Iesel Van der Plancken

After a PhD and 12 years of research in food technology, Iesel Van der Plancken became an international grant advisor at the Research Coordination Office of KU Leuven, Belgium in 2012. At first she focused on collaborative projects, but since 2018 she devotes her time to the support of ERC applicants and grantees. True to her training, she applies a “farm to fork” strategy, stimulating young talents in paving the way towards an ERC application, giving advice on writing the proposal, coordinating the grant preparation or incoming grant transfers and following up on the smooth implementation of the projects and the communication of their results. Especially during the tough COVID years, this personal approach proved vital. She looks forward to further broaden her horizon and to collaborate with researchers from the antipode, welcoming them to KU Leuven, the leading Belgian university in the ERC programme since its start in 2007.