Workshop on communication skills presented by one of the ESRs.
On September 19, the ESRs of ETN NEW-MINE gathered in Aachen, Germany, for the second network-wide event. On Tuesday, a workshop on communication skills and pitch presentations was presented by one of the ESRs themselves, Giovanna Sauve. Afterwards, the Researchers Council adjourned to discuss any issues they wanted to bring to the attention of the Supervisory Board.
The next day, all the consortium partners were present for the ESR presentations. During a full day, all ESRs gave an overview of the progress they made during the last half year. All of them gave high quality presentations, reviewing the state of the art of their research, training, secondments and communication & dissemination activities. They demonstrated that they are on track and answered any questions raised by the supervisors and partners. In the evening, the Q&A session continued in a convivial atmosphere during a delicious dinner, offered by the host RWTH Aachen.
ESR presenting her progress, incl. a self-assessment.
On the third day, the ESRs followed several trainings on automated sorting technology for complex waste, and saw how a landfill can be managed at the Leppe landfill site nearby Aachen. Meanwhile, the supervisors joined for the Technical Steering Committee to review the state of the art per work package, and to discuss the general overview of the project workflow. After that meeting, during the Supervisory Board the consortium evaluated also the progress of the project in respect to the various deliverables and milestones. Finally, the various communication and dissemination activities the project organized so far were presented.
On the last day of the NWE, the ESR trainings continued and insights were shared about the “art of project management”; a lively discussion on “how to promote gender balance in research context” as a second soft skill training, concluded the second network-wide event.
Before returning home, some of the ESRs took advantage to explore some more of the culinary treasures of Aachen, indulged themselves in the chocolate factory shop of Lindt and visited the historical city center.
Goodbyes were exchanged and followed by “See you soon in Mechelen and Leuven for the Symposium on Enhanced Landfill Mining and our third Network-wide Event!”. Looking forward!
Group picture of the New-Mine consortium (Aachen, Sept. 2017)
