In late 2024, Ermo Daniëls joined Brightsite as a Subsidy Advisor for two days a week. In this role, he advises the program lines on funding opportunities and supports the preparation process, with a particular focus on developing strong and competitive proposals. With great enthusiasm, Ermo brings his broad expertise and energy to securing external funding for research and innovation within the Brightsite program.
Ermo has over twenty years of experience in research funding, project acquisition, and knowledge valorization at Maastricht University. As a policy and funding advisor, he supported various faculties in obtaining external research and education funding, ranging from regional and national programs to European and international funds. He initiated the Contract Research Centre, which helped professionalize the university’s approach to grant applications and project management. Over the years, Ermo has guided successful projects within European Framework Programmes, national funding schemes, and (EU) regional funds, and played a supporting role in setting up and implementing large-scale collaborative projects. He has also trained countless researchers, PhD candidates, and students in writing competitive grant proposals.
Currently, Ermo serves as Managing Director at the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM), where he contributes to funding acquisition and manages project portfolios (pre- and post-award services). With his extensive experience in networking, public-private partnerships, and policy development, he strengthens the university’s research and innovation capacity.
Ermo is a valuable addition to the Brightsite team, and we warmly welcome him on board. Guided by the principle that “for every opportunity, there is a match,” Brightsite aims to submit competitive proposals whenever suitable funding opportunities arise. Strategic acquisition of external resources and the expansion of networks will further strengthen and scale up the Brightsite initiative.