In October and November 2023, the Doctoral School in Science and Engineering (DSSE) organised four research days to present current research projects and bring researchers together in the fields of biomedicine, computer science, engineering and physics.
During each research day, the programme was composed of internal and external keynote speeches, PhD poster sessions, general assembly, award ceremony for the best presentations and social event. The PhD Days represent an exceptional opportunity for doctoral candidates to exchange ideas, research and experiences with researchers from various field of research. Moreover, poster presentations combined with speeches by renowned experts can help them to stay informed about recent developments in various disciplines.
In summary, these days are crucial for developing certain professional as well as interpersonal skills that can serve our doctoral candidates throughout their research and professional careers.
Computer Science PhD Day 2023
On 5 October 2023, 120 participants attended the PhD Research Day of the Doctoral Programme in Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the Maison du Savoir on Belval campus. It gathered doctoral students from the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) and Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). Bart Preneel gave a remarkable keynote speech about “The return of the crypto wars”, that was acclaimed by a seduced crowd. About 80 PhD students got to present their research through a wide poster exhibit all over the walls of the MSA’s second floor, where guests as well as passers-by were invited to vote for their favourite poster. There were 4 Best Poster Award winners: Alejandro Gonzalez Garrido, Tobias Fischbach, Maria del Carmen Misa Moreira, Teweldebrhan Kebedew. Our congratulations to them!
Life Sciences PhD Days 2023
On 17-18 October 2023, 89 participants attended the PhD Research Day of the Doctoral Programme in Systems and Molecular Biomedicine at the Maison du Savoir on Belval campus. It gathered doctoral students from the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). Eight keynote speeches were done by Laurent Gatto (Université de Louvain, Belgium), Nikola Maria de Lange (University of Luxembourg), Rochellys Diaz Heijtz (Karolinska Institute, Sweden), Saman Maleki (Western University Canada), Gregor Hutter (University Basel, Switzerland), Alba Maiques Diaz (FCRB-IDIBAPS, Spain), Jonathan Kipnis (Washington Uni, USA), Rejko Krüger (University of Luxembourg and LIH) to tackle proteomics data analysis, bioinformatics pipeline, in vitro tools, genes mutations and immunotherapies. 2 presentations were awarded: best talk to Andrea Scafidi (department of Cancer Research) and best poster to Ester Cassano (Department of Infection and Immunity).
Physics PhD Day 2023
On 23 October 2023, about 100 participants attended the PhD Research Day of the Doctoral Programme in Physics and Materials Science at Kinépolis Kirchberg. It gathered Physics and Materials Science doctoral students and supervisors from the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). Dr. Pranjul Shah gave an inspiring keynote speech: “Transcending the lab: Bridging Science; Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. Then two former PhD students shared their experience with the audience: Alvar Torello and Conrad Spindler who are now respectively a postdoc at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and a Sustainability Researcher and Consultant at GreenDelta. Current students Szabolcs Goger and Aubin Prot gave a speech about their research, and about 50 posters were presented, among which three winners were elected by a jury: Clara Schreck, Matteo Massaro and Célia Ziane, who went home with a nice voucher from a book store and an award to post on their wall. Congratulations! On top of that, the audience was thrilled to be treated to a rap song by Carlito Ostreak about his experience as a doctoral student (he won’t be mad at us if we reveal his secret identity: Oussema Kachouri, one of our dedicated student reps).
Engineering PhD Day 2023
On 24 November 2023, the PhD Research Day of the Doctoral Programme in Engineering Sciences took place at Kirchberg Campus with around 80 participants. The event featured distinguished keynote speakers, Dr. Anne-Marie Solvi, Chief Executive Officer at Paul Wurth Geprolux S.A., and Dr. Ralf Useldinger, Director R&D at Ceratizit S.A., who delivered insightful speeches on sustainability and digitalisation and their challenges posed for modern industry. A pivotal aspect of the event was the engaging round fireside panel discussion moderated by Dr. Shini Somara (Mechanical Engineer, Freelance Producer and Author). The esteemed panel, including Dr. Anne-Marie Solvi, Dr. Ralf Useldinger, Dr. Bradley Ladewig and Dr. Stephan Leyer, addressed pressing issues such as the shortage of engineering professionals in Luxembourg, challenges in attracting young talent to engineering studies, and the employment prospects for young specialists in the field. Four presentations of posters, one from each PhD year, were recognised: Guillem Khairy for his study on water-based space propulsion systems, Maxence Paoletti for his work on steel-concrete composite columns, Paula Nunez Tafalla focusing on micropollutant elimination from wastewater and Hooman Eslami for his study on cross-laminated timber-concrete composite floor system. Heartfelt congratulations to the winners for their outstanding contributions! This event not only celebrated academic excellence but also fostered meaningful discussions on critical issues facing the field of engineering in Luxembourg and Europe in general.
