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Last week was held the 2nd edition of the EU-CONEXUS Summer School in Open Science, in Valencia, Spain, organized by the partner university Catholic University of Valencia. About 50 participants, 36 of them were PhD students from the 9 partner universities of
EU-CONEXUS, 11 outstanding guest lecturers and another local guest.

The kick start was at the marvelous building next to the port of Valencia, Veles e Vents, that brought the right environment to addressing the topic of Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability. With the welcoming words of Jean-Marc Ogier, Chair of Governing Board at EU-CONEXUS, and José Manuel Pagán, Rector of the Catholic University of Valencia.

‘The emergence of EU-CONEXUS in our University has also meant a boost when it comes to extending research … We are committed to society and firmly believe that the results obtained from research should be transferred in an applied and useful way to our society. For this reason, we are proud to celebrate in Valencia this EU-CONEXUS summer school dedicated to open science.’

José Manuel Pagán, Rector of the Catholic University of Valencia

The sessions started with David Kane, about why the need of Open Science. He manages open access repository, and support researchers through training and advice at SETU Waterford. Then, the students presented their research thesis during the 3 Minutes Thesis challenge. They were grouped into different topic teams. Some interesting research lines mentioned were:

Technology

Christos Grapas (AUA): New technologies in rural and urban design, aiming at reinforcing local communities’ resilience towards crisis management.

Historical perspective 

Zrinka Džoić (UNIZD): Historical development of the concept of open science and its contemporary interpretations

Physical activity and health

Ioanna Georgiou (Frederik): Services, Programs and Structures to Support Adults in Autism Spectrum and Quality of Life of their Parents in Cyprus

Second day sessions with Daliborka Luketić and Zvjezdan Penezić, teachers at University of Zadar, and research advisors. The goal was to teach PhD students how to openly publish their work and the benefits of doing so. In line with the new policy EC and UNESCO on open science, one of the tasks was to show them how to find a suitable repository that allows open access and self-archiving of the work. The overall achievement was to help students develop a professional scientific culture based on the perspective of a new work culture that takes advantage of the open science movement.

The students received also the coaching and training about how to writing proper scientific articles, from Cristiana Croitoru and Ilinca Nastase, from Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest.

Third day sessions with Danica Ramljak, a Senior Science and Innovation Expert at the World Bank, providing expertise in science, innovation and commercialisation of knowledge for higher education and research institutions. Her session at the PhD Summer School focused on how to draft a research project proposal. A strong, well-structured proposal is crucial for obtaining necessary funds and for successful development and execution of the research project.   

Danica shared her knowledge of how the process of approvals of research project proposals usually looks like, and detailed the key points to remember when submitting applications to important international calls, such as Horizon2020.

Fourth day session with a local lecturer, Pablo Vidal, teacher and research advisor at the Catholic University of Valencia. He taught the participants about good practice sharing, networking and a practical case-session on successful global dissemination of research with the case of Paella Valenciana.

On the fifth and last day, a session with Rasa Ziliene, Klaipeda University, and James O’Sullivan, South East Technological University, both expert on intellectual property, with a theorical and practical presentation about writing a patent application.

The Summer School offered also cultural activities such city tour with a guide explaining main historic features of the city of Valencia. A boat trip in L’Albufera lagoon, protected park area, and a live Paella cooking to close the event.

The overall satisfaction is high, as we can see on student’s testimony:

‘The EU-CONEXUS PhD Summer School was a fantastic way for me to establish connections between my university and UCV. Both universities conduct very similar research, and attending the course allowed me to connect with fellow PhD students and professors who I intend to work with in the Future’

Dylan Power, SETU

‘EU-CONEXUS PhD Summer School a really great opportunity to learn more about open science publications: how to look for interdisciplinary team, how to prepare proper proposals and where to pay attention when writing articles, applying for scientific projects and patents. We got new colleagues (some of them even become friends), that will help us exchanging our findings, creating connections, support community within the future EU-CONEXUS events, conferences, research activities …’

Henrika Rugine, KU