Young AIT and the YEAR Network organised the conference this year

The YEAR Annual Conference 2018 took place from 11-12 June at the new premises of AIT Austrian Institute of Technology in Vienna. The event targeted young and early career researchers. It provided networking opportunities and training for improving their interdisciplinary skills and developing novel project ideas.

From Idea to Impact

In a two-day workshop, 50 young researchers developed novel research project ideas from scratch in seven interdisciplinary teams. The interactive format enabled them to develop the ideas with co-creation methods and to practice pitching techniques.

Professional trainers facilitated the development of project ideas within a co-creational workshop format that was thematically focused on societal impact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. On the second conference day, the NGO Sense about Science gave a workshop about „Public Engagement”. At the end of the second day, the teams pitched their ideas to a jury and the most promising project idea was awarded.

We congratulate the members of the winning team who convinced the jury with their innovative research project idea for improving access to affordable and clean energy: Robert Kalcik (AIT), Francisco Lizana (AICIA), Talieh Rajabloo (VITO), Chiara Bordin (Sintef), Caitlin Huotilainen and Sergio Motta (VTT). YEAR will support the team in a follow-up workshop to further develop their project idea.

 

Social Weekend

The participants had the opportunity, as in previous years, to attend the Social Weekend before the Annual Conference. During the weekend nearly 40 of the participants explored Vienna in a social programme organised by Young AIT. Highlights were the Invisible Smart City Tour with Eugene Quinn and the visit of the traditional Viennese Coffee House Café Landtmann.