Fostering Opportunities Towards Slovak Excellence in Advanced Control for Smart Industries

Project Information

FrontSeat

Grant agreement ID: 101079342

DOI

10.3030/101079342

Project closed

EC signature date 28 July 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Total cost

€ 1 356 937,50

EU contribution

€ 1 356 937,50

Coordinated by

SLOVENSKA TECHNICKA UNIVERZITA V BRATISLAVE
Slovakia

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FrontSeat (Fostering Opportunities Towards Slovak Excellence in Advanced Control for Smart Industries)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

FrontSeat – Fostering Opportunities Towards Slovak Excellence in Advanced Control for Smart Industries – addresses the persistent gap in research excellence and innovation capacity between widening countries and leading European institutions. The project strengthens scientific and administrative capabilities at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STUBA) in the strategic field of data- and model-based automatic control, essential for digital transformation and smart industry development.

Through comprehensive capacity-building, collaborative research, mobility, and internationalisation measures, FrontSeat contributes to Horizon Europe priorities of reinforcing the European Research Area. The project delivered four mutually reinforcing objectives: (i) improved skills for EU project management, (ii) expanded scientific excellence and joint research outputs, (iii) stronger collaboration across the knowledge triangle research–education–innovation, and (iv) enhanced attractiveness and international visibility of STUBA.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

By transferring best practices, enabling researcher exchanges, developing open-source control tools, and reinforcing industry collaboration, the project produced measurable and sustainable impacts, supporting long-term competitiveness of Slovakia in smart-industry technologies.

FrontSeat advanced STUBA’s scientific capabilities via a joint research programme and a research audit confirming excellent scientific performance. Key technical achievements include the development of modern, open-source software tools addressing current challenges in automatic control:

• MPTplus, an upgraded Multi-Parametric Toolbox with advanced features for tube-based and explicit MPC, disseminated at major conferences (PC 2023, CDC 2023).
• SIPPY 2.0 contributions, extending modelling and identification methods, supported by exchanges with UNIPI.

Scientific mobility was implemented at scale, enabling joint research, software development, mentoring, and guest lectures. Dissemination targets were fully met and exceeded: 10 joint conference papers and 64 ESR-co-authored journal papers, confirming substantial growth in research productivity and impact. Knowledge-transfer activities ensured strong integration of results into education, through 80+ scientific/pedagogical lectures, three Summer Schools, and cooperation with industry at “Academia Meets Industry” events. Insights gained helped shape doctoral education reform, including a new PhD programme in Smart Process Control, now active with the first students enrolled.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

SO1 — Develop capacities of STUBA administrative staff in management of EU-funded projects:
- STUBA Project Centre strengthened into a fully functional EU Office supporting Horizon Europe participation.
- Ex-ante, monitoring and ex-post assessments guided targeted improvements.
- 12 staff exchange missions and thematic training improved proposal support and project administration.
- 12 operational management tools, 3 best practices, and 3 case studies integrated into workflows.
- Joint proposal preparation delivered tangible results (Hop-On invited to GAP stage; MSCA DN submitted).

Impact: Recognisably improved institutional readiness and professionalisation of EU project support.

SO2 — Strengthening scientific excellence of STUBA in automatic control
- Collaborative research with partner teams and research audit completed.
- Development and open release of MPTplus updates and SIPPY enhancements.
- 50+ scientific exchanges supporting advanced methodology transfer.
- 10 joint conference papers and 64 ESR-co-authored journal papers exceeded KPIs.
- Participation in leading scientific events (IEEE/IFAC invited sessions, workshop organisation).

Impact: Clear improvement in international scientific visibility and research leadership.

SO3 — Enhancing STUBA’s role in the knowledge triangle:
- 80+ guest lectures integrated cutting-edge research topics into education.
- 3 international Summer Schools with excellent evaluations (up to 98.75%).
- Industrial Council for Cybernetics created to sustain academia–industry links.
- Four Academia Meets Industry events triggered structured input from industrial stakeholders.

Impact: Stronger innovation relevance of research and better alignment of education with labour-market needs.

SO4 — Boosting STUBA’s reputation and attractiveness for talented scientists:
- New PhD programme in Smart Process Control launched in September 2025, enrolling the first three PhD students.
- Best practices transferred from RUB and UNIPI ensure international standards.
- Programme used as a model for broader PhD reforms at STUBA.
- Increased institutional visibility through mobility, international speakers, and conference co-organisation (e.g. hosting IFAC DYCOPS).

Impact: Significant improvement in talent attraction, retention, and international branding.