CEBE, kick-off meeting - 9 June 2016

09 June 2016

On June 9th, 2016, the CEBE kick-off meeting took place in Leuven. More than 30 attendees were present at the event, held at the OPEK in the capital of Flanders. We were fortunate to have scientists from different scientific areas (physics, biomedicine, engineering, sociology ...) and different universities and institutions in Belgium (KU Leuven, UCL, VUB, ULB, IMEC, ...). The group was also very varied in terms of the profession they currently carry out: academia, industry, scientific communication, start-ups, ...

After introducing ourselves and breaking the ice with some Belgian beers at the bar, the promoters of CEBE explained the origins of the association, explained the objectives and activities contemplated in the short and medium term and opened a very productive debate. The attendees discussed about their vision of science in Belgium, what needs do they find as scientists here, how would they like to contribute to the dissemination of science and dialogue with Spanish and Belgian institutions,… From this debate, concrete proposals emerged that we are starting to launch and obtained very valuable information from different perspectives (for example, people who have arrived a month ago compared to people who have been in Belgium for more than 10 years).

Apart from being able to socialize with other Spaniards in an informal way, it was a great pleasure to see the great motivation of the attendees to make CEBE a success, an initiative profitable for all parties. Proof of this is that as a result of this first meeting the CEBE organizing team has emerged, which now has a dozen people actively involved in the operation of the association.

In short, we are very satisfied with the result and with more desire (even!) to advance with this initiative. Thank you very much to attendees for joining and contributing with their opinions, experiences and proposals. If you have any opinion or suggestion, do not hesitate to contact us.

And those who could not attend this time… we hope to see you at the next CEBE event!