Thematic group EARMAimpact: Mingle with the impact people. Find out about their goals and active working groups. Learn how to join. Feel the energy.

Hosts: Andreas Westermoen, Petra Auer-Nahold

Petra Auer-Nahold

“I love bringing people together, and I am part of EARMAimpact to foster cultural change in impact awareness” Petra is one of the three chairs of EARMAimpact. She works as a Senior Support Specialist for international funding at Graz University of Technology in a team of experts for pre- and post-award support in national and international funding, for entrepreneurship and industrial liaisons as well as for IPR and exploitation.
​
With her communication and project management skills, Petra supports researchers in focusing on impact during proposal writing. She helps to identify the necessary stakeholders for an impactful research. Post-award, Petra works, scaffolding investigators in starting and executing their project in an efficient and satisfying way.

Petra has a background in Romance Studies and Cultural Management.

Andreas Westermoen

“The purpose of a research project should always be to improve the world, whether on long or short term”. Andreas is one of 10 Core Group members of EARMAimpact. He works as Senior advisor for Innovation and Research for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bergen and specializes in pre-award support for thematic, commercial and collaborative calls as well as IPR management and exploitation.

Andreas challenges and helps researchers to see their project from the impact perspective, and to draw clear logic lines from idea to workplan to stakeholder engagement to impact. His goal is to make them design their research with a vision that goes beyond the project.

Andreas has background in development of nanomaterial-based technology for solar energy, pollution removal and energy storage – and is also performing musician. He returned to academia in 2019 as an expert in obtaining public funding for high-risk projects.