On 25–26 September 2025, the FrontSeat Horizon Europe project organized its latest Consortium Meeting at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU). This two-day meeting offered a comprehensive and inspiring program that brought real value to everyone involved. The agenda combined project updates, interactive discussions, and in-depth scientific sessions with a welcoming social programme that strengthened connections across the consortium.
STUBA: Miroslav Fikar, Radoslav Paulen, Juraj Oravec, Juraj Holaza, Lenka Galčíková, Viltaré Platzner.
UNIPI: Gabriele Pannocchia, Francesca Ceron, Marco Vaccari (online), Riccardo Bacci di Capaci (online).
RUB: Martin Mönnigmann, David Müller, Nora Lindner.
The meeting brought together a strong group of researchers and innovators. Partners from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA), including Miroslav Fikar, Juraj Oravec, Juraj Holaza, Viltaré Platzner, and Lenka Galčíková, hosted colleagues from the University of Pisa (UNIPI) — Gabriele Pannocchia, Marco Vaccari, and Riccardo Bacci di Capaci joining online, and Francesca Ceron in person — as well as the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) team with Martin Mönnigmann, David Müller, and Nora Lindner. While many participants attended on-site in Bratislava, others joined remotely via MS Teams, ensuring everyone could contribute regardless of location.
This two-day meeting offered a comprehensive and inspiring program that brought real value to everyone involved. The agenda combined project updates, interactive discussions, and in-depth scientific sessions with a welcoming social programme that strengthened connections across the consortium. From technical presentations and knowledge sharing to networking and cultural exchange, the event created space for both strategic planning and community building — reminding us why face-to-face collaboration is so powerful.
Technical Program: Day 1
The first day opened with a warm welcome and a project overview delivered by Prof. Miroslav Fikar, setting the stage for an engaging exchange of ideas. Updates from the first two work packages followed, highlighting the progress of WP1 on staff exchanges, webinars, and case studies, presented by Francesca Ceron, and WP2 on research projects, PhD mentoring, international collaboration, and software development, shared by Prof. Miroslav Fikar together with Dr. Lenka Galčíková, Dr. Juraj Holaza, and Dr. Riccardo Bacci di Capaci.
Scientific Session
A key moment of the day was the scientific lecture by Prof. Michal Kvasnica entitled “Building an Energy Management System from Scratch: Challenges and Opportunities.” His talk bridged academic theory and industrial practice, sparking lively discussion on how to design energy-efficient systems from the ground up and demonstrating how FrontSeat research connects to real-world challenges.
Read more about the seminar here.
Social Program
In the afternoon, participants visited the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology of STU in Trnava, where they saw first-hand how advanced control and digital tools can be applied in practical settings. This visit fostered informal conversations and fresh ideas for collaboration.
The evening concluded with a social dinner at the traditional Slovenská reštaurácia u Matyšáka, giving partners the chance to strengthen relationships, exchange insights in a relaxed atmosphere, and enjoy Slovak hospitality.
Technical Program: Day 2
The second day shifted the focus toward strategic planning and upcoming initiatives. Discussions around WP3 explored invited scientific sessions, guest lectures, industry-focused seminars, activities of the AI cluster, and plans for the project’s summer school, led by Prof. Martin Mönnigmann and Dr. Lenka Galčíková. The conversation then turned to WP4 and WP5, where partners Prof. Miroslav Fikar, Prof. Martin Mönnigmann, Prof. Gabriele Pannocchia, Dr. Juraj Oravec, and Viltaré Platzner worked on topics such as staff exchange programs, PhD curriculum development, knowledge transfer, data management, exploitation of results, dissemination, and communication strategies.
This Consortium Meeting underscored the essence of the FrontSeat project. It is not only about advancing technology but also about building a strong European network of research institutions, transferring knowledge between academia and industry, empowering the next generation of scientists and engineers, and creating real-world solutions for smarter, more sustainable process industries. The face-to-face exchange in Bratislava once again demonstrated how in-person collaboration fuels creativity and accelerates progress.
General Assembly Meeting
The meeting concluded with the General Assembly, a space for aligning on priorities and ensuring that all partners share a common vision. Decisions focused on how to maximize scientific impact, deepen collaboration with industry, and create meaningful opportunities for early-career researchers, ensuring that FrontSeat’s work not only advances knowledge but also drives practical innovation.
The project consortium carried out a wide range of activities to maximize the impact of FrontSeat, many of which have already been successfully implemented. Summer schools and webinars delivered high-quality training for young researchers, while advanced control methods were further integrated into recent process control frameworks. Industry engagement was strengthened through targeted seminars and new partnerships, opening fresh opportunities for collaboration and practical application. At the same time, the consortium expanded its scientific publications and promoted the open sharing of results, ensuring that the project’s knowledge reached a broad community of researchers and practitioners. Through these combined efforts, FrontSeat moved closer to becoming a recognised European reference point for cutting-edge control systems supporting the digital transformation of process industries.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon under grant no. 101079342 (Fostering Opportunities Towards Slovak Excellence in Advanced Control for Smart Industries).
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