Imagine an orchestra. Not a small chamber ensemble, but a full symphonic orchestra with dozens of instruments – violins, violas, oboes, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, percussion, and even a grand piano. Every musician on that stage is an exceptional performer!
Yet, what distinguishes a truly great orchestra from a random collection of instruments isn’t just the talent of its individual musicians, but the figure of its conductor. The conductor is the guide that sets the tempo, the intensity and shapes every single silence and dynamics nuance.
Likewise, at SPARK-e we are fortunate to have our very own conductor: our Project Manager. She is the one guiding us through the uncertainty. She knows exactly where our project started and what our goal is. She is, quite simply, the one who helps us get back to the right bar whenever things start sounding messy.
Alba H. Pérez Jimeno proudly states that she comes from a small village in a rural, underpopulated, underresourced area, which is commonly known as “empty Spain”. “I love showing that talent and career opportunities don’t only belong to big cities,” she says.
Pérez Jimeno left her hometown in León to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Salamanca, followed by a Master’s degree in Synthesis and molecular design of catalysis at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona. Later, she earned her PhD in Organic and Organometallic Chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ).
Through a blend of coincidence and serendipity, she ended up taking on a role as a project manager, also at ICIQ, initially. “This shift might seem unusual, as this role is more closely associated with administrative tasks and paperwork, but once I entered this world, I realised that project management is the perfect bridge between academic research and the real world,” she explains.
It is difficult to explain the project manager’s role. In a European project like SPARK-e, project managers work across areas, from identifying funding opportunities and assembling key partnerships to tracking tasks and encouraging researchers to bring ideas to life. They also manage the project’s resources before getting the grant, during the execution, and even after. It’s important to justify how we spend resources, especially since in SPARK-e all funding comes from publicly funded Horizon Europe projects.
Pérez Jimeno’s day-to-day work at the CIIAE, our coordinator in Extremadura, Spain, is incredibly dynamic, but it also easily summed up by one key task. “I interact with a wide variety of people from all kinds of backgrounds,” she explains. Her routine includes maintaining constant communication with research teams and funding agencies, managing meetings and schedules, tracking progress, and adapting plans when results arrive a little bit late.
Above all, her role is to ensure that all partners pull in the same direction – something that isn’t always easy. European projects bring together scientists from different countries, cultures and areas, including academia, industry, SMEs, and more! “In the end, it all comes down to communication: we try to find a common goal and we act as a bridge between different perspectives,” she says.
After all, our project manager is an anchor. Based at our coordinator’s headquarters in Spain, Pérez Jimeno counts on an overarching perspective to ground ambitious scientific concepts in the highly competitive landscape of European funding. “Generally speaking, I think the trend is towards being more cautious and ensuring the objectives of our proposal are entirely feasible. Anything can look great on paper, but not everything works in a laboratory,” she adds.
In her view, a project manager must be open-minded. “This is a profession where there are no set rules because they are constantly changing, so you must be willing to learn and embrace change”, she notes.
Anything can look great on paper, but not everything works in a laboratory
SPARK-e is not an orchestra, but it’s equally challenging. We’re a European project that brings together 12 partners from 8 countries. Cross-border communication can naturally present challenges, which is why we need professionals like Pérez Jimeno at CIIAE. With her passion, experience and patience, she will create the perfect symphony for us.