Keep up to date with MuSIC activities and events here and on our social media pages.
3rd MuSIC Training Week in Aachen, November 2024
The MuSIC orchestra gathered from the 25th-29th November 2024, in Aachen, Germany for the 3rd MuSIC Training Week. Hosted by University Hospital RWTH Aachen, the Training Week once again offered the project partners and Doctoral Candidates the chance to meet together in person and benefit from each others’ experiences and knowledge, as well as enjoying some much deserved fun and socialising.
During dedicated Scrum sessions, DCs updated each other and the MuSIC supervisors on the progress of their research projects, with feedback shared, and next steps explored as the DCs venture into the mid-stages of their PhD journeys.
As with every Training Week, the DCs were offered a range of Training Modules by experts from the project partners and associated partners. Topics included cognitive function and human performance, indoor–outdoor environmental and human-centred monitoring for resilience, asymmetric environments and thermal alliesthesia, occupational and environmental medicine for indoor environments, and multi-sensory comfort under the IoT paradigm, all designed to furnish the DCs with a deeper understanding of the themes and concepts within the scope of MuSIC. Beyond this, the transferable skills module on CV fine-tuning ensures the DCs are well-equipped for life beyond their doctoral studies.
Participants were given a guided tour of University Hospital RWTH Aachen and its laboratories, and in addition to a visit to Aachen Cathedral and the Christmas Market (gluhwein optional!), a team-building event was held at Energeticon, an interactive museum, situated on the site of the former Anna II mine in the Wurmrevier, near Aachen. Much fun was had as everyone donned hardhats and explored this “Energy Experience” museum!
This penultimate Training Week sees the DCs enter into a vital stage of their research projects, and has provided them with much food for thought, and some great memories, before they meet again in Cyprus for the final Training Week in 2025. Stay tuned!
2nd MuSIC Video Miniseries Launched
September 2024 saw the launch of the 2nd MuSIC Video Miniseries, available on the project’s social media channels (links above, follow and subscribe), with all videos available on the MuSIC YouTube Channel.
The 2nd Miniseries will feature updates from all the Doctoral Candidates, with news on their research work, including experiments in the lab and out in the field, participatory studies, participation at conference and events and secondments to other MuSIC partners.
This miniseries also allows us to introduce you to many of the MuSIC partners, with videos from our supervisors and associated partners, as they tell us why they wanted to be involved in this innovative project and what they are contributing to both the training and research aspects of MuSIC.
Videos will be released through September and December 2024, so follow on our social media channels for updates and subscribe to the YouTube channel to keep up-to-date with the miniseries and to access our previous videos.
MuSIC 2nd Training Week in La Rochelle, France, May 2024
From the 27th-31st May 2024, the 2nd MuSIC Training Week took place, hosted by La Rochelle Université, France. With a whole week dedicated to the event, the Doctoral Candidates, supervisors, and associated partners had the luxury of time to spend on project management and research updates, training sessions and plenty of social team building opportunities.
As in the 1st Training Week, the DCs were put through their paces during an animated Scrum session, as they presented updates on their progress and were offered invaluable feedback to help them towards the next exciting stages of their research. Attendees were also invited to a session run by distinguished guest speaker Basile Chaix, Director of Research at INSERM, Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sorbonne Université, Paris.
The consortium benefitted from a guided tour of hosts La Rochelle Université’s LaSIE Laboratory, gaining an insight into the unit’s research facility, investigating the durability and protection of materials under environmental constraints across different scales of time and space.
As training is the focus of these regular events, the MuSIC supervisors and associated partner members provided a range of courses for the DCs, taking a deeper dive into the topic of multi-domain comfort, furnishing our DCs with the knowledge, and stoking their curiosity, to help them to develop their contributions to multi-sensory solutions for increasing human-building resilience in the face of climate change. Beyond the transfer of in-depth research knowledge, Transferable Skills training is also a key part of the MuSIC Training Weeks, with partners providing modules on Basic Data Processing and Visualization and Research Design.
And, of course, no MuSIC Training Week would be complete without ample opportunity to team build and socialise! This time, our orchestra were gifted the chance of enjoying an apéritif on board the Columbus, a guided tour of La Rochelle, and some excellent dining experiences. The 3rd Training Week will be held at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen on November 25th-29th, 2024, to which the MuSIC partners and Doctoral Candidates are already looking forward.
MuSIC DCs at the XXIV National Congress in Perugia, April 2024
The XXIV National Congress CIRIAF – Sustainable Development, Environmental Protection and Human Health was hosted at UNIPG on 11th April 2024. Three MuSIC DCs, DC 3 Christos Grapas and DC 1 Puneet Tomar from UNIPG and DC9 Toka Amer from EValTech R&D, participated in a dedicated session for PhD student project presentations and idea sharing, in which they each had five minutes to present their research projects, findings and discuss their goals, plus take part in an interactive Q&A session. The event took place at the Aula Magna of the Engineering Department of the Perugia University (Via Goffredo Duranti, 93, 06125 Perugia PG).
1st MuSIC Training Week
The 1st MuSIC Training Week took place in Perugia, Italy, on 15th-19th January 2024. The event was a great opportunity for the newly recruited Doctoral Candidates to have the chance (i) to physically meet each other, the MuSIC supervisors and co-supervisors belonging to partner institutions, (ii) to attend the NetScrum activity, (iii) to attend the scientific workshop, and 10 training modules that consisted of (iv) 8 Scientific & Technological Training modules and (v) 2 Transferable Skills Training modules. Invited guest Professor Ardeshir Mahdavi presented a workshop “Toward a science of occupant-centric environments”. Participants were also given a tour of the EValTech R&D Living Lab, showcasing its cutting edge, sustainable infrastructure and monitoring systems for environmental comfort. Hosted by Universita’ degli Studi di Perugia and EValTech R&D, the attendees were given a tour of the historic centre of Perugia and a gala dinner, wine tasting and tour at the impressive Tabarrini Winery in Montefalco. The whole week offered a collaborative, social environment for the MuSIC partners and DCs to get to know each other and explore their research projects. We look forward to the 2nd MuSIC Training Week, hosted by La Rochelle Universite, France, in May 2024.
Launch of MuSIC YouTube Miniseries
November 2023 saw the launch of the first YouTube Miniseries on the dedicated MuSIC YouTube channel. In this series, each MuSIC DC presents their own research project via a short film. Each week a new video was uploaded and all the videos can be accessed through the playlist. A new miniseries will be launched in autumn 2024, with updates on the DCs’ research.
Launch of MuSIC Newsletter
From November 2023 the MuSIC Newsletter will be published through LinkedIn. It will highlight research stories from the Doctoral Candidates, updates on secondments and events. Access the newsletter and subscribe!
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie (G.A. n. 101073357).