The 1st YIELDGAP School was organized by the network coordinator KTH, and held in a digital format due to the ongoing pandemic on 13-17 December 2021. The aim of the first School was to: (1) provide to the ESRs a basic introduction to yield-stress fluids (YSFs), and computational and experimental methods used to study them (2) introduce the ESRs to applications of YSFs by YIELDGAP industrial partners and the challenges they face in their daily activities (3) provide the ESRs with different backgrounds (chemistry, fluid dynamics, particle dynamics, experiments, computations) with a broad cross-disciplinary introduction to YSFs (4) prepare the ESRs for upcoming communication activities by training in communicating science to different audiences including general public (5) strengthen the ESRs intercultural awareness including communication skills to prepare them for their upcoming mobility and secondments.
Days 1, 2 and 4 of the School were open to external participants , and the agenda and Zoom link were published through the channels of the Nordic Rheology Society, and through local channels of YIELDGAP partner universities and companies. Days 3 and 5 on transferable skills were carried out in small group discussion format, and therefore only open to the YIELDGAP ESRs. Despite the digital format, all ESRs (and many others) participated actively, asking questions and starting lively discussions with the lecturers. Especially the industrial applications received many interested question and remarks. After the School , a one-hour session was organized only for the ESRs where they supported each other for deeper understanding of the topics that were more far from their individual background (fluid dynamics, chemistry, Computational Fluid Dynamics, experimental techniques).