Euresearch interview - Martina Pestoni, Grants Officer and Company Advisor Euresearch Office Università della Svizzera italiana

Università della Svizzera italiana hosts the regional Euresearch office, a non-profit organisation funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) which promotes and facilitates the participation of researchers, organisations and companies in European R&I projects and programmes.
Martina Pestoni is Grants Officer at SRIT and also works as advisor for the Euresearch Office at USI. Euresearch interviewed her:

How long have you been working for Euresearch and what was your career like beforehand?
I have been working for Euresearch for almost 10 years now. Before that, I did my Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Slavic studies, English literature and linguistics, and comparative literature, graduating from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lausanne in 2013. At the beginning of 2014, I joined the Euresearch Office Ticino, integrated in the Grants Office of the Università della Svizzera italiana. I always enjoyed being immersed in a multicultural environment – hence the humanistic studies – and therefore I was very lucky to find this particular job. The R&I landscape, with its many features and peculiarities, gives me the opportunity to constantly learn new things and be confronted with different approaches.

What are your daily work challenges?
In the current situation, where Switzerland is not associated to Horizon Europe, I have to pay more attention to eligibility conditions and participation requirements, as well as being ready to suggest alternative funding schemes. While this is quite challenging, it also motivates me in the sense that I am happy when I see that researchers are continuing to participate in EU projects.

What do you enjoy most about your work at Euresearch?
I love the interaction with researchers from all over the world who work in completely different domains. Helping people is what drives me in my daily work, so enabling researchers to focus mostly on the scientific part of a grant application, relieving them of some of the administrative burden, always pushes me forward. I also love being part of Euresearch because it is like a family. We are a strong network and support each other in the best possible way. I greatly enjoy the exchanges with colleagues all over Switzerland, sharing best practices but also common issues. I never feel alone!

What else inspires you?
In my free time, I love hiking and running in the woods. When I want to relax, I enjoy baking and taking care of my many plants. On weekends, I also do volunteer work in a fair-trade store, to try to make a small contribution to a sustainable development movement that puts people’s dignity and the planet first.

Facts & Figures – Euresearch Office USI for the Region Ticino
Being a small office allows us to support a wide range of researchers in different disciplines and at different career stages. We have many ongoing Horizon 2020 projects, especially ERC Grants, and now with Horizon Europe, we are starting to have more collaborative projects.

Read the full interview on the Euresearch website.

Interviewer: Maya Meier, Euresearch Communication Team