On 5th February 2024, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network (EuPRAXIA-DN) met for a Mid-term Check to review and celebrate the project achievements and milestones.
The meeting kicked off with a welcome from Cockcroft member and Network Coordinator Prof Carsten P. Welsch and an introduction by the Research Executive Agency (REA) Project Officer Dr Ana Maria Grigore. This was followed by a “tour de table” where all Fellows and representatives from project partners introduced themselves and their roles in the project.
Prior to the project update, Dr Grigore gave an informative presentation on the MSCA Doctoral Network initiative, reminding the Coordinator, the Fellows and all partners of the processes and obligations. Prof Welsch then presented an overview of progress made in research, training and networking, as well as aspects of the management of the contract. He spoke about the EuPRAXIA-DN training model, the events delivered so far, unique collaborations with other training initiatives and their impact on the fellows’ training. This approach was recognized as good practice in doctoral training by the European Commission. He also presented a summary of the project wide communication and significant outreach involvement that help raise the visibility of the EuPRAXIA-DN and the wider EuPRAXIA project, highlighting the EuPRAXIA-DN film produced by the Fellows during the Media Training week, project presentations at local outreach events as well as international conferences and meetings such as IPAC, APS, Physics of Star Wars. Prof Welsch concluded his presentation with a positive outlook as the project successfully met all deliverables and milestones thanks to joint effort of the Consortium.
The individual presentations of the EuPRAXIA-DN Fellows were a central part of the meeting. 10 of the 11 recruited Fellows were presented and delivered talks on their project progress in such aspects as research, training and dissemination, as well as their experiences in the network. One Fellow was unable to attend due to a schedule conflict with a training that is essential to his project. Recruitment of the final Fellow is being finalised and we look forward to having all 12 Fellows present at the next Network meeting.
The Fellows then met with the Project Officer to discuss their experiences and views on the project in more detail. Meanwhile the Consortium representatives gathered for a Supervisory Board meeting to discuss project reporting and plan future events.
The meeting finished with a brief summary by the Project Officer, who recognized a very good progress of the EuPRAXIA-DN project and congratulated all Fellows on their results and achievements within only one year from the project commencement.