Untitled EVENT PLANNING

The structure of the events as used to date has previously been detailed at length in FIDIS deliverable D15.1. However, as the FIDIS network matures it is necessary to reflect on the changing needs of the Doctoral Consortium. This is especially true given the length of time over which the FIDIS project is running as compared with the standard length of time a student will be undertaking their postgraduate studies. 

Having undertaken a review of the FIDIS DC events, and requested feedback from the PhD students within the network, several salient points have been established: 

1. Although the scope of the FIDIS project is broad, the core topics have been well explored during the PhD events 

2. Although the FIDIS project has a lifetime of five years, comparatively few new students have joined the network since its outset 

3. Existing students are very progressed in their PhD work and thus have time pressures against events lasting a few days and/or involving travelling time 

Certainly one of the benefits of the FIDIS DC events is that they are multidisciplinary and can explore areas which are new to the participants. However, this means that in general the events have had a broad scope, and so many of the core topics relating to ongoing FIDIS work, and thus the work of the students, have been presented by varying members of the FIDIS consortium. As such, it is becoming more of a complex task to provide events which prove of great value to a range of participants, especially those who have been to many of the other DC events. 

Largely because of these issues, it is becoming increasingly hard to attract a critical mass of interest in smaller events. It should be noted however that the larger events, such as the FIDIS Summer Schools (D15.2 and D15.3) and the larger joint events such as that with the ACGT project (D15.5) are still very popular. As such, subsequently there will be a strategic shift in approach. Essentially the focus of future events will be: 

1. Merging training activities in with other events to enhance their overall value 

2. Encouraging students to participate in events they may otherwise not through the use of reduced fees 

3. Providing a forum for debate on a core topic where there is significant interest. The focus at these events will be less on presentations and more on discussion. 

Within this period, all three of these approaches have been adopted to provide a diverse range of activities. These are detailed below.