More than 200 people attend the Coordinators’ Day organised by the Innovative Training Network

On 23 November, the Innovative Training Network organised the most successful ever Coordinators' Day for the projects of the 2018 call. Coordinators from 147 projects participated in the full-day event, as well as representatives from National Contact Points and DG EAC.

An impressive 232 people registered for the Innovative Training Network (ITN) event on Friday 23 November. Together with REA staff, the total number of participants was about 270 people, the largest number of all previous events. The Coordinators' Day was a unique opportunity for coordinators not only to familiarise themselves with the rules and procedures of the ITNs, but also to meet the Project Officers in person and discuss the details for the implementation of their projects. Participants came from 22 countries and included representatives from 9 National Contact Points and 146 organisations.

As ITN projects are multi-beneficiary projects with specific eligibility and implementation rules, Project Coordinators must be trained and guided from the start of their projects. This event highlighted the best ways to implement ITN projects and fostered collaboration between Coordinators and Project Officers in the three modalities (European Training Networks, European Industrial Doctorates & European Joint Doctorates).

The morning session included presentations on the coordination of ITNs, recruitment, reporting and finance. The presentations ended with a lively game in Kahoot that all participants appreciated. In the afternoon, the agenda included discussions on IP management in Horizon 2020 (presented by the European IPR helpdesk), open access (presented by DG RTD) and communication, outreach and dissemination. At the end of the presentations, there were Q&A sessions where the coordinators posed their questions.

Dr. Paolo Dini, Project Coordinator of the ITN 2016 Project SCAVENGE, spoke at the event. He proposed best practices for all aspects of the project, such as the project's management structure, the supervision of the ESRs, the consortium agreement and internal organisation, the hiring process, the training and workshops, and the dissemination and communication activities.

A good example of a communication activity was the projection of a video illustrating the 2017 ITN AVA.

The event was recorded and will be available shortly, along with the presentations, on the dedicated MSCA website.