Actions. Filipe specializes in the financial and administrative preparation of applicants for External Actions calls for proposals. Filipe was part of the INTPA team in charge of the PRAG, and he was more specifically in charge of the INTPA’s grants legal framework. In addition, he drafts grants guides for organizations who wish to ensure they pass an EC pillar assessment. He also delivers bespoke consultancy services related to EU External Actions projects.

He holds a degree in law from the University of Paris (Sorbonne), 21 years of professional experience in EU External Actions as an EU INTPA agent, and as a freelance consultant working with Public and Private entities such as NGOs, Local Authorities, Consultancy Firms, International Organizations. Filipe is also a certified trainer for INTPA and EU Delegations on call for tender and call for proposals rules and procedures.

Nina Pečoler has experience in EU Framework Programmes, business development, and research management. As a Senior Project Manager, she has extensive experience in grant writing and funding advice. She provides consultation services for pre-screening draft proposals for the Horizon Europe MSCA, ERC and Pillar II funding programmes. 

She has worked for more than fifteen years in the EC Framework Programme for Research, Development and Innovation (H2020 and HE), as well as other EU-funded programmes (ERDF, Cohesion Fund) as a Project proposal writer, Project manager, and Senior Expert in public and private institutions.  

At Cosylab, she manages projects for some of the world's most complex machines, including accelerators, telescopes, fusion reactors, and cancer therapy systems. She can assist in writing proposals and successfully execute complex research projects in accordance with national and EU regulations and requirements. 

She earned a degree in Economics at the University of Ljubljana (SI). Her interests include Energy, Environment, Health, Sustainable Development, and Tourism.

Dr George Violettas is a Senior Expert for Horizon Europe (Pillar 2) actions. He holds a PhD in the Internet of Things & security in such networks and an M.Sc. in Applied Informatics from the University of Macedonia in Greece. He further holds a 4-years B.Sc. in Computer Science from the Hellenic (Greek) Open University. He is a senior research fellow for four Horizon 2020 European projects. He worked for more than 15 years in the ICT industry as a CIO, R&D Officer, Project Manager, Software Engineer, and ICT Consultant for European Companies.

He has been delivering courses for more than 15 years in Universities, Vocational Institutes & Colleges, and still is a lecturer for the Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has been the Head of the ICT Department and a senior lecturer for the Lincoln College Group, an adjunct lecturer for business courses on a Master’s level, and an ICT Security consultant all over the Gulf. His scientific interests are focused on IoT devices and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) in Software-Defined Networks (SDN) and IoT security & cryptography over Cloud infrastructure, where he has several scientific publications.

Nicholas Borg Calleja is an expert in advising start-ups and established SMEs on how to leverage European and private funding to finance their high-tech projects that have the potential of disrupting existing markets and/or creating new markets, but lack the funds or full support of private investors due to the high market entry risks. 

Nicholas has helped a number of European companies, operating in diverse industries, to raise over EUR 10 Million in EU grant funds. A large portion of the assistance is provided in the formulation and writing of the proposal, as well as with the EIC Accelerator programme. Other assistance is provided with the implementation of funded projects. 

From the University of Malta, Nicholas holds a bachelor's degree (with honors) in electrical engineering and a master's degree in entrepreneurship. Nicholas, an engineer by profession, has worked as a lead researcher and project manager on numerous high-tech projects with international partners. Nicholas has advised start-ups and SMEs on technologies, business strategies, and funding.

Furthermore, Nicholas has gained first-hand experience working in high-tech, high-growth and high-risk organizations, where he served as Operations Manager and Chief Technology Officer. Combined with his funding expertise, he is able to better understand, connect, and coach clients seeking funding to accelerate innovation milestones.

Carole Maignan is a Senior Expert in Proposal Writing for collaborative research projects. Carole is one of our Senior Trainers who delivers proposal writing trainings, on-line and all over Europe for a wide range of organisations. She is specialised in the preparation of applicants for Horizon Europe, in particular for Pillar 2 calls. She has also been employed for over 5 years as a research facilitator at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in Italy where she supports researchers from all disciplines in every pre-award aspect of international and collaborative project design.

She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bordeaux (FR), a Master in Social Sciences in Money, Banking and Finance and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Birmingham (UK). She was a researcher and a consultant for 7 years in several universities and research centers, worked as an economist at the World Health Organisation for 3 years, and became a European Project Manager for 7 years in both public and private entities. Her interests are mostly lying in finding funding opportunities for challenges linked to green and blue growth but also in the interaction between economics and social sciences in diverse systems such as health and culture.

Dr. Ioannis Kotsiopoulos is the Senior Expert on Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Actions. From proposal writing to technical and project management, he has over 20 years of experience in funded research. In addition to his previous appointments with private and public organizations in Brussels, Greece and the UK, Ioannis has worked on European Commission service contracts, including studies, evaluations and reviews of research proposals and projects.

In addition to his Dipl-Ing degree from the National Technical University of Athens, Kotsiopoulos holds an MSc degree from the University of Manchester and a PhD degree from Imperial College London.

Jitka Eryilmaz has over 18 years of working experience in both industrial and academic environments. She holds a First-Class BSc degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Hertfordshire and a PhD in Structural Biology/Crystallography from the University of London, Birkbeck College. Jitka has a strong background in life science: Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology & Genetics, Food Science Pharmacology, Environmental and Health Science.

She worked as Postdoctoral Fellow Researcher and as Chief Scientific Officer in many well-recognized universities (University of London, Toronto University, Sabancı University) as well as many global companies (GSK, SGC, etc.). During her career she has supervised many Ph.D/M.Sc. students, published over 50 refereed articles/patents and coordinated multiple international projects, many of them awarded with international funding’s: FP7 - MSCA-IF; H2020-MSCA-ITN; FUND NEW CHEMICAL INNOVATIONS (NCI) LIFT; TÜBITAK.

Since 2017, Jitka has been appointed as an Expert Evaluator (EX2015D255614) by European Commission, evaluating proposals for H2020-MSCA and HE-MSCA under four scientific panels. In addition, she provides consultancy to universities, companies and research centers at international level.

Izabela Gostisa is a Senior Proposal Writing Expert and Project Management Expert.

For Horizon Europe and Interreg, she specializes in project proposal writing and project management.  Besides delivering open trainings, she also delivers specialized in-house trainings for a variety of companies in Europe and beyond. Prior to joining the EFMC, Izabela worked for the Central European Initiative (CEI), an international organization with headquarters in Italy. 

Izabela managed the organization’s participation in EU funded programs in her role as Senior Executive Officer and EU Project Manager.  Her experience includes managing numerous EU funded projects under FP7, Horizon2020, Interreg, Interact, and Intelligent Energy Europe. In addition to her Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting, she holds a Master’s degree in International Cooperation, Finance, and Development from Sapienza University of Rome. 

Axelos Global Services has also awarded her two Prince2 Project Management Certifications – Prince2 Foundation and Prince2 Practitioner – since 2021. Her specializations include environment and energy, tourism and mobility, and SME development.

Ivica IIic is an ERC & EIC Pathfinder Senior Expert with extensive experience in European Framework Programmes, with the focus on R&D&I, research management and administration. He is involved in grant writing and management since 2001, focus on professional grant consulting since 2008 onwards. He provides consultation services for pre-screening draft proposals for the Horizon Europe ERC and EIC Pathfinder funding programmes.

Ivica is involved in Framework Programmes since FP6, but he is also familiar with the funding instruments such as: ERDF, Cohesion Funds, Eureka/ Eurostar’s, CREA, LIFE, and similar. Roles exercised varies from support proposal writing to project and admin-fin management support.

He holds a Master degree in Comparative Local Development at the University of Trento, Italy. He is all-a rounder, excited to hear and discuss complex and challenging ideas to make the world a better place.