A kick off meeting for the new cohort of LIV.INNO students who started their PhDs at the beginning of October has taken place in Liverpool. It was the first chance for the eleven students who started in 2023 and their supervisors as well the directors and managers of the Centre for Doctoral Training to meet each other in person. This new cohort of students added to the first cohort of ten students makes this one of the largest training initiatives in data intensive science at the University of Liverpool.
The event started with a welcome address from LIV.INNO Director Prof Carsten Welsch and was followed by a talk from Deputy Director Dr David Hutchcroft. He gave a comprehensive overview of the training and events plan for the centre including the many lecture modules which will be available and some of the events which are planned. These include an outreach symposium for industry in 2026 and a researcher skills schools which will be held next month when the students will be joined by fellows from EuPRAXIA-DN.
There followed a talk on some of the more practical aspects of operating the centre from Centre Manager Naomi Smith before the new students were all asked to introduce themselves. They all spoke briefly about what they have done previously and the research they are about to start carrying out as part of LIV.INNO.
Deputy Director Dr Andreea Font contributed to the proceedings with a talk on Research and Innovation where she detailed some of the research which is being undertaken and explained to the students how they might achieve innovation.
The meeting also heard a talk from Business Development Manager Constantinos Astreos about the opportunities which are afforded from the centre’s links with industry, including the opportunity to undertake an industrial placement while enrolled on the LIV.INNO program.
Finally the meeting heard from Data Science Fellow Dr Alex Hill (who is also a former student of the predecessor to LIV.INNO – LIV.DAT) who explained his varied role and talked about some the research he hopes to undertake and events he hopes to organise.