Author: Maik Budde

Even though it feels like we just started with the project, on June 4 and 5 2020 it was time for our annual meeting and the mid-term check respectively. Although completely online these two days brought us closer together. We highly appreciate the input from externals of the advisory board, our industrial contacts and of course the PO from the EU. They highlighted what is going well and where we can even improve. Therefore, we feel confident with respect to the further course of the project.

Early Stage Researchers and other interested attendees followed a series of lectures about heterogeneous catalysis (15-29 May 2020). The training was originally planned in Zaragoza, Spain but due to the corona crisis the organizers (Maria Victoria Navarro and Tomás García) reorganized the event to be completely online. So every ESR was able to join and participate in the lectures.

To fight the ongoing COVID-19 crisis the European Union launched a global response effort on May 4 aiming to raise €7.5 billion. €1 billion are mobilized by Horizon 2020. The effort is based on two fundamental beliefs. The situation can only be coped with research and innovation and maybe even more important through cooperation. Therefore, the EU brings together and supports researchers and innovators to create effective and safe diagnostics, treatments and vaccines with fair and equal access for everyone. We would like to call attention to this outstanding efforts.

For more information, check the European Commission website: https://global-response.europa.eu/select-language?destination=/node/1

Source : Global-response.europa.eu

On December 2, 2019 the DIFFER institute and the Instituto Superior Técnico organized the modelling workshop All about the Electron Boltzmann Equation at DIFFER, Eindhoven. Interested students and researchers learned in various talks and hands-on exercises about the possibilities and challenges of the modelling of low-temperature plasmas. The organizing committee was formed by Vasco Guerra, Paola Diomede, Pedro Viegas and Luca Vialetto. The ESRs Omar Biondo and Maik Budde joined as participants.

The 22nd Workshop on the Exploration of Low-Temperature Plasma Physics, 28-29 November 2019, in Kerkrade, the Netherlands was attended by multiple people of the PIONEER project: Richard Engeln as member of the advisory committee, Vasco Guerra as speaker and Maik Budde as participant.

The plasma/catalysis conversion of CO₂ is investigated by a diverse community, which is targeting the issue from different directions with various methods and several objectives. In order to benefit from a different point of view multiple ESRs and supervisors of the PIONEER project attended a workshop of the KEROGREEN project on Plasma catalysis for renewable Fuels and Chemicals (November 15 2019) at DIFFER in Eindhoven.