EMS Summer School 2022

The European Membrane Society (EMS) organizes once a year a Summer School for PhD students in the field of membrane engineering. The aim is to bring students from all over Europe together and to promote both scientific exchange and the improvement of a transnational network. This year it took place from 29 May to 3 June 2022 in Aldeja da Serra, Portugal.

Various lectures gave a versatile insight into the applications and research focus of membrane technology, and seminars practiced scientific work and publishing of research results. Some students presented the current state of their research in the course of a poster presentation. Among the 50 participating PhD students, 7 EMS Registration Fee Awards were given. I had the honor to receive one of these Registration Fee Awards and to present the current state of my research. In addition to the technical aspects, the focus was also on personal exchange, which allowed making great contacts, and, thus, enabling a good network and better international collaboration.

Since the focus of most of the presented work was the development of sustainable technologies in the membrane sector and climate protection is especially close to my personal heart, I decided to travel to Portugal by train. The 48 h long journey gave me a varied impression of different European countries and landscapes and strengthened my understanding of the problems that exist with inter-European train and bus connections. Thus, although it is possible to travel, it could be significantly optimized by more direct and efficient connections and especially the expansion of night trains. I hope that this experience has motivated other students to think about different ways to travel and I am very grateful for the valuable and diverse experiences I had at the EMS Summer School.