International summer school on Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies

*Recognition of ECTS depends on your home university.

Physical mobility

The physical component of NANOSUM 2024 will be a five-day international summer school (17-21 June) in Blaubeuren, Germany.

Here, leading teachers of the master studies from the five universities in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies will be holding seminars: hypotheses, approaches and research in fields as different as nanobiophysics, quantum technologies, nanofluidics, nanomedicine or soft matter physics will be presented.

This unique mix of presentations from different scientific disciplines reflects the diversity of the participant students and will support their transdisciplinary view and understanding of technological transformation by nanosciences and nanotechnology.

Another element of our summer school is dedicated to personal and professional development of our students. Therefore, former students of the nanoscience studies will be invited to present their projects and work experience in research, industry and economy during a half-day session. In the afternoon there will be round tables in speed dating format of professionals and students, to gain deeper insights into different potential future workplaces and fields of activity of our students.

A central element of the virtual BIP component - the "open problem" approach - reaches its peak in the physical part. As mentioned above, during NANOSUM 2024 the different student groups will present the outcomes for the solution of their "open problem". During the personal gathering at the summer school, periods will be reserved for in-person discussions and presentation rehearsals. Finally, a session of poster presentations is planned during the week, where students will be able to explain the conclusions of their previous remote work and to defend them in front of teachers of the school (as jury) and participants. Later, the jury selects and awards the most elaborated and prospective contributions.

This summer school also dedicates half a day to the potential impact of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology on sustainability, environment, and society, including issues related to the role of nanotechnologies in the environmental transition. Therefore, there will be seminars given by speakers from social sciences on these matters from their perspective. Afterwards, the "open problem" student groups will discuss and present their solutions in the light of ethical and socio-cultural considerations, i. e. in the context of UN´s Millenium Goals. All participants (students and teachers) will select the most convincing solutions from this contest.

*Important note: Housing (accommodation and meals) is arranged by the school. Students with a CIVIS mobility scholarship will have to pay the sum of 200€ for this housing.

Virtual part

The virtual part will be running between 3 May - 30 July 2024.

The virtual pre-summer school component of NANOSUM 2024 is focused on the "open problem" approach of the school. It will start with a general meeting to form mixed student groups from different universities, where actual research subjects are presented by teachers and scientific committee members of the school. Each group will be updated to the background, theory, and current state regarding their "open problem" to enable them to propose solutions to overcome them.

Therefore, this virtual activity will include advanced seminars by selected teachers on the proposed subjects, student meetings to prepare to solve their "open problem" and advisory meetings with their teachers. As one goal of this component, each group will present their conclusions and solutions at the summer school.

In the virtual post-summer school component of NANOSUM 2024 the student groups from the former "open problem" approach will each choose a seminar presentation of their choice from the summer school as a starting point to design a societal or industrial project to overcome problems of digital and technological transformation ("new ideas"). Finally, students will present and discuss their "new ideas" during a general remote session of oral presentations with participants from all five universities.

Requirements

This course is open to Master's and PhD's students at CIVIS member universities, studying Nanoscience/ Nanotechnology or the related Natural Sciences/ Engineering. Applicants should have a strong background in at least one of these fields: condensed matter physics, organic or inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, biophysics, cellular and molecular biology.

Participants should also have a good level of written and spoken English. Interdisciplinarity in natural sciences, critical interpretation of research data, innovativeness are considered a plus. 

NB: Visiting Students - Erasmus Funding Eligibility

To be eligible for your selected CIVIS programme, you must be a fully enrolled student at your CIVIS home university at the time you will be undertaking the programme. Click here to learn more about the eligibility criteria.

Students from CIVIS’ strategic partner universities in Africa cannot apply for participation in this course.

Application process

Send your application by filling in the online application form by 25 February 2024, also including:

• a detailed CV, containing a short section about your research interests;
• a transcripts of marks of the two last semesters (for master’s student) or of the whole master studies (for PhD). 

The applications will be evaluated according to the:

• individual fitting of the elected modules (for M. Sc. students) or research project (for PhD students) to the course program;
• marks;
• research interests.

Apply now

Assessment

The assessment will be based on:

• attendance;
• poster presentation and on-stage defense of "open problem" activity;
• oral presentation of "new ideas" project;
• report on the relationships between the proposed research activities and potential digital transformations. 

Blended Intensive Programme

This CIVIS course is a Blended Intensive Programme (BIP): a new format of Erasmus+ mobility which combines online teaching with a short trip to another campus to learn alongside students and professors across Europe. Click here to learn more about CIVIS BIPs.

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