Meet the Founder:
Viola Hay
I am an EU funding specialist with 19 years of experience in technology, innovation and European and international programmes management.
My original background is in Humanities and Arts. I am used to dealing with high-performing individuals, who are specialists at what they do. Being a generalist myself with a keen attention to detail, I am sector and technology agnostic and, therefore, able to ask the tough, strategic questions providing an independent and impartial viewpoint without any bias towards any specific domain.
Through my jobs at a Research and Technology Organisation near Cambridge, Innovate UK's Knowledge Transfer Network (now Innovate UK Business Connect) and Anchored In, I was able to build my knowledge of the UK's innovation ecosystem and gain specialist expertise in Innovate UK / UKRI and European Programmes and funding schemes (from FP7, ERDF, H2020 to Horizon Europe). I provide mentoring, coaching, training and grant reviews to UK applicants wanting to access Innovate UK or Horizon Europe funding. I was involved in managing and delivering numerous EU projects as interim Coordinator, Work Package and Task Leader, which allowed me to provide hands-on experience of what it’s like to be part of international R&D collaborations and the value and benefits they bring. EU-funded projects I have been involved in included: OCEANERA-NET, MenS, SCREEN, Smart Specialisation Hub, Photonics21, RCT4MANU and UFO.
I am a Monitoring Service Provider to Innovate UK for Horizon Europe projects covered under the UK government guarantee and an Expert Evaluator for the European Commission. In addtion, I am also the current Chair of UKQuantum's Working Group for International Collaboration and Trade,

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
1998 - 2003
M.A. in Cultural Studies and Musicology, University of Leipzig
2009 - 2014
B.A. (Hons) in Modern Languages (French and Spanish), Open University (part-time study)
EXPERIENCE
2025 - today
Expert Evaluator for the European Commission (contract)
2025 - today
Founder and Director - Amberstone Innovation (self-employed)
2023 - today
Chair of UKQuantum's Working Group for International Collaboration and Trade (voluntary position)
2023 - today
International Programmes Director - Anchored In (part-time)
2014 - 2023
Various Roles, incl. Knowledge Transfer Manager, Stakeholder Engagement Manager and European Programmes Manager - KTN Ltd
2006 - 2014
Various Roles, incl. Senior Project Leader and Community / Operations Manager - TWI Ltd and Energy Generation and Supply Knowledge Transfer Network
OTHER
Association for Project Management (PFQ)
PRINCE2 (Foundation & Practitioner)