EVENTS

May 16, 2025

Training School: “Chemometrics for microplastics detection and monitoring”

The University of Brescia, Italy, will host the PRIORITY Training School on Chemometrics for Microplastics Detection and Monitoring from 16–18 June 2025.

This training school introduces chemometric techniques for microplastic research, equipping participants with essential tools for data analysis and interpretation. Through lectures, tutorials, and case studies, attendees will explore key methods such as data preprocessing, PCA, hyperspectral imaging, and PLS/PLS-DA. The course aims to enhance data-driven approaches for microplastic characterization, turning complex datasets into meaningful scientific insights.

This event is organized in collaboration with the Chemometric Group of the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society.

The scientific program in a nutshell:

Day 1: Introduction to Chemometrics, Data Structure, Data preprocessing, Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

Day 2: Hyperspectral imaging (HSI), Supervised quantitative modelling (regression)

Day 3: Partial Least Squares (PLS), Supervised qualitative modelling (classification)

Extra activities: Elevator Pitches, Networking activities

FINAL PROGRAM

CONFIRMED SPEAKER:

Davide Ballabio

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Emmanuel Cruz

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Paolo Oliveri

Università degli Studi di Genova

Giorgia Sciutto

Department of Chemistry, G. Ciamician – University of Bologna

May 16, 2025

Short Training Days

Small Training Days 2024 – Summary of Activities

As part of the COST Action CA20101 PRIORITY – GP3 call, we launched the Small Training Days 2024, introducing a fresh and dynamic approach to capacity building within our network.

Departing from the traditional model of large-scale training schools, the initiative offered specialized, interactive, and targeted learning opportunities through a series of small-scale events tailored to the specific needs of each Working Group.

Duration: April – September 2024
Format: 1–2-day focused training sessions
Collaborative design: Between the Action’s Core Group and host trainers
Objective: Deliver specialized knowledge, foster exchange, and strengthen collaborations across Europe

Key Outcomes

13 events successfully organized
160 participants in total
44 trainers
116 trainees

Wide geographical spread across COST countries, reflecting the inclusiveness and diversity of our network.

Each event provided a high-impact learning experience, enabling participants to develop new skills, exchange ideas, and build long-lasting collaborations within a focused and interactive environment.

February 29, 2024

Small training days: M3 Plastics: Measuring, Monitoring, Modelling of plastics in flowing waters

2-day small training event on Plastic transport experimental and field methods by COST Action PRIORITY in Vienna, 12th-13th April 2024 (just before EGU)

View Flyer

The Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research Wasserbaulabor at the University of Natural and Life Sciences (BOKU), in Vienna, Austria, will host the first PRIORITY small training – M3 Plastics: Measuring, Monitoring, Modelling of plastics in flowing waters, on 12-13 April 2024.

The event is framed in PRIORITY Working Group WG3, dedicated to instrumentation, modelling, data evaluation, software, and analytical procedures.

The program includes:

Laboratory Day with keynote on experimental design by dr. Daniel Valero (Imperial College, London), open discussion on the future of laboratory plastics research, and a demonstration laboratory test

Field Day with keynote on monitoring in the field by dr. Marcel Liedermann (BOKU, Vienna), open discussion on the future of plastics field reserch, and live field measurements

Other activities: Poster sessions, Networking activities.

The participation is FREE OF CHARGE.

The Small Training will be supported by PRIORITY, giving the chance to 8 selected participants to attend the event with PRIORITY contribution. The contribution will cover long-distance travel expenses (up to 400 EUR) and a daily allowance to cover the remaining expenses of 100 EUR.

Eligible candidates for PRIORITY funding are early career researchers affiliated with entities in one of COST full/cooperating members, European RTD Organization, and Legal entity in Near Neighbour Countries.

Additionally, non-selected students will have the option to take part using their funds to cover travel and other expenses (up to 20 participants).

Deadline for registration is March 8th.

Decisions will be sent by March 15th.

Follow the link to register: https://forms.office.com/e/hD5rQ0qjBt

Contact details: Arianna Varrani, avarrani@igf.edu.pl

February 28, 2024

GP3 call

Description

These Small Training events represent a new concept with respect to the traditional model of Training Schools. In contrast to the singular large-scale training school model (as organized in the previous Grant Period, GP2, of PRIORITY COST Action, have a look here), this Grant Period, GP3, introduces a dynamic approach with smaller, distributed training events throughout the year (up to 8-10 training events). This innovative concept aims to empower a diverse array of host trainers to offer highly specialized and tailored training sessions for each Working Group.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, these small-scale training events, spanning one or two days (face-to-face), are collaboratively designed with the host trainers to precisely target specific trainees. Each event accommodates a limited number of participants in alignment with the host’s capacity. This agile and adaptive approach ensures that participants benefit from highly focused and personalized training, enabling the exchange of expertise and knowledge within a smaller, more interactive setting. The structure and scheduling of each Small Training event will be determined through an internal evaluation of potential host trainers with applications submitted during the first phase of the call. This evaluation process will follow an open call for applications for trainees held during the beginning of 2024 during the second phase. As a result, the Training Event Calendar is anticipated to commence around March 2024.

Output

Participants will acquire specialized knowledge and skills tailored to their needs, contributing to their professional development and expertise. These events will promote interaction and collaboration among participants, encouraging the sharing of experiences, ideas, and best practices. Over time, these events can contribute to the development of local or specialized expertise, benefiting the larger community.

Trainers

Selected Trainer Institutions will be granted with a Local Organizing Support (LOS) grant of 1000 eur for a one-day training, up to 2000 eur for a two-days training. For a face-to-face event, the LOS can cover, for example:

Rental for rooms, audio-visual (A/V) materials, and poster stands;
Photocopying and the printing of programmes, handouts, event materials, book of abstracts, book of proceedings, flyers etc.;
Refreshments (snacks and beverages not intended to substitute lunch nor dinner); • Collective bus transfer to the event venue; This refers to the transfer of all participants from a designated point to the event venue in the cases when the event venue is in a remote location without adequate public transport; This does not include airport transfer to hotels, bus transfer to the conference dinner or the bus reservation with a touristic purpose, which are not eligible in any case;
Field trip expenses if relevant to the objectives of the approved Training School;
Administrative support and secretarial expenses linked to hosting and organising the approved scientific activity.

The grant awarded to the Local Organiser is a contribution to the organisation of the Action event and does not necessarily correspond to the actual expenses incurred. The Local Organiser does not, necessarily, need to reimburse the difference between the actual expenses incurred and the grant amount received.

The Local Organiser Support grant shall always be paid into an institutional bank account and never into a personal bank account. The Local Organiser Support grant shall be paid after the event has taken place and the attendance list have been uploaded in e-COST. COST Association does not require any receipts or invoices from the Grant Holder institution to justify the amount granted to the Local Organiser except the attendance list.

Trainees

The selected trainees will receive a contribution from PRIORITY in the form of:

travel expenses contribution: reimbursement up to 400 eur for long distance travel (>101 km), on face-value basis
daily allowance: reimbursement of a daily allowance of 100 eur for all the remaining expenses – no registration fees requested for the attendance of the Training event.

Submission procedure

PHASE 1: “Call for Host” Deadline: 31/01/2024. The proposal must be submitted to Ula.Rozman@fkkt.uni-lj.si. For any information or requests refer to Ula.Rozman@fkkt.uni-lj.si.

PHASE 2: “Release of the Training Days Calendar”: expected by 15/02/2024

PHASE 3: “Call for Trainees”, Opening: 15/02/2024 Deadline: 28/02/2024. Template for the submission and detailed instructions will follow soon.

May 17, 2023

Second round of the Round Table on Microplastic standardization

Co-organized by PRIORITY and 21GRD07PlasticTrace

May 23, 2023 – Berlin (DE)

Hosted by BAM, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, Germany

RoundTable Flyer

October 18, 2022

Round Table on Microplastics standardization

Co-organizedby PRIORITY and 21GRD07PlasticTrace

18 October, Turin (IT)

Hosted by the Italian National Institute of Metrology Research (INRiM)
Strada delle Cacce, 91 -10135 Torino, ITALY

RoundTable Final

August 31, 2022

1st Full Action Meeting

4-5-6 July 2022 @ Brescia (IT)

Flyer 1st Full Action Meeting

May 25, 2022

Micro and nanoplastic pollution: detection and mitigation, present and future challenges

TRAINING SCHOOL – Micro and nanoplastic pollution: detection and mitigation, present and future challenges will be held in Naples (NA), Italy, from 28th to 30th September at the Partenope Congress Centre.

The presence of microplastics (MPs) has been assessed in all environmental compartments, in food/non food products becoming a global threat. Due to the complexity of the MPs pollution issues, different strategies are under study to mitigate this environmental problem and to prevent their entrance in the environment. This School will offer an overview on methods and techniques under investigation to early career researchers, to allow them to develop innovative solutions to detect and mitigate microplastics contamination.

The school is organized in the framework of the COST Action CA20101 PRIORITY – Plastics monitoring detection remediation recovery. The COST Action aims to develop a research network focused on developing, implementing, and consolidating strategies to tackle the global challenge of micro- and nanoplastic environmental pollution.

Due to the Covid situation and unpredictable sanitary restrictions the school is organised as an hybrid event including participation both in presence and online. At the moment it is possible to accept a maximum of 40 participants in presence.

February 9, 2023

Recent Trends in Microplastic Research

The Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena, Germany, will host the PRIORITY Training School – Recent Trends in Microplastic Research, 22-26 May, 2023.

The School is framed in PRIORITY Working Group WG3, dedicated to instrumentation, modelling, data evaluation, software, and analytical procedures.

The scientific program in a nutshell

Day 1: Experimental design, Fluorescence microscopy, development of staining protocols

Day 2: Vibrational spectroscopy

Day 3: Visit an ion accelerator (Dresden), Social activities

Day 4: Advanced Imaging

Day 5: Automated data analysis

Extra activities: Poster sessions, Lab tours, Mindfulness Training, Excursion to Dresden, Networking activities

The participation is FREE OF CHARGE.

The School will be supported by PRIORITY, giving the chance to 30 selected students to participate with PRIORITY contribution. The contribution will cover long-distance travel expenses (up to 400 EUR) and a daily allowance to cover the remaining expenses of 100 EUR.

Additionally, non-selected students will have the option to take part using their own funds to cover travel and other expenses (up to 20 participants).

To register and attend the training school a short abstract (250 words: Find template here) for the poster presentation is required.

Abstract submission opening: 08/02/2023

Abstract submission deadline: 15/03/2023

Expected decision: 03/04/2023

The abstract will be sent to the Action Chair and Vice Chair as a .pdf file renamed as “Name_Surname_Abstract”:

Stefania Federici: stefania.federici@unibs.it

Aleksandra Tubić: aleksandra.tubic@dh.uns.ac.rs

CONFIRMED SPEAKER:

Srumika Konde

Philipps University Marburg

Vittorio Bianco

Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems “E. Caianiello”, National Research Council (ISASI-CNR)

Sebastian Primpke

Alfred Wegener Institute, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Biosciences | Shelf Sea System Ecology

Pietro Gucciardi

Pietro Gucciardi (Institute for chemical and physical processes, National Research
Council | IPCB-CNR

Asena Boyadzhieva

Achtsam.Digital, Vienna, mind scientist and mindfulness educator

Giorgia Sciutto

Department of Chemistry, G. Ciamician – University of Bologna

Michael Schmitt

Institute of Physical Chemistry, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena

Aurélie Jost

Balance of the Microverse Cluster of Excellence, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena

Christoph Krafft

Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)

Rainer Heintzmann

Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)

Moritz Bigalke

Institute for Applied Geosciences, Technical University of Darmstadt

LOCAL ORGANIZERS:

Julia Sophie Böke

Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)

Wolfgang Fritzsche

Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (IPHT)

May 25, 2022

Workshop for early career researchers: Best practices and expert insights

Are you about to start a research project on microplastic as part of your PhD or MSc program? Do you have questions or doubts about your experimental design or specific technical issues?

If so, this workshop is for you!

Key focus

The overarching goal of this conference is on increased interaction between students (Ph D candidates, early stage Postdocs) and field-leading experts. Through a series of novel and targeted interactive development and break-out sessions, we strive for active participation of a wide variety of scientists from different backgrounds to increase our collective understanding on the most important research questions in the field and up-to-date approaches in tackling microplastics research. In this way, the early career researchers not only have the opportunity to learn more about the scientific and methodological research and expand their scientific network by intense communication in small circles, but also learn career building skills which they can put into practice in their daily work.
This conference will have three main foci to help early career researchers become more knowledgeable in the field of environmental microplastics studies and be better equipped to be competent and confident researchers in the future. These include 1) key-note lectures by experts highlighting the state of the art in the field, 2) interactive sessions between students and experts for more in-depth scientific discussions and increased networking amongst participants and 3) student development sessions, where lectures are given to help students have the information and tools they need to work in the field of academic science.

Main objectives and importance for scientific co-operation

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of such a large and multi-faceted topic, microplastic research attracts scientist from very diverse disciplines ranging from polymer chemists to environmental scientists to human and eco-toxicologists. This requires cooperation and collaboration amongst scientists in order to both ask the correct questions and to correctly interpret results, but understanding the viewpoints of those who have a different scientific background is not always easy because of the different language and methodologies which are used within each field. Especially for early career researchers, learning how to communicate with each other well will help them navigate and properly evaluate the wide variety of studies which are published today, and help them to start thinking beyond their own field of research. Additionally, by strengthening their scientific networks, both within peer circles and being able to approach experts more easily, they will be able to get the advice and help they need to conduct their best research.

With this conference, we aim to increased the confidence and scientific development of early career researchers working in the field, so that we can support ambitious and talented young students in their efforts to understand the impacts and implications of (micro)plastics pollution in the environment.

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