Online workshops for project work
Biocomposite Research Group
Group was triggered by the cooperation of biocomposite-related research projects at the University of Sopron and the integration of several levels of research into a collaborative community. Over the years, the research group formulates various goals, which may be related to grant projects, industrial assignments or research related to university training, such as TDK, diploma, PhD theses. Researchers and students from several scientific levels, such as BSc, MSc, PhD students, postdocs, young and senior researchers participate in the respective research group. The web application implemented within the framework of the eduWood project provided a good platform for cooperation, which the research group took advantage of. One of the important results of Biocomposite RG is the very successful and intensive publication in qualified journals with a high impact factor. We wanted to share this special knowledge with other teachers, researchers and doctoral students of our university, which is also important because one of the indicators of our university's funding is to increase the number of quality publications. For this knowledge transfer, we have launched a series of seminar workshops. A second workshop (Student workshop) was organized specifically for students who
were interested in composite research beyond their normal training and took on tasks beyond classwork.
Presentation of the content and results of the workshops:
I. Publication Seminar
The first seminar was about the path to writing effective quality publications.
Short content:
• Introduction to "Writing and publishing works"
• Conference presentations, presentation of differences between book chapters and journal articles
• How to Write and Make Manuscripts Efficiently
• Various burning software and their uses
• How to submit papers
• How to respond to comments from reviewers and editors
• How to Proofread Effectively
• Research ethics
• What to do after publications
• The seminar took place in a hybrid format with great interest with participants from three faculties.
The second seminar was about publishing software.
Short content:
• Short conversations in the preparation and writing of publication works
• Different types of articles, chapters, and conference presentations
• Reasons for manuscript rejection by publishers
• Software commonly used for research
• Practical application of Microsoft Office, Endnote, OriginPro, Statistica, Chemdraw and more
This seminar was also conducted in a hybrid format with great interest with participants from three faculties.
II. Student Workshops
The student workshops consisted partly of the online work listed below and partly of actual laboratory work. In the first online workshop, we discussed the design aspects of wood-based composites, possible raw materials such as wood materials (chips, veneer, etc.), binders, primarily thermosetting adhesives, and special reinforcing materials such as glass or carbon fabric. At the second online meeting, the students already brought concrete ideas, the experimental design of which was carried out, The product chosen was a plywood reinforced with glass cloth, which was later made in several versions with different order of layers. At the meeting, we clarified the specific raw materials, calculated their required quantity and determined the production parameters such as press temperature, press time, etc.
In the third online workshop, we discussed standard test options and methods, such as flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, shear strength, etc.
After that, they spent two sessions in the lab, in the first they prepared their experimental plates, while in the second they tested them. The participants of the workshop gained knowledge in the design, experimental production of composites, in performing standard tests, and how changing certain parameters affects the properties of the finished product.