Interdisciplinary Cooperation for the Sustainable Protection of Our Coasts: The EU-CONEXUS PhD Summer School 2024
30 researchers from over 15 countries took part in the fourth EU-CONEXUS PhD Summer School under the motto “Interdisciplinary Research Methodology and Communication for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability”at the University of Rostock.
In his opening remarks, Jean-Marc Ogier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EU-CONEXUS and President of the University of La Rochelle, emphasised the importance of breaking out of research silos. In his words, collaboration on an interdisciplinary level is crucial for tackling the sustainability challenges that coastal ecosystems are facing today. As another introductory message to the challenge for the week, participants had to bridge the differences in their research foci by presenting an abstract on a “Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability” topic as a group, including different perspectives and approaches. International and interdisciplinary research approaches on a small scale such as this are an effective method of highlighting some of the major challenges of our time.
During the PhD Summer School, the Hanseatic City of Rostock, an associated partner of the European alliance EU-CONEXUS, invited the international guests to the Rostock City Hall. Among the major discussion topics during this meeting was the international network of the city and potential solutions for sustainable mobility. Another highlight was a visit to the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemünde, another strong partner of several universities within the EU-CONEXUS alliance.
Parallel to the summer school, a delegation of EU-CONEXUS professors and staff visited the University of Rostock for two days. An overarching and also very important topic for the University of Rostock was the improved networking and support of PhD students and researchers within the European alliance and at the international level.
EU-CONEXUS, the “European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability,” is an alliance of nine European universities. The common goal behind this alliance is to enable innovative interdisciplinary research across borders as well as offer students a European degree programme. The thematic focus of EU-CONEXUS is the sustainability of coastal regions. The PhD Summer School, organised by the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB) and hosted by the University of Rostock in cooperation with the Rostock International House (RIH), takes place annually at one of the nine European locations.
