Night Science

← Night Science8 dec 2025 · 31 min

79 | Maria Leptin and creativity in grant writing

79 | Maria Leptin and creativity in grant writing8 dec 202531 min

Maria Leptin is the President of the ERC, the European Research Council, and Professor of genetics at the University of Cologne. In this episode, Maria describes her own path as one driven by observation and curiosity rather than long-term planning, and discusses why small, intellectually vibrant institutes often outperform large labs. We discuss how funding agencies can better support bold ideas, and we explore how to evaluate creativity in grant proposals and why a focus on feasibility can ...