E.W. “Bert” Meijer is Distinguished University Professor in the Molecular Sciences, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology. After receiving his PhD degree at the University of Groningen with Hans Wynberg, he worked for 10 years in industry (Philips and DSM). In 1991 he was appointed in Eindhoven, while in the meantime he has part-time positions in Nijmegen, MPI-Mainz, Santa Barbara, CA and Sydney. Bert Meijer is a member of many editorial advisory boards, including Advanced Materials and is associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Bert Meijer has received several awards, including the Spinoza Award (2001), the ACS Award for Polymer Chemistry (2006), the AkzoNobel Science Award (2010), Cope Scholar Award of the ACS (2012), the Prelog Medal (2014), the Nagoya Gold Medal (2017), the Chirality Medal (2018) and the Van ‘t Hoff and Staudinger Medal (2022). In 2020 he is knighted by the king to be Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He is an honorable member of several academies and societies, including the US National Academy of Sciences and Royal Netherlands Academy of Science, where he is appointed to Academy Professor in 2014.

Sébastien Lecommandoux received his Ph.D. (1996) in Physical Chemistry from the University of Bordeaux. After a postdoctoral experience at the University of Illinois (UIUC, USA) in the group of Prof. Samuel I. Stupp, he started his academic career at the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques as Associate Professor in 1998 and was promoted to Full Professor at Bordeaux INP in 2005. He is currently Director of the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO-CNRS) and is leading the group “Polymers Self-Assembly and Life Sciences”. His research interests include the design of bio-inspired polymers for biomaterials design and tissue engineering, especially based on polypeptide, proteins and polysaccharide-based block copolymers self-assembly, the design of polymersomes for drug-delivery and theranostic, as well as biomimetic approaches toward design of synthetic viruses and artificial cells. He published over 200 publications in international journal, 6 book chapters and 12 patents (2 being licensed), with over 16000 citations (h-factor 63, Google Scholar). He is also co-director of the joint laboratory LCPO-L'OREAL and co-founder of Emissary Cosmetics. Sébastien Lecommandoux is recipient of the CNRS bronze medal (2004), Institut Universitaire de France Junior Chair (IUF 2007), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry RSC (2017), Seqens Award of the French Academy of Science (2019), Member of the Academia Europaea (2020). He has been Editor-in-Chief of Biomacromolecules (ACS) since 2020 after serving as Associate Editor since 2013. He is also in the Editorial Advisory Board of several international journals, including Bioconjugate Chemistry (ACS), Polymer Chemistry (RSC) and Biomaterials Science (RSC).

Helena Azevedo is an ERA Chair in Molecular Bioengineering at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S, University of Porto, Portugal) where she is leading the Molecular Biomaterials Group. Before, she was a Reader in Biomedical Engineering & Biomaterials at the School of Engineering & Materials Science in Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) where she took different roles and responsibilities. She was the Programme Director of the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering (2016-2022) and was the Director of Operations of the Institute of Bioengineering at QMUL (2015-2017). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) since 2017 and was appointed Member of the Materials Chemistry Division Council (RSC) in 2021. In 2021 she also became Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal Peptide Science (Wiley) and has been a Member of the Advisory Board of the RSC journal Molecular Systems Design & Engineering since 2016. Her work focuses on self-assembling biomaterial platforms for cell culture, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and biosensing. She is author of >100 publications, including papers in Science, Nat Chem, Nat Comm, Adv Funct Mater, Nano Lett, Adv Health Mater, and has edited 3 books on natural-based biomaterials, self-assembling biomaterials and soft matter for biomedical applications.

Alvaro Mata is Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials in the School of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Kansas, a Master's Degree from the University of Strathclyde, and a Doctor of Engineering Degree from Cleveland State University working with Prof. Shuvo Roy at the Cleveland Clinic. He conducted his postdoctoral training with Prof. Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University. His group focuses on bioinspired and biocooperative strategies to build with biomolecules by integrating biological organization processes with engineering principles. His work has led to eight patents or patent applications; publications in journals including Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, and Science Advances, and recognitions such as a Welcome Trust Frontiers Innovation Award, a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship, and an ERC Staring Grant. He is President-elect of the Mineralized Tissue Group of the International Association of Dental Research, Co-chair of the Manufacturing, Commercial and Regulatory Committee of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP2) - Smart Materials Hub, and Chief Innovation Officer of the company Ourobionics.

Patricia Dankers is professor in Biomedical Materials & Chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). She studied chemistry in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Her PhD studies were performed at TU/e, on supramolecular biomaterials (2006). She worked for SupraPolix, and the University Medical Center, Groningen. Her second PhD thesis work was performed in medical sciences on kidney regenerative medicine, in Groningen (2013). She worked at Northwestern University, Chicago, USA (2010). She climbed every step on the academic ladder, starting in 2008, ending in 2017 as full professor. She received Veni, Vidi (2008, 2017) and ERC starting, ERC PoC (2012, 2017) grants. She has been awarded the KNCV Gold Medal (2020) and the Ammodo Award for Fundamental Science (2021). She is a co-founder of the spin-off company UPyTher (2020). Recently, she was one of the main applicants on the funded Gravitation Program to fund the Research Center for Interactive Polymer Materials (IPM), in Eindhoven (2022).

Francesco Ricci is a full professor at the Chemistry Department of the University of Rome, Tor Vergata. His research interests lie in the fields of electrochemical sensors, DNA functional nanotechnology, DNA-based sensors, aptamers, conformational switching probes and smart drug-release. After the PhD in Chemistry earned in 2005 at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Francesco Ricci spent 2 years as a visiting post-doc researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Francesco Ricci has been awarded an International Marie Curie Outgoing Fellowship (2010), an ERC Starting Grant (2013) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2019). He is also the recipient of the inaugural 2017 ACS “Advances in Measurement Science Lectureship” Award, the 2017 “Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award on Analytical Science” and the 2021 Luigi Galvani Prize of the Bioelectrochemical Society. Francesco Ricci is author of more than 120 papers in ISI peer-reviewed journals that received more than 6000 citations so far (H-index=51).

Roxanne Kieltyka was born in Toronto, Canada. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a BSc in Materials Chemistry in June 2003. Shortly thereafter, she joined the group of Prof. Hanadi Sleiman at McGill University in Montreal, where she received her PhD degree in 2009. Her thesis was on the development of novel platinum-based complexes for the targeting of G-quadruplexes as an anticancer therapy. She then performed her postdoctoral work in the group of Prof. E.W. Meijer on the synthesis of supramolecular polymers for application in the biomedical field. Roxanne is an Associate Professor within the Supramolecular and Biomaterials Chemistry group at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry in Leiden University. In 2018, she was named one of the Talented 12 by C&E News. In 2019, she was awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council.

Thomas Hermans is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg and group leader of the Laboratory of Nonequilibrium Complex Systems (www.hermanslab.com). He received his PhD from the faculty of Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. E.W. (Bert) Meijer (2006-2010). Next, he joined the group of Prof. Bartosz Grzybowski at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral fellow (USA, 2010-2013). Prof. Hermans received the ERC Starting Grant 2017, Thieme Chemistry Award 2018, Prix Guy Ourisson 2018, Prix Forcheur J.-M. Lehn 2022, Prix Christiane Dietrich-Buchecker 2022, and is a Young Scientist at World Economic Forum, World Laureates Association 2019-2020, and junior chair at the Institut Universitaire de France 2022-2027. He is coordinating a European (ITN) network ‘Creanet’ on chemical reaction networks. The main goal of the lab is obtaining adaptive, self-healing, self-replicating and ultimately living materials using molecular self-assembly under far-from-equilibrium conditions. Prof. Hermans is also co-founder and CTO of Qfluidics, a company working on wall-less fluidics for flow chemistry and low-shear magnetostaltic pumping for transport of delicate biologicals.

Zaida Alvarez is currently a Ramon y Cajal and leading investigator of the biomaterials for neural regeneration group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Spain. She earned her PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering with Prof. Elisabeth Engel at Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2014. In 2015, as a self-funded postdoc she joined Professor Samuel Stupp’s laboratory, at Northwestern University in Chicago to work on peptide amphiphiles for neural regeneration where she published more than 15 papers in high impact factor journals. In 2019, she was promoted as an assistant professor at the department of medicine, at Feinberg Medical school at Northwestern University where she continued her research supramolecular materials for spinal cord regeneration and iPSCs modelling. She is also consulting engineering in a couple of companies in the USA, she has 4 patents already transferred to AmphixBio Incorporation and got numerous awards such as Young Baxter investigator award in 2019, and Rafael Hervada award in 2021.

Andreas Walther is a Gutenberg Research Professor and head of the “Life-Like Materials and Systems” lab at the University of Mainz in Germany. His research interests concentrate on developing and understanding hierarchical and metabolic self-assembly concepts inside and outside equilibrium, and on using them to create life-inspired materials systems with the capacity for active, adaptive and autonomous behavior. A. Walther is a two times ERC grantee, a founding PI of the DFG Cluster livMatS, a Max Planck Research Fellow, and a former Senior Fellow of the Freiburg and Strasbourg Institutes for Advanced Studies. He has published ca. 200 publications (h-index 63, ca. 17000 citations) and has been awarded the Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award (for Materials), the Reimund Stadler Young Investigator Award of the German Chemical Society, as well as the Hanwha-Total IUPAC Young Scientist Award awarded at the IUPAC World Polymer Congress.

Iva Pashkuleva holds PhD in Organic Synthesis from University of Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2008, she received Career Starting Grant under the Portuguese National Program “Compromisso com a Ciência” to work on the surface modification of biomaterials (with emphasis on starch and chitosan) to enhance their biocompatibility. In 2013 and in 2019, she was awarded two Development Career Grants under the Portuguese Program Investigador FCT and the program for Individual Scientific Employment Stimulus to establish a new research line focused on biofunctional glycans. Currently, she is a principal investigator in 3B's Research group, University of Minho where she leads a small team working at the interface of biomaterials, carbohydrate chemistry and supramolecular systems: the team develops and uses glycan supramolecular systems to gain fundamental insights into extracellular matrix organization, dynamics and function as well as to design adaptive and responsive biomaterials. So far, they have developed new analytical methods and platforms for characterization of challenging to measure glycan-protein and glycan-cell interactions; glycan-based delivery systems; selective cancer therapies based on biocatalytic self-assembly of glycan amphiphiles; and extracellular supramolecular mimics.

Manuel Melle-Franco graduated in Physical Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain, 96) and obtained an MSc in Materials Chemistry from the University of Kent (UK, 97). After that, Manuel took a PhD in Chemical Physics under Alan Chadwick from the University of Kent (UK, 2001) with a year abroad with Gianfranco Pacchioni at the Department of Materials Science in Milan (Italy). After his PhD, Manuel joined the group of Francesco Zerbetto at the Chemistry Department of the University of Bologna (Italy) to later move to Portugal to work at the University of Porto (2008) and the University of Minho (2011) in high-performance computing (2011). He works in CICECO since 2016 leading the Applied Computer Modelling Laboratory as a principal researcher. In his research, Manuel applies, mixes and develops computer models to understand experiments in molecular biology, organic chemistry, materials science and nanotechnology.

Ghislaine Vantomme is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at TU Eindhoven. She studied chemistry at l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (France) from 2006 to 2010. After a stay in the laboratory of Prof. Koji Nakanishi and Prof. Nina Berova at Columbia University (New York), she received a M.Sc. from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris). In 2014, she defended a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn at the Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires, Université de Strasbourg on dynamic covalent chemistry. Switching to materials chemistry, she joined TU Eindhoven as a postdoctoral fellow to work with Prof. Bert Meijer and developed photo-actuators based on liquid crystals networks in collaboration with Prof. Dirk Broer. In 2019, she was appointed Assistant Professor at TU Eindhoven. Her research interests include the understanding of the fundamentals of supramolecular chemistry and their translation into adaptive materials.

Claudio Perego holds a background in Theoretical Physics. He obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), where he studied the theoretical modelling of laser-driven plasma dynamics and ion acceleration. After the doctoral studies, he joined the group of M. Parrinello (USI/ETHZ Lugano, CH) as a postdoc where he developed and applied advanced sampling methods for Molecular Dynamics (MD) of liquids and crystallization from solution. Then, he extended his interests to biopolymer modelling, joining K. Kremer theory group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz (DE), as grantee of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship focused on the multi-scale computational study of entangled protein folding. Since 2019, he is part of the group of G. M. Pavan at SUPSI, in Lugano (CH), as tenured researcher. Claudio is involved in a number of research projects regarding the computational modelling of self-assembled supramolecular materials, with a particular focus on their complex monomer dynamics in- and out-of-equilibrium, which is at the basis of the fascinating properties like self-healing, stimuli-responsiveness, and bio-mimetic behaviour, that emerge at the macroscopic scale.

Rui Munhá has been a Science Officer in the Department of International Relations of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) since 2014. In 2020, he was appointed Coordinator of the National Contact Points in the Pillar of Scientific Excellence and in the Widening & ERA Part of Horizon Europe. Rui Munhá is also a National Delegate/National Contact Point for the European Research Council and for Widening & ERA, and he is a member of the Governing Board and Executive Board of the COST Association (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). He is also a contact point for the dialogue between FCT and the Associations of the Diaspora. Rui Munhá obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 2011, and he developed his scientific activity at the University of Lisbon, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), University of California (Irvine, USA) and the University of Aveiro, co-authoring 20 articles in international journals with over 500 citations, in addition to several invited oral communications. Rui was born in Lisbon, in 1979.

Gabriela Dima obtained a master’s degree in physical chemistry from the University of Bucharest in Romania in 1991. Between 1991 and 1996 she worked at the Institute of Environmental Protection in Galati (Romania) as the head of the regional environmental monitoring department. From 1996 till 2002, she was assistant professor at Department of Chemistry at the University of Bucharest. She obtained a PhD degree in the field of electrochemistry in 2002. Between 2002 and 2008, she was involved in different EU research projects as researcher at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). In 2009, she decided to focus on project management within the same department. She took care of the daily management of the Top Research School NRSC-Catalysis in the 2009-2016 period and the Netherlands node of the EU Network of Excellence IDECAT (2009-2010). Currently, she is a project manager and policy advisor at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at TU/e.

Amélie Delmon is working as an EU Research & Innovation grants officer at the University of Bordeaux (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and other Horizon Europe projects). She is specialized in the MSCA Doctoral Networks programme. Amélie has worked with the Erasmus + France Agency as a grants project manager (action 2: cooperation among organisations and institutions). She also has 3 years of experience in various project management and project development (Alliance française in Edmonton, Canada and Fédération des aînés franco-albertains in Edmonton, Canada).

Manuel Souto Salom (Valencia, 1988) is an Assistant Professor/Principal Researcher at CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials and at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Aveiro. He holds a double degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Valencia and from the École de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (ECPM) de Strasbourg. He also earned a Master’s degree in Molecular and Supramolecular Chemistry (2011) from the University of Strasbourg conducting his Master thesis at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, Lisbon). He obtained his PhD in Materials Science at Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) in 2016 conducting two research stays at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and at the University of Antwerp. In 2017, worked as postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Molecular Science/University of Valencia (ICMol-UV). Since 2019 he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Aveiro and in 2022 he was promoted to Principal Researcher. His research interests encompass molecular electronics and electroactive polymers. His main current research interest is the design and synthesis of new functional electroactive porous frameworks (e.g., COFs & MOFs) based on redox-active organic building blocks for applications in electronics and energy storage.

Nuno Gonçalves is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (MSCA PF 2021) at the Department of Chemistry/CICECO at University of Aveiro focusing his activities on the development of new 3D-printed photoactive materials for water treatment. Recently, he was awarded a Junior Researcher Grant (CEEC 2022) by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. He obtained the MSc in Chemistry from the University of Coimbra (2010). After, he worked as a researcher and development chemist in a spin-off (Luzitin, SA) from the University of Coimbra focused on the development of new biologically active substances and participated in the development of the first Portuguese oncological drug candidate. In 2021 he obtained his PhD in Chemical in Materials Sciences from the University of Turin in the frame of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (ITN) focused on a multidisciplinary approach to develop new technologies for the oxidation/reduction of contaminants of emerging concern from water. During this project, he also had short-term scientific missions at Aalborg University, LiqTech Inc. (Copenhagen), École Polytechnique and CNRS/Université Clermont Auvergne. His main current research interest is the development of innovative sustainable materials for the removal of water pollutants.

João Rocha is Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Aveiro (UAveiro), Portugal, since 1999 and was Director of the Associated Laboratory CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials between 2002-2021. Currently, he is the Coordinator of the Council of Associated Laboratories representing ca. 9,500 researchers. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC), Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, and Lisbon Academy of Sciences, and Fellow of the RSC and Chemistry Europe. He received the Romão Dias (2021) and Ferreira da Silva (2017) prizes from the Portuguese Chemical Society, the French-Portuguese prize from the Société Chimique de France (2020), the prize for Scientific Excellence from the Portuguese Science Foundation (2005), among others. He has been a member of evaluation panels of the prestigious ERC Starting and Advanced Grants and Coordinator of the Materials Engineering's evaluation panel of the ERC Consolidator Grants (2021, 2023).

Jon Yewdell graduated from Princeton University in 1975 with an AB in biochemistry and received MD and immunology PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Imperial College in London, he spent 4 years as an Assistant Professor at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. In 1987 he joined the Laboratory of Viral Diseases, NIAID, establishing the Cellular Biology Section that uses influenza A, CoV2 and other viruses as a convenient excuse to study basic elements of cell biology, virology, and immunology. He has written a book providing advice for young scientists that can be obtained gratis by emailing him: jyewdell@NIH.gov.

Catarina Moura is the Science Communication Officer at INL, within Research, Technology and Innovation Office. Catarina has an active role in supporting the INL research community to carry out research-oriented activities of relevance for communication. She also coordinates science communication initiatives that range from the organisation of scientific events to the establishment of relationships with the media, scientific experts, universities, and other research organisations. Catarina has worked as a scientist in the past years. Catarina studied Bioengineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, and she was awarded a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Southampton, UK, where she investigated novel diagnostic imaging techniques for bone and cartilage repair. Throughout her career, Catarina has always been involved in science communication. Catarina was part of an itinerant platform designed to help researchers share their work with the general public, and she participated in many international festivals like Glastonbury, working at the Science Tent, and the Cheltenham Science Festival. Catarina also worked at the Doctoral College in the UK, and her main responsibilities included the organisation of scientific activities for researchers as well as for non-scientific audiences.

Pedro Pombo is Director of Fábrica Centro Ciência Viva de Aveiro and teacher at the Department of Physics at the University of Aveiro. Pedro is an expert on Holography and Science Communication. In the field of laser optics, he develops research on pseudocolor holograms and educational holography. In the field of science communication, he develops science contents for exhibitions, science shows, labs, Maker Spaces and he has been the coordinator of several projects focused on public engagement on science and technology and on STEAM learning.

Bárbara Pinho is a science communicator with experience working with scientists and magazines like National Geographic, Chemistry World, Discover, and more. She specializes in science writing, social media management and consulting and is particularly interested in telling stories about technology, climate science and health. Bárbara earned a BSc degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, in 2018, and a MSc in Science Communication from the University of Sheffield, UK, in 2020, where she developed notable work in science writing for diverse audiences, communication skills, research methods and public relations.

Paulo Sérgio Santos currently works as communications manager at Católica Porto Business School. He graduated in Biology and earned an MSc in Ecology – Specialization in Advanced Ecology and an MSc in Teaching Biology and Geology. However, it was in writing and journalism (written and radio) that he found his passion. He started as Jornal Universitário de Coimbra’s Editor-in-Chief and news editor at Rádio Universidade de Coimbra. Then, he worked as press officer for the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra and Clube União 1919, a historic club from the city of students, and scientific content creator at Take the Wind. He also worked with brands such as Licor Beirão at the marketing agency 10.digital and taught regular, professional, and higher education classes. He has a passion for animal behavior, in particular primates, science communication, Lego, Harry Potter, and African Violets, which remind him of sunny afternoons at his grandmother’s house.

Moderator of the Roundtable

Adriano Cerqueira is a science journalist and producer of the podcast ‘90 Segundos de Ciência’. He has over ten years of experience in the field of science communication, having previously worked in journalism, media relations, design, and documentary filmmaking.Adriano is the author of the popular science book ‘Porque Flutuam os Meus Cereais?’, and holds a MSc degree in Multimedia from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, and a graduate degree in Communication Sciences.

Nesma El-Sayed Ibrahim received her BSc and MSc in pharmaceutical sciences from Alexandria University in Egypt. She then completed her PhD studies at Saarland University, Germany, investigating theranostic gelatin nanoparticles for antigen delivery and strategies for transcutaneous applications. During her Postdoc in the lab of Helder Santos at the University of Helsinki, Finland, she studied microneedles as platforms for drug delivery. Nesma joined Springer Nature in May 2022 for the launch of Nature Reviews Bioengineering. Nesma is based in Berlin, Germany.

As scientists, it is key to know how to write competitive scientific projects and grants to better convey our ideas and goals, disseminate our science, and secure funding to sustain our research activities and further develop our career.

This workshop aims to support scientists in improving their grant writing skills targeting competitive EU funding in the framework of Horizon Europe, in particular:

- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – Doctoral Networks (DN) and Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) – https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/doctoral-networks (MSCA DN) ; https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships (MSCA PF)

- European Research Council (ERC) Grants –  https://erc.europa.eu/homepage

- Widening actions (e.g., Twinning, Teaming, ERA-Chairs, ERA-Talents, COST) – https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/widening-participation-and-spreading-excellence_en#apply-for-funding

It will provide invaluable information on eligibility criteria, specific requirements of each action, as well as tips, good practices, guidance and advice from national and international experts and former grantees on how to prepare successful proposals under the aforementioned EU funding programmes.

This workshop aims to help and support undergraduate and graduate students, as well as early-career researchers in valuing their own strengths, identifying their own weaknesses and in developing and applying their skillset into practice in pursuing their career goals, preparing their career transition, and planning their career paths. It will provide them with the tools and guidance to assist in exploring different career options, promote their professional growth and boost their career development to reach their full potential, widen their career perspectives, and make conscious career choices. To achieve this, we count on an invited speaker that will share his expertise and experiences. One-on-one interactions will also follow but will be limited to the teams involved in the project.

Our daily lives are intrinsically dependent on the progression of the scientific knowledge and technological developments. Science is an integral part of our culture and science communication is an integral part of our role as scientists. Knowing how to effectively communicate science is vital for raising the interest, fostering interactions, and engaging with wider audiences, including the public in a two-way dialogue to be well informed about science and its impact in society and make better and conscious decisions.

This workshop will emphasize tips, good practices, and practical advice for improving your communication skills and effectively communicate your scientific discoveries in a clear and engaging way to be better perceived by different stakeholders.

We will host experienced passionate science communicators who will share their career journeys, experience and advice in building and maximizing your communication skills and becoming successful science communicators. Moreover, a roundtable will follow aiming to discuss why, more than ever, scientists should engage with the public, how to improve the communications skills and efficiently communicate to different audiences, identify new and innovative ways of science communication and engagement to bring science closer to society, main challenges and opportunities, and more.

Throughout an academic journey, writing scientific articles for being published in peer-reviewed journals is a common duty of scientists. Now, the quality of the manuscripts that a scientist publishes is an important parameter towards career progression. For that, it matters not only to have original and innovative ideas and research projects but also how do we transpose them and existing data into a manuscript. As such, knowing what and how to address each section of a manuscript is key to increase the likelihood of getting it accepted for publication in a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal.

In this workshop, tips, tricks and advice will be given to scientists on how to structure, write the different sections and prepare a manuscript for being published in a top-quality peer-reviewed journal, as well as choose the best journal for publishing your research. Moreover, you will learn what editors look for in a manuscript and gain invaluable insights about what happens behind the scenes during the publishing process for better navigating the peer-review process and editorial decisions.

Last, but not the least, our invited speaker will share her career path in transitioning from academia into a career in scientific publishing and what are her responsibilities as an editor of a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal.

As scientists, it is key to know how to write competitive scientific projects and grants to better convey our ideas and goals, disseminate our science, and secure funding to sustain our research activities and further develop our career.

This workshop aims to support scientists in improving their grant writing skills targeting competitive EU funding in the framework of Horizon Europe, in particular:

- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – Doctoral Networks (DN) and Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) – https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/doctoral-networks (MSCA DN) ; https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/postdoctoral-fellowships (MSCA PF)

- European Research Council (ERC) Grants –  https://erc.europa.eu/homepage

- Widening actions (e.g., Twinning, Teaming, ERA-Chairs, ERA-Talents, COST) – https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe/widening-participation-and-spreading-excellence_en#apply-for-funding

It will provide invaluable information on eligibility criteria, specific requirements of each action, as well as tips, good practices, guidance and advice from national and international experts and former grantees on how to prepare successful proposals under the aforementioned EU funding programmes.

Registration fees for students and early-career/senior researchers and professors include:

- Access to the full scientific and soft skills program and materials

- Welcome reception on Sunday, March 19th

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

- Social program on Tuesday, March 21st

 

Registration fees for accompanying persons include:

- Welcome reception on Sunday, March 19th

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

- Social program on Tuesday, March 21st 

Registration fees for students and early-career/senior researchers and professors include:

- Access to the full scientific program and materials

- Welcome reception on Sunday, March 19th

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

- Social program on Tuesday, March 21st

 

Registration fees for accompanying persons include:

- Welcome reception on Sunday, March 19th

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

- Social program on Tuesday, March 21st 

Registration fees for students and early-career/senior researchers and professors include:

- Access to the full soft skills program and materials

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

 

Registration fees for accompanying persons include:

- Coffee breaks and lunches 

Located in the Central of Portugal, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Aveiro is a popular tourist destination, famed for its canals, Nouveau architecture and colorfully Moliceiro boats. Famous for its unique lagoon and canals, Aveiro is known as “The Portuguese Venice”.

Aveiro is located 1 h from Porto Airport and approximately 2 h from Lisbon Airport. 

 

From Porto Airport

 

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (Porto Airport) is located 80 km north of the city of Aveiro. The train is the best and cheapest way to get to Aveiro, as it takes you close to the city center. To get to the train, you can either take the metro from the airport or a taxi to the main train station in Porto (Porto – Campanhã): 

- A taxi costs about 25 € and the journey from Porto airport to Porto – Campanhã train station takes about 25 min. 

-The Metro (title Z4 Andante ticket) costs about 2.60 € and takes about 40 min from Porto airport to Porto – Campanhã train station (Line E: Aeroporto – Estádio do Dragão).

 

When you are at Porto – Campanhã train station, you can take the train to Aveiro. You have several options: 

- High-speed Intercidades and Alfa Pendular trains take about 50 min to reach Aveiro but are a bit more expensive (Intercidades costs about 13 € and Alfa Pendular between 15-21 €).

- Local suburban trains offer a regular service throughout the day. The trip takes about 70 min and costs 3.55 €. 

You can find the timetable of the different trains here: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

The Aveiro train station is within walking distance (15 minutes) from the city center. From the Aveiro train station you can also take the Bus or Taxi to move around the city.

 

Alternatively, you can also rent a car at Porto airport and drive south to Aveiro. This is a 75 km trip, mostly on the highway, and should take about 1 h. 

 

 

From Lisbon Airport

 

Portela / Humberto Delgado Airport (Lisbon Airport) is located about 250 km south of the city of Aveiro. As this is a long trip, the best is to take a train from Lisbon to Aveiro using an Intercidades or an Alfa Pendular train.

 

To go from the Lisbon Airport to the main train station (Lisboa – Oriente), you can: 

- Take the Metro, using the red line to Oriente train station. The ticket costs just 1.50 €.

- Take a taxi, which costs about 10 € and takes around 15 min. 

- Take the bus (705 and 744 ) to the bus station Oriente, which costs about 1.80 €. You can buy your ticket inside the bus.

 

When you get to Lisbon – Oriente train station, you can take the high-speed Intercidades or Alfa Pendular train to Aveiro. The Intercidades and Alfa Pendular trains take about 2 h and 2h30 min, respectively, to reach Aveiro Intercidades costs between 21-31 € and Alfa Pendular between 28-40 €).

- Local suburban trains offer a regular service throughout the day. The trip takes about 70 min and costs 3.55 €. 

You can find the timetable of the different trains here: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times

The Aveiro train station is within walking distance (15 minutes) from the city center. From the Aveiro train station you can also take the Bus or Taxi to move around the city.

 

Alternatively, you can also rent a car at Lisbon airport and drive north to Aveiro. This is a 255 km trip, mostly on the highway, and should take about 2h45 min. 

Hotel Imperial *** 

Address: Rua Dr. Nascimento Leitão, 1, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234380150 

Email: reservas@hotelimperial.pt  

Website: www.hotelimperial.pt  

 

Hotel Afonso V *** 

Address: Rua de Dr. Manuel das Neves, 3810-101, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 425 191 

Email: info@hotelafonsov.pt  

Website: https://www.hotelafonsov.pt/  

 

Veneza Hotel *** 

Address: Rua Luís Gomes de Carvalho 23, 3800-211 Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 404 400 

Email: reservas@venezahotel.pt  

Website: https://www.venezahotel.pt/  

 

Hotel das Salinas *** 

Address: Rua da Liberdade 10, 3810-126, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 404 190 

Email: reservas@hoteldassalinas.com  

Website: https://www.hoteldassalinas.com/  

 

Hotel Jardim *** 

Address: Praceta D. Afonso V, 3810-094, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 426 514 

Email: info@hoteljardim.pt  

Website: https://www.hoteljardim.pt  

 

Hotel Aveiro Center *** 

Address: Rua da Arrochela 6, 3810-052, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 380 390 

Email: reservas@hotelaveirocenter.com  

Website: https://www.hotelaveirocenter.com/  

 

Meliã Ria Hotel & Spa **** 

Address: Cais da Fonte Nova, Lote 5, 3810-200, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 401 000 

Email: melia.ria@meliaportugal.com  

Website: https://www.meliaria.com  

 

Hotel Aveiro Palace **** 

Address: Rua de Viana do Castelo 4, 3800-275, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 421 885 

Email: geral@hotelaveiropalace.com  

Website: https://www.hotelaveiropalace.com/  

 

Hotel As Américas **** 

Address: Rua Eng. Von Haff 20, 3800-176, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 346 010 

Email: info@hotelasamericas.com  

Website: https://www.hotelasamericas.com/  

 

Hotel Moliceiro **** 

Address: Rua Dr. Barbosa de Magalhães 15/17, 3800-154, Aveiro 

Phone: +351 234 377 400 

Email: hotelmoliceiro@hotelmoliceiro.pt  

Website: https://www.hotelmoliceiro.pt/