2. Almost one year...




Ciao, Hello, Salut!


The last time I posted I was very excited because I was going on holidays after a great experience at the 7WCSCM (http://www.7wcscm.com/Data/List/Welcome). If this is the first time you read my blog or you don’t remember you can have a look to my previous post. I've just found this picture of me during my presentation at the conference, and I want to share it with you. 😄


Well, now I’m not exactly in the same mood. As the title says at almost the end of my first year of PhD it’s time to make a point and review what I’ve done so far: is it a good work? Is it original? Is there something more I should have done? Where and what can I improve?
These are questions that I’m asking myself frequently in the last days. A PhD is not just working hard, your work has to provide something original to the scientific community. I’m learning that the above mentioned questions are really common among PhD students, especially at the end of each year.

Apart from that, exactly 2 weeks ago I was starting the Summer School in Palermo with my colleagues of SMARTI ETN (http://smartietn.eu/). 
In my first post I wrote a little bit about SMARTI but what I haven’t told you is that, as Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellows and part of a European Training Network, we meet each other (fellows, supervisors, coordinators) every 6 months (more or less). On these occasions we usually have a training week and a presentation of our progresses in the project.
So far we’ve had the:
-        Introductory week (12-16/02/2018 at the University of Nottingham) aimed to give a general overview of construction materials, and an introduction to both pavement and railways infrastructures. We also had the opportunity to improve our complementary skills, such us: presentation in public, how to plan our research, and how to disseminate it to a non-scientific community.


-   Outreach and Digital Marketing Skills week (22-25/05/2018 at the University of Nottingham) focused on the improvement of our communication skills. Together with technical competence, publications, presentations, and dissemination are key tools for a career in the research field.


-        Summer School: New Horizons in Sustainable Transport Infrastructures Engineering – Research & education (03-07/09/2018 in Palermo). This week was focused on one of the pillars of SMARTI: sustainability. The importance to integrate sustainability in the decision-making process for transport infrastructure projects was highlighted. This means: improve the durability, maximize the use of recycled materials, and minimize construction energy requirements.


These weeks are really good opportunities for learning and improving our technical and soft skills but we also like to enjoy and have a good time together. Group activities, drinks 🍺, and dinners 🍝 are always good ways to refresh after the lectures and get ready for the next day but also to create a team spirit. 😊
My favorite one? Try to guess….Of course the one in Palermo! 😀 Amazing location, weather, and food!
So what and where the next events?
-       The 29th of November we’ll be in Brussels for a dissemination event as part of the 2018 Smart Transport Alliance (STA) Annual conference. We will present “Progress of the Marie Curie fellowship, promoted by SMARTI ETN” in a 1-hour session where each fellow can present for 3 minutes.
-       In January there will be another training week in France. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I have more details.


I hope you’re all doing great guys. See you in the next post or maybe at the next event!!!


Ciao!

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