1st Serenade Training School (Saarbrücken, Germany)

Fostering Scientific Collaboration in Saarbrücken

In September 2024, the 1st SERENADE Training School was successfully held in Saarbrücken, Germany, bringing together doctoral candidates (DCs), SERENADE project partners, and invited experts from institutions such as Politecnico di Milano, IBEC Barcelona, and Fraunhofer IVV. Throughout an intensive week of training activities, participants exchanged knowledge on sensors, plastic materials, and their impact on food preservation.

The event concluded with a cultural visit to Saarlouis — a historic city founded by Louis XIV — and to the UNESCO World Heritage site Völklinger Hütte, where attendees explored a former steelworks under spectacular weather conditions.

Beyond the academic programme, the school highlighted key areas for improving collaboration within the consortium, especially regarding the interaction between plastic materials and food spoilage, the role of recycled materials and processes, and the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs and VVOCs) in the context of early spoilage detection.

The event’s success was made possible thanks to the commitment of all involved, with special appreciation for the organising team led by Christian. This training school is expected to be the first of many steps towards strengthening scientific cooperation within the SERENADE project.

Learn more about the experience of the 1st Training School from Hamza Ali Imran, PhD student at Serenda Project: click here