The kick-off meeting of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) European Joint Doctoral Network TRACES was held on December 12^th and 13^th, 2023 in Milan at the Departement of Aerospace Science and Technology. The network brings together academic and industry partners from three different European countries to collaborate on cutting-edge research in the field of in-flight icing.

During the meeting, network partners discussed the network’s goals and objectives. Presentations by partners were given on open science and data management, selection procedures, individual PhD projects and intellectual properties. The attendees engaged in a productive and engaging discussion of these topics.

During the event the project officer from the European Commission gave a presentation to all the partners, highlighting the importance of the MSCA program in fostering international collaboration and training the next generation of researchers.

Attendees also had the opportunity to learn more about gender bias in the advertising and selection of PhD students through the lecture provided by prof. Michela Menegatti from the university of Bologna.

The kick-off meeting concluded with a productive session of the supervisory and advisory board, where the project’s plan of action was discussed and approved.

The meeting was a success and participants left feeling excited and motivated to begin their work as part of the Joint Doctoral Network. We are now ready to move forward with the project, starting with the recruitment of the Doctoral Researchers!