Project Management
Regular meetings with the REALISTIC team have been set up, complemented by more scientifically oriented meetings set up by the ERA Chair holder with the newly created LACy team he leads.
Regular meetings and discussions are happening with the University regarding Deliverable D1.4 Appointment of the leader of the newly created research group on a permanent basis: report on the selection process.
The REALISTIC 2025 meeting was held on July 7th, 2025 involving the 2 partners (UR and UPC) and the Advisory Board (AB).
Team construction and integration in UR institution
Through consultation with the LACy and OSU-R directorates, the “ideal” REALISTIC research team was defined, job opportunities were posted, and all team members are now recruited.
To enhance scientific synergy within LACy, a new transversal team was created right from the start of the project. This new LACy team is still led by the ERA Chair holder and focuses on the physico-chemistry processes of the tropical atmosphere.
During RP2, REALISTIC team confirmed that the posted job descriptions were also aligned with the technical needs of OSU-R, OPAR and LACy, and especially the profile of the REALISTIC Research Engineer to be recruited.
Competence raising through capacity building
A 6-day seminar was held at UR by UPC staff towards the UR services in Oct. 2024, in order to present their "support to research" office, provide information on their structurization and provide inputs to UR governance on European project management. Some sessions were planned towards researchers at the University, and others directly towards UR services that are linked to European project management.
A Strategic International Integration Plan was written. In this deliverable, a gap analysis of the OPAR was made and this analysis provided material for the strategic international integration plan, identifying the priorities to better align LACy/OPAR within ACTRIS-ERIC and NDACC in the aerosol remote sensing field, the potential networks to join, proposing an action plan and the allocation of resources to achieve the plan.
The ERA Chair holder had taken the lead of the writing of an EU COST Action on EARLINET-related technological and scientific lidar developments for the global atmospheric community. The COST Action was approved for funding in May 2025.
Improvement of Reunion Island R&I capabilities to align with ERA vision and priorities
Multiple meetings with UR’s governance have taken place in order to discuss upcoming issues and processes.
The work on WP4 has started with multiple meetings with UR services, in order to present the ERA standards to UR governance and therefore provide inputs for Deliverable D4.4 ERA Alignment Plan. This deliverable is planned for RP3.
Communication, exploitation, dissemination
Organisation of international events: The Maïdo Observatory Summer School was held on Nov. 2024 and the SWIO Seminar gathering researchers from the SWIO bassin was held in Oct. 2025.
