ACG 150

The Doctoral Network project ISLANDS (Integrated Sensing and communications for future vehicuLAr systems – a Network of Doctoral Students), supported by the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program, was kicked off at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio in Cassino, Italy, on Jan. 22-23, 2024. This exciting new project will last for 4 years and will train and supervise 11 doctoral students who will perform fundamental research in the emerging wireless technology field of integrated sensing and communications, with emphasis on vehicular systems. The consortium’s funded partners comprise 5 academic organizations (Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Telecomunicazioni – CNIT (Coordinator), Chalmers University of Technology, The American College of Greece Research Center, Tampere University and University College London), 2 large companies (Bosch and Nokia) and 2 technology startups (RadChat AB and Wave Up). It also contains 11 Associated partners: 7 from academia (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, University of Siena, University of Cyprus, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Weizmann Institute of Science, North Carolina State University, Southern University of Science and Technology), 3 from industry (Orange, OTE, Veoneer) and 1 research center (Satellite Applications Catapult). Geographically, the consortium spans ten countries and three continents.

The 2-day meeting in Cassino comprised technical presentations by all the funded partners and discussions that laid the groundwork for the project’s journey into integrated sensing and communications for vehicular systems in the future 6G wireless networking landscape.

Professor Constantinos Papadias, Executive Director of ACG’s Research, Technology & Innovation Network (RTIN) and Head of RTIN’s Smart Wireless Future Technologies (SWiFT) Lab, is the project’s Scientific Manager, as will act as one of the doctoral student’s supervisor. Professor George Vardoulias, Member of the SWiFT Lab and Program Coordinator of the Cybersecurity program at ACG’s Deree College, will also act as a doctoral student supervisor, whereas Professor Stella Apostolaki, Executive Director of ACG’s Center in Sustainability is the project’s Sustainability Coordinator. Through the ISLANDS project, ACG Research Center will host two doctoral students, who will be co-supervised by Professor Ioannis Krikidis at the University of Cyprus. For more information about the ISLANDS project, please visit https://www.islands-mscadoctoralnetwork.eu/).