CREMLINplus Annual Meeting 2021

The aim of the Annual Meeting was to bring together the CREMLINplus project community for an exchange across all work packages, for updates from the work programme, and for discussing the project’s relevant current issues. Over 200 international participants registered for the virtual meeting, including project beneficiaries, representatives from the LIST-11 Russian RI, members of the project’s Scientific Advisory Committee as well as special guests.

In their opening remarks CREMLINplus Coordinator, Martin Sandhop (DESY) together with Vladimir Kravchuk (NRC KI) warmly welcomed all participants. They highlighted the challenges of conducting an international, voluminous project in times of pandemic and of performing the annual meeting in a virtual fashion. The project’s important role in paving the way for more transparent access conditions to Russian research infrastructures was addressed in the welcome speech given by Elena Vaganova from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The mitigation measures to manage the risks brought by the covid-19 pandemic were stressed and the science diplomacy component of the project was highlighted in the welcome speech given by the European Commission’s Policy Officer, Pierre Quertenmont.

A brief introduction to the project and its context as well as an update concerning the project governance, encompassing the project bodies with their respective composition and roles, was given. Moreover, an overview of the project’s progress after the first year was presented – this included mitigation measures to counteract the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, estimated delays in deliverables and milestones as well as a showcase of selected achievements from both technical and non-technical work packages. Further, communication and dissemination activities were presented. Overall, in spite of being overshadowed by the pandemic, the project is functioning well and has achieved successes thanks to the hard work and the enthusiastic collaborative spirit of the CREMLINplus community and all work packages managers.

A detailed insight into the progress of each work package, featuring achievements and highlights as well as the relevant next actions were presented by the work package managers. Furthermore, a brief insight into financial regulations and reporting was given. All presentation slides can be downloaded from the event website on Indico.

The agenda granted plenty of opportunities for exchange. There were both short and extended Q&A sessions as well as a session designated specifically to the exchange between technical and non-technical interactions. Furthermore, a digital get-together allowed for some informal exchange and extended breaks provided a chance to recharge and get away from the screen for a while.

Altogether, the mixture of informative and insightful presentations, exchange formats such as Q&As and discussions as well as live polls contributed to an engaging, lively and successful digital event. Nevertheless, we hope to be able to conduct the next annual meeting as an on-site, live event.