Download NEW Call ABWET - July

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SUMMARY OF THE ABWET PROGRAM

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project (For the final period, include the conclusions of the action)

The Advanced Biological Waste-to-Energy Technologies (ABWET) European Joint Doctorate (EJD) program provided education and research at PhD level on environmental technologies that convert waste materials into bioenergy, training Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to work in multidisciplinary teams. The ABWET EJD focused on fundamental and applied aspects of different treatment technologies as well as the development of innovative recovery technologies with high market potential. This makes the ABWET PhD alumni attractive scientists and engineers for European universities and companies, able to contribute to the global challenges of waste management, energy scarcity and sustainable development.

The ABWET EJD developed a joint PhD education and research curriculum with joint selection, supervision and PhD defense procedures in order to issue a fully joint PhD degree in Environmental Technology, recognized by the academic boards of the four beneficiaries (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio - Italy, Universita' Paris-Est France, UNESCO-IHE - The Netherlands and Tampere University of Technology Finland).

ESRs made an Individual Training Plan (ITP), with a workload of 40 ECTS, comprising mandatory and elective PhD courses, an annual PhD meeting and summer school, conferences, courses on research, management and transferable skills as well as language training. All ESRs also made an individual career development plan in order to assist them in designing their career paths and preparing them for the labor market.

ESRs prepared a research plan in their PhD proposal, detailing research work (140 ECTS), including secondments to other beneficiaries and partner organizations (35-54 ECTS). The latter is an international network of 17 partner organizations from academia, industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The PhD dissertation and defense were in English and ESRs were required to publish at least 3 papers in peer reviewed journals.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far (For the final period please include an overview of the results and their exploitation and dissemination)

The ABWET ESRs have publicly presented their research results during 2 dedicated conferences and 4 summer schools. All ABWET ESRs presented their results in other international conferences on their own topics. Dissemination of the activities has been and will be continuously implemented through:

Regarding ResearchGate and LinkedIn, the ESRs are requested to contribute to these groups by advertising their activities (participation to conferences, reporting publications related to their own work).


Progress beyond the state of the art, expected results until the end of the project and potential impacts (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The modern society needs an urgent shift to new engineered biotechnologies to achieve the millennium development goals and accomplish the energy transition from traditional fossil resources to sustainable alternatives. These technologies are aimed for the production of renewable energy and recovery of new resources from solid wastes and wastewater streams. Hence, a linear economy system, based on the “take-make-dispose” model, i.e. resources are “taken”, products are “made”, used and then “disposed” as waste, is no longer sustainable and should be entirely replaced by a new system of circular economy. This is based on the “take(reduced)-make-reuse&recycle” model, i.e. “reduced” resources are “taken” as products are “made” with mainly “reused&recycled” material, while energy is extracted from wastes as well. Science plays a critical role in making this possible by addressing the wide range of challenges that need to be overcome before a circular economy model can be widely adopted.

In this direction, novel research outcomes have been achieved during the implementation of the ABWET program in terms of:


The program has contributed to train specialists in environmental technologies and circular economy, able to understand the life-cycle of waste to energy processes, think and work in a multidisciplinary way, and cooperate with people having different educational backgrounds. During the secondments, the ESRs gained different research methodologies and approaches on how to look at the problems with different scientific viewpoints. During the summer schools and conferences, the ESRs have learnt focusing on transferrable skills such as entrepreneurship, presentation and communication. A close cooperation between different research organizations and industry provided the ESRs networking abilities and good chances of finding future employment.

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New Call open - July
Communication
Monday, July, 20, 2015
New Call open - July
      The University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (coordinator institution) has launched the second call of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie European Joint Doctorate (EJD) in Advanced Biological Waste-To-Energy Technologies (ABWET) for the academic year 2015-2016. ...read more
Management Assembly
Management
Tuesday, February, 17, 2015
Management Assembly
      Management structure of the ABWET European Joint Doctorate programme ...read more
Supervisory Board
Management
Monday, February, 16, 2015
Supervisory Board
       ...read more
Individual Research Project
Research
Sunday, February, 15, 2015
Individual Research Project
       ...read more
European Union University of Cassino Tampere University UNESCO-IHE Université Paris-Est Abwet