Thank you to Barbara and Anas for sharing their experience of attending a recent Marie Curie Event.

Read all about it below:

Marie Curie Actions is not just a grant, it also represents an important network in which we feel proud to be active members.

Since 2012 the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) has been a pioneer to maintain active communication and cooperation between all Marie Curie researchers. A plenty of opportunities are offered every year to researchers from all over the world. Certainly, it was a privilege to attend MCAA Conference and General Assembly last month in Belgium. Two intensive days in which we had the chance to meet all those experts who shared their solid knowledge and experiences in different scientific domains. Moreover, the present of hundreds of researchers from different countries and diverse scopes brought out many interesting discussions about the development of science in Europe.

The first day started with a very welcoming introduction, explaining the important role of European Commission projects to address the global challenges in all aspects. Next, a very interesting sessions about innovation in europe, protecting intellectual property and setting up your own spin-off company and last but not least a training session on how balance the career with the private life. The day was finished after having the dinner with all Marie Curie members at Leuven University.

During the final day we participated in the election of the international board of MCAA, and attended a very interesting workshop about career development.

Participating in the event made us conscious of being part of a great reality, and this reality can provide an important added value not only to our individual careers but also to our whole research team. We are back to work with the awareness that sharing experiences, collaborating with our colleagues and being part of this huge group will stimulate us to bring out our best to contribute in the science development.