SMARTNET_Erasmus master

A Thank You Present to the SMARTNET Secretariat from Grateful Students

https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/blog/
The SMARTNET grateful students from the 3rd intake organised a small party and presented a Map as a gift to the SMARTNET programme director, Dr Stylianos Sygletos. Students used pins of two different colours to mark countries from where the students originated and where the SMARTNET alumni are currently working.

It was very well-organised communication between all three cohorts during the programme, and students stayed connected even after graduation. Therefore, even the first and second intakes alumni have contributed by providing location information.

I cannot express how is pleasant to receive sincere gratitude from students for the last 3 years of work on the Smartnet project! Thank you very much, guys, for this surprise!Special thanks to Safiya Dabwan, the student of the third intake who was the main organiser of this sincere event.

Student’s Experience In Greece, 2021-22 A.Y. Some bright moments of the SMARTNET MSc students’ life in their second year at the University of Athens. Many thanks to Ulzhan Zhumakeldi for the lovely photos.

SMARTNET Academic Life At The University Of Athens, 2021-22 A.Y

https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2022/06/28/smartnet-academic-life-at-the-university-of-athens-2021-22-a-y/

Academic Year 2021-22 In Télécom SudParis For The SMARTNET Students
Our third intake students came from different parts of the world and met in Télécom SudParis, France in the 2021-22 academic year.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2022/05/24/academic-year-2021-22-in-telecom-sudparis-for-the-smartnet-students/

Thanks a lot to Kseniya Kalashnikova and Nestor Alaguna for the nice photos!

Today, the 8th of April 2022, the official graduation ceremony for the SMARTNET students took place at Aston University.
Dear students, congratulations on your graduation! The highest hopes of the SMARTNET consortium are that you will continue such success and will succeed in future life.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/.../aston-graduation.../

As a part of Aston Optica / SPIE / IEEE Chapter, with the support of FONTE-EID H2020 and SMARTNET/PIXNET Erasmus+ projects, an all-day event was organised on 11th of March 2022, to commemorate International Women’s Day, celebrating Women in STEM Careers.

The team of organisers hosted speakers, across genders, to talk about their experience in moving from a PhD into their careers in academia, industry and publishing. The speakers shared their experiences about their journey and told about skills and know-how they deem necessary for their vocations. We hoped this would help participants to understand how they can find a foothold in different career alternatives after finishing their PhD. This was a great opportunity to hear not only about the achievements but also their struggles and not-so-straight timelines of pursuing a career or position of their choice.

The event was opened not only to Women in STEM Careers, but to a diverse general audience, and we hope participants from all educational levels and work spheres joined to appreciate the narratives. SMARTNET and PIXNET students have also participated in the round table event.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2022/03/16/international-womens-day-round-table-event-2022-at-aston-university/

SMARTNET programme invites visiting scholars to deliver 1- or 2-weeks lectures courses for the 3rd intake Master students (2021/22 a.y.)

Check how to apply👇
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/visiting-scholars/

Welcome Meeting For Aston Students, 2021/22 a.y
Last week was a Freshers’ Week for new students at Aston University, where MSc SMARTNET and PIXNET participants had an opportunity to meet with their teaching team at one of the on-campus in person sessions.
The purpose of this session for students was to meet and communicate with the module tutors, an important contact for academic rapport. During the session, academics gave advice on students’ work and assignments. MSc students were able to build networks with tutors and to find out about them, their role and how they can support students in SMARTNET and PIXNET programmes. Students were also able to meet their fellow coursemates in this session.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2021/09/28/welcome-meeting-for-aston-students-2021-22-a-y/

From Professor Alec Cameron, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at Aston University:
The Guardian University Guide 2022 was published over the weekend and I am writing to update you on Aston University’s performance in this league table. We are delighted that we have been ranked 25th of the 121 UK’s higher education institutions, which is five places higher than our position last year and our best performance since 2015.

The guide assesses the UK institutions against nine key criteria, including: satisfaction (with the course, teaching and assessment); student/staff ratio; spend per student; entry tariff; value added; careers prospects; and continuation.

There are a few notable highlights:

• Of the 21 subject lines for which Aston University receives a rank, four are in the upper quartile of ranked institutions, with a further eleven subjects ranked in the top half.
• The subject lines which are ranked in the upper quartile are: Health Professions (2nd/71); Building and Town and Country Planning (5th/44); Economics (15th/69); and Business, Management & Marketing (24th/121).
• An improvement of six places for Student/Staff Ratio means that Aston University is now ranked in the top half of the sector for this metric. This metric has continued to improve year on year, and has been turned around from our position just three years ago when we were in the bottom five in the UK. Our Expenditure per Student measure has also climbed two places to 39th.
• For the Career Prospect metric we ranked 31st, and our Continuation metric is ranked at 23rd.
• Our overall ranking of 25th places us higher than most of our regional competitors, behind only the University of Warwick in the West Midlands.

Times Higher Education (THE) University of the Year shortlist
It was also announced on Thursday last week that Aston University has been shortlisted for THE University of the Year. The winner of this highly prestigious award will be announced on Thursday 25 November 2021.
More information about the six shortlisted universities, including a video about their nominations, can be found here https://www.the-awards.co.uk/2021/en/page/shortlist.

Some bright moments of the academic life of the SMARTNET MSc students who spend their second year in IP Paris, through its member institution Télécom SudParis.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2021/07/30/second-year-students-in-telecom-sudparis-end-of-2020-21-a-y/

SMARTNET students participating in the Radio Frequency lab work at their host institution, Telecom SudParis, 2020-21 a.y.
https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/blog/

Eid is celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.
SMARTNET students also celebrated Eid this year with respective traditions, dresses, and food. There are some photos of students in France and the UK:

https://smartnet.astonphotonics.uk/2021/05/14/muslim-smartnet-students-celebrating-eid-mubarak/