1^st SINATRA Travelling Conference – Networking and team building in a relaxed atmosphere

20.-24. April 2026
Belgium & The Netherlands

It is end of April 2026, and we are travelling as a group of seventeen delegates of the SINATRA Research Initiative. For one week, we move through Belgium and the Netherlands—as part of the very first SINATRA Travelling Conference. Our goal is clear: we do not want to exchange business cards and move on; we want to build long-term, rewarding connections between SINATRA’s young group leaders and fellow researchers, as well as political and industrial stakeholders. Similar to a conventional conference, but instead of calling the other parties to visit us, we travelled to their locations.

Our journey begins in Brussels, and the focus immediately turns to the question of how research and EU politics intertwine.

We start at the Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the European Union situated mere steps away from the European Parliament and the European Committee of the Regions. From the moment we arrive, there is that particular blend of diplomacy, strategy, and “decisions are made here” in the air. The speaker lineup is intentionally diverse: representatives of the European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (KoWi), the Helmholtz Association, TUM’s Brussels Office, A.SPIRE (coordinating the Processes4Planet co-programmed partnership), and Hydrogen Europe. This diversity is exactly what makes the session so valuable: we see how representation offices connect research and policy, act as hubs of networks, and advocate German research interests in the European context.

The next morning, we spend an insightful time at the European Investment Bank (EIB). Different members of EIB staff present funding mechanisms and financing schemes, particularly with a view to start-up projects. Our understanding of “funding” becomes more structured: it is not only about ideas, but about instruments, timing, and the endurance of robust concepts.

The final — and certainly not least — stop in Brussels takes us to the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. During the afternoon with Peter Härtwich, we learn more about funding lines for research across the three pillars of Horizon Europe (2028–2034). It is complex at times, even dense—and precisely for that reason, it is extremely helpful. We gain a sharper sense of the logic of the European research ecosystem and how its pathways are shaped.

In between all this exciting and inspiring stops we als ohad the opportunity to visit the Parlamentarium — Europe’s largest parliamentary visitors centre — and feel the European spirit.

Next, we travel to Antwerp. CAPTURE and DECHEMA organise a one-day conference hosted in the striking setting of the Klooster van de Grauwzusters at the University of Antwerp. The place carries a calm, almost timeless atmosphere—while our discussions stay firmly focused on the technologies that can make a future-proof transformation possible.

The day is moderated by Jan Arends and our Dennis Krämer. Content-wise, everything centres on materials for hydrogen production, the use of green hydrogen, and the use of sustainable CO₂ on the path toward a climate-neutral future. The exchange is lively, focused, and refreshingly direct. Researchers from across Flanders engage with SINATRA’s young group leaders—technically precise, and at the same time open and connecting.

The programme features contributions from:

• Mark Saeys (University of Ghent) | Heterogeneous Catalysis
• Mohsen Gholami (Free University of Brussels) | Development of materials for electrified adsorption
• Marijke Mahieu (University of Ghent) | BE-HyFE project
• Gabriel Manfredi (VITO) | Hydrogen activities
• Sammy Verbruggen (University of Antwerp) | Advancing materials and reactor geometries for photo(electro)chemical hydrogen production from impure feedstocks
• Järi Van den Hoek (University of Antwerp) | From interface engineering to upscaling CO₂ electrolysers

We leave the day with the feeling that this is exactly how scientific exchange should work: focused, high-quality, and genuinely connecting.

For the final part, we head to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The tone shifts: fewer institutions, more implementation; fewer concepts, more reality. We look at what it takes to turn research into a company—with all the challenges, and the rare but all the more rewarding moments of real progress.

In Rotterdam, we step into a place that tells its own story: an old tropical swimming pool is being repurposed by Blue City into an innovative and inspiring start-up ecosystem. The energy is tangible, with a clear focus on bio-design and bio-based solutions. Sustainable products such as plastic-free flexible packaging or bio-based glitter are explored and brought closer to the market. We see how inspiring it is when sustainability is not just an aspiration, but the foundation of a viable business model.

Our final stop takes us to ChainCraft’s demonstration plant in Amsterdam, where fatty acids are produced as a basis for other sustainably manufactured chemicals—for example, fragrances. One detail stays with us in particular: about ten years ago, the company begins as a project at Wageningen University, and it is now moving toward building its first full-scale plant. This feels like tangible proof that scaling is not a buzzword—it is a path, with milestones, friction, and momentum.

At the end of this week, something remains that is hard to compress into a single sentence: the SINATRA Travelling Conference brings us together with stakeholders from very different worlds—and that is precisely its strength. We gain insights into research funding mechanisms, political decision-making processes, and the real-world dynamics of scaling projects. Above all, conversations emerge from which something can grow: collaborations, ideas, and perhaps friendships in the best academic sense.

And as we close our final notes, we realise: We do not only travel through countries. We move through systems—and we return with more orientation than we set out with.