Siena 13th-15th of November
The first GlycoNoVi workshop concluded recently on the 15th of November, in Siena, Italy. The workshop kickstarted on the 13th of November with the introduction of the individual candidates who participate in this project in the form of a short presentation. The candidates come from different countries even outside of the European Union: Duygu Bayat (Turkey), Somsekhar Sarkar (India), Marc Jeremie D. Punzalan (Philippines), Dileep Paladugu (India), Luca Pisapia (Italy), Henry Noah Flatau (Germany), Francisco José Morais Esteves (Portugal), Abhranil Gangopadhayya (India), Siyu Lin (China), Gergő Borka (Slovakia). The selected candidates work on the project in different parts of Europe in several hosting institutions and companies. The GlycoNoVi project is one of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the European Union therefore it promotes the conduction of quality research and constant communication between candidates as well as the exchange of individuals between participating institutions in the form of secondments – short research stays.
Throughout the workshop candidates participated in seminars in various scientific topics such as the synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides or the use of glycans in vaccine platforms. Furthermore, candidates familiarised themselves with the hard ethical questions concerning scientific advancements and how their research fits into the greater bioeconomy. The training session concluded with a few good advice from the supervisors on how to make the best of their PhD studies.
The workshop is not only about science, as it gave the candidates a good opportunity to bond with both their supervisors and each other during the social dinner party in the heart of the beautiful old town of Siena. The city has a rich cultural and architectural heritage and provided a delightful morning of exploration for the candidates.
This concludes the first workshop of GlycoNoVi. The next meeting will be held in Gent, Belgium in the spring of 2024.
