Kick off meeting and SiC Workshop
15-16 January 2015 - University of Trieste, Italy.

First IPCOS school and meeting
8-10 February 2016 - University of Trieste, Italy.

From the 8th to the 10th of February, students (ESRs) and Scientifics in Charge (SiCs) being part of the IPCOS network met at the University of Trieste, to take part in the first IPCOS school.
The program of the School was based on lectures and practical trainings by experts, about (amongst others) Principles of molecular recognition, Chemical tools to recognition elements, Modelling of biorecognition systems, Chemistry of bioactive compounds in food, Monitoring of bioactive compounds in food, Validation of analytical methods and applications in food science... In addition participants received trainings on important subjects like “The ABC guide to a successful PhD", and “How to give a scientific presentation". It was also the first time that all ESRs got to meet each other, as the IPCOS team is now complete.

You can find more information about the first IPCOS school in our Newsletter.

Illy Workshop
1st and 2nd of September 2016 - Illy Headquarters, Trieste, Italy

The first specialised IPCOS workshop “Coffee Research and Quality” was held at illycaffè headquarters in Trieste on the 1st and 2nd of September, 2016. All IPCOS partners and fellows attended the workshop which included seminars on case histories in coffee research, sensory analysis and a complementary training module on public speaking. The attendees also had the opportunity to visit the illycaffè production site.
Download the programme of the workshop here!

Mid term Review meeting
1st of December 2016 - UKRO offices, Brussels, Belgium

All members of the IPCOS team met for a one day meeting in Brussels with the IPCOS EC Project Officer Francisca Cuesta-Sanchez and an external molecular imprinting expert, Prof Maria Kempe, Lund University, Sweden. The Project Co-ordinator, Prof Marina Resmini, provided an overview of the project so far and all the ESRs presented their work and discussed the training and outreach events they had been involved in since the project began.

You can download the programme here.

The Second IPCOS school and meeting
6-9 February 2017 - Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), London, U.K.

The Second IPCOS “Winter” school took place at the QMUL Mile End campus in London in early February. Supervisors, ESRS and 5 external bursaries listened to some fascinating talks on various topics such as coffee economics, biosensors and computational chemistry.  The attendees also participated in an Unconscious Bias training course run by Challenge Consultancy and Prof Resmini gave two lectures on Interview and CV writing skills.

A Marie Curie Ambassador workshop was held in one of the afternoon sessions, where Masters students from the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and the School of Medicine and Dentistry were invited to listen to short presentations by past and present ESRs on various aspects of MSCA ITNs, including how to apply, what is involved and the advantages and disadvantages of this type of PhD programme.

On the final day of the School, the attendees of the school took a trip to Reading to attend a workshop on food technology and sensor evaluation, held at the University of Reading and organised by foodatp.

The annual meeting took place on Thursday the 9th of February. All ESRs gave 15 min presentations on their research. Prof Maria Moreno Cruz-Bondi ( Complutense University of Madrid) also gave a very interesting seminar on “Applications of Biooptics and Plane Wave Biosensors”. The meeting ended with the Supervisory Board meeting and an entertaining evening at a local London brewery!

The Third IPCOS school and meeting

10th-12th September, 2017, Hotel Calabona, Alghero, Sardinia.

The third and final “Summer” school was held on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia. The focus of the event was on sensors, nanomaterials and quality control in coffee analysis.

The School kicked off with several informal but constructive research meetings with all the ESRs and Scientists in Charge. On the following day, Prof Stanislav Miertus (University of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia) presented a fascinating talk on Biosensors: development, current trends and future prospects. This was followed by talks from two local research leaders: Dr Davide Carboni and Prof Pier Andrea Serra (both from the University of Sassari), who gave lectures on Nanomaterials and their Sensing Applications and Sensors Relating to Agrifood, respectively.

In the afternoon session, Dr Matjaz Peterka (COBIK) gave a lecture on Optical Sensors. The remainder of the day's session focused on transferable skills training, with a tutorial on Scientific Writing and Grant Applications by Prof Resmini and a CV writing workshop ( led by Dr Peterka). The ESRs found these modules extremely useful, given that they will soon complete their PhDs and start looking for employment.

On the final day of the School Dr Max Fabian ( Demus S.p.A.) gave a lecture on Quality Safety and Security in Coffee Analysis. This was followed by the annual meeting where Prof Resmini gave a brief Coordinator's report, before each ESR presented an in-depth update of their research. The school ended with a rather blustery team building event out on Alghero bay!

T & B Associati workshop on Product Design

16th November 2017, Trieste, Italy.

In the lead up to the COBIK workshop on Innovation and Entrepreneurship all ESRs and 2 external PhD students took part in a one day workshop organised by Associate Partner T & B Associati on product design in Trieste. The students spent and intensive day learning about the product design process and were introduced to the ISO9001 quality management system by Dr Adriano Savoini (Scientific Director at T & B Associati). They were also led through the steps undertaken from the first product or service concept developed in a company, down to the release of the validated product available for launch onto the market.

COBIK workshop on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

23rd-24th November 2017, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The final IPCOS workshop was hosted by COBIK (one of the IPCOS beneficiaries), and took place in Ljubljana at the Hekovnik Startup School over 2 days at the end of November. The first day of talks was given by Ms Mojca Frančeškin. who began the first session with an introduction to the basics of marketing. The attendees all had the opportunity to present themselves in an “elevator pitch”, which was very enlightening and created informative feedback and discussion amongst the group.

The second session focused on inter-organisational (B2B) marketing and a number of group exercises that incorporated exploring the hook model and unique selling points (USPs).

In the afternoon session, Ms Frančeškin discussed the four eternal foundations of effective marketing (product, price promotion and place). How to choose the product name, how to explain the benefits of a product and what advertising platforms to use were also discussed. The sessions were very interactive and greatly expanded and widened the knowledge of all attendees.

In the final module of the day, two of the main key exploitable results (KERs) identified as stemming from the IPCOS programme were discussed.  During this session, the ESRs pitched their KERs and were given valuable feedback from Ms Frančeškin and the attendees.

The second day of the workshop began with a fascinating talk by Ms Edita Krajnović (Director of Mediade) on “the development of a personal brand: why and how to do it”. Like the previous day, the session was very interactive and after a group exercise each member of the audience was given the opportunity to read out their personal mission statement. Ms Krajnović also provided good advice on how to improve our personal brand and what investors look for when sponsoring new initiatives.

In the final session of the workshop, Mr Filip Muki Dobranić, an entrepreneur at the Hekovnik Startup School, provided a more in depth module on investor pitching and how to set up a startup company. The students also had the opportunity to constructively use the feedback from the previous day’s session to improve their KER pitch, which they presented to the audience.  Overall, the workshop hosted by COBIK was a great success; both the students and SiCs were not only able to learn the most effective ways to bring a product to the market, but also on a personal level to promote who they are to the best of their ability.

IPCOS final meeting

11th July 2018, Trieste, Italy - more details coming soon.