Member Spotlight – Rok Vogrin

Rok is a grant writer: he helps companies secure national and EU funding. Right now he’s working on a grant proposal at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity.

The job, as he describes it, comes down to clarity. “I try to make complex ideas easy to understand and help them get funded so they can make the impact.”

From research to grant writing

Rok started out as a researcher at the University of Maribor before moving into grant writing, “a nice combination of research and innovation.” It’s a role that sits right between understanding the science and telling its story well enough to fund it.

Landing in Kraków

Rok came to Kraków one summer and kept coming back. “Eventually I moved here.” He’s been in the city a few months now.

Yolk was, at first, simply the closest coworking place. What made him stay was the community: “I have worked at a few coworking spaces previously, but the community at Yolk stands out.”

The people

He’s met plenty of interesting people at Yolk who have, as he puts it, “probably contributed to both” his personal and professional life. And one conversation led somewhere he didn’t expect: “Yeah, I signed up for Pilates.” The people he’d like to meet more of? “Easy-going people who enjoy a not-so-serious conversation.”

Off the clock

When he’s not working, Rok is usually reading or doing something active like going to the gym. Something people at Yolk might not know: “I eat the same food every day, unless we go for lunch together.”

His recent recommendation is a book, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. “It has interesting insights not only about money, but life in general.”

Quick-fire

• ClubHouse or the quiet floor? Quiet floor.
• Coffee or tea? Coffee.
• Early start or late finish? Late finish.
• Headphones on or conversation first? Conversation first.
• Favourite Yolk event so far? Community breakfasts.
• Best lunch near Yolk? Chimera.
• One person at Yolk everyone should talk to? Marcin.