Aim

 

Portable and affordable environmental sensors are becoming popular in Citizen Science activities and are also gaining ground in scientific projects. The recent publication of the WMO report on “Low-cost sensors for the measurement of atmospheric composition: overview of topic and future applications” has signalled the importance of Low Cost Air Quality Sensors (LCAQS) as well as the high interest of the scientific community, city authorities and citizens to their development and application. Such sensor technologies can provide comprehensive information concerning a wide range of pollutants with high spatial and temporal resolution, providing valuable insight concerning the understanding and dynamics of urban air quality as well as of indoor air. Furthermore, low cost sensors can also provide information about acute environmental pollution allowing fast identification of sources and threats. On the other hand, their limited accuracy and their lack of performance when compared to reference instruments pose considerable challenges toward their improvement to achieve acceptance in various application fields.

 

The school aims at providing fundamental training and expertise in the area of urban air quality monitoring and modelling, for better and more effective LCAQS design, development, calibration and use. LCAQS technologies and basic functionalities will also be addressed. The training school will address the technology chain from sensor elements via sensor systems and calibration to their use for environmental services incl. combination with modelling.

 

Expected results

 

The main result will be the knowledge shared and the collaboration potential that will be increased between the training school participants. Students will

  • receive MSc/PhD level education from University Professors/researchers that have a high experience in urban air quality modelling and monitoring and in LCAQS characteristics and use
  • work in the interdisciplinary domain of LCAQS use, approaching them not only as open source hardware but also as IoT nodes for smart city applications

 

Date  and duration

 

Week 36: September 2, 2019 @ 09:00 – September 6, 2019 @ 13:00. Duration of 5 days.

 

Venue

 

Aristotle University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thessaloniki, Greece (campus map). The training school will take place at the meeting room of the Faculty of Engineering.

Trainees

 

The training school is expected to host a total of 20 students from various countries. The average amount of financial support per participant is 700 Euros (travel, accommodation and meals to be covered, according to COST rules) and it is not intended to cover the full cost of the attendees, but it acts as a grant. Emphasis will be put on MSc and PhD students as well as on young researchers. Attendees will be selected based on the relevance of the school to their work, as well as to ensure gender balance and geographic diversity.

 

The PortASAP Training School involves a separate registration and selection procedure. You are eligible to participate or to receive the financial support grand ONLY if you have received (and accepted) the official invitation through e-COST (see below), to be expected in late July/early August.

 

Registration costs: The training school has no registration costs (is free of charge). The training school organizers will therefore apply a registration and selection procedure of trainees.

 

Other costs: Travel, accommodation and insurances and other costs have to be paid by the trainee him/herself. Meals costs are also to be covered by the trainee him/herself (access to Aristotle University’s student restaurant will be arranged).

 

Contact persons regarding the content of the Training School:

Event organizer: Prof. K. Karatzas (email to thess(at)portasap.eu, must include “PortASAP Training School” in the subject area)

 

Registration procedure of trainees:

Applications open: May 20th

Applications close: June 24th, 2019

Applicant’s notification of acceptance: July 1st, 2019

Each applicant has to register in e-COST https://e-services.cost.eu adding his/her bank details to his/her e-COST profile and and apply via a google form (https://forms.gle/s1SiUVqLR4qZQJFb7) providing personal info plus the following documents (in addition to filling-in the registration form, the documents should be sent via email to thess(at)portasap.eu):

 

  1. A motivation letter briefly (max 2 pages) introducing the applicant, interest in low cost AQ sensors and air pollution management, participation in relevant projects/research activities, previous involvement in PortASAP activities, motivation and benefits for Training School participation especially in relation to own studies and career goals, possibility to disseminate Training School topics through education or awareness sessions within their own institute or countries. Applicants should also include a title of the poster that they will present, which can discuss their current research activities.
  2. The applicant’s CV (max 2 pages) including relevant publications.

 

Selection procedure of trainees:

Announcement of the selected trainees and their reimbursement: 15th of July 2019

Official invitation by e-COST to participate in the Training School: 30th of July 2019

 

The training school applications will be considered by a committee chaired jointly by the event organizer (Prof. K. Karatzas), the Chair of the Action (Dr G. Erny) and three CORE or MC members. The outcome of the evaluation will be notified by the event organizers. Thereafter the trainees will be officially invited to participate by a message sent by e-COST.

Only applicants who have registered in e-COST, including their bank details and who have submitted their CV and cover letter will be permitted to take part in the selection procedure.

Regarding eligibility of trainees to receive reimbursement, please carefully read the specific rules and regulations shown below.

 

 

Specific rules and regulations regarding Training Schools of a COST Action:

  1. Trainees are entitled to receive a fixed grant as described in the COST Vademecum
  2. Trainee Grants do not necessarily cover all expenses related to attending the Training School.  The Trainee Grant is a contribution to the overall travel, accommodation and meal expenses of the Grantee. Different Grants amount can be attributed to each trainee.
  3. Each trainee must register for an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu – each trainee must add their bank details to their e-COST profile.
  4. Trainees eligible to be reimbursed:

Trainees must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student or postdoctoral fellow or can be employed by, or affiliated to, an institution, organization or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with performing research.

 

Trainees eligible for reimbursement:

  1. Trainees from COST Full Members / COST Cooperating Member, see here http://www.cost.eu/about_cost/cost_member_states.
  2. Trainees from Approved NNC Institutions.
  3. Trainees from Approved European RTD Organizations.

 

Trainees not eligible to be reimbursed:

  1. Trainees from COST Partner Members.
  2. Trainees from Approved IPC Institutions.
  3. Trainees from Approved IO, EU Commission, Bodies, Offices and Agencies.
  4. Other Trainees not specifically mentioned as being eligible.

 

Supported by:

 

 

COST Action CA16215 - portASAP European network for the promotion of portable, affordable and simple analytical platforms

 

 

 

LEPABE - Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy

 

 

Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto

 

 

 

The event is organised under the auspices of the:

 

 

Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

 

 

 

 

 

 

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

 

 

 

 

Supporting projects:

 

 

 

 

 

URwatair: A citizen science project for monitoring urban air quality and rainwater

 

 

 

 

 

KASTOM: Innovative system for air quality monitoring and forecasting

 

 

 

 

Transportation and accommodation:

 

Travel to/from Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is the second largest city in Greece and is located about 500 km. north of Athens, in the region of Central Macedonia. For more information visit Visit Greece: Thessaloniki and Travel: Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki was the European Youth Capital for 2014 and a former European Capital of Culture. Fifteen of the city’s monuments are listed as Unesco World Heritage sites. In 2013 Thessaloniki was listed as one of National Geographic’s 20 ‘Must-See’ places in the world and has been ranked 5th in Lonely Planet’s World’s Top 10 party cities. For guided tours and alternative walks of the city please see here. Thessaloniki is easy to get to from most parts across Europe. More information about Thessaloniki can also be found here.

 

Transportation within the city

The Summer School venue is located in the main Aristotle University campus, in a walking distance (1.5km) from the city center, 4km from the city’s railway terminal and 20km from the airport. A bus network is supporting public transportation in the city (info available at http://oasth.gr/)

Hotels

You can book your hotel via on-line booking services like Booking, or make use of Airbnb.

 

Trainers

• Trainers-lectures include:

 

Previous events

• PhD summer school organised 3-7 September 2018 at Aarchus university (link).

• International training course: Low-cost Environmental Monitoring – from sensor principles to novel services

• ECTS credits: students can receive from 1.5 ECTS (based on full attendance) and up to 5 ECTS (based on additional project work). Diploma

   confirming ECTS to be provided by Prof. Ole Hertel, Aarhus University)

 

Tentative programme

 

Tentative programme subject to changes. For pdf version please click on table or here.

COST is supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020

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