The initial phase of the project (M1–10; Jan 2024–Sept 2024) focused on recruitment and setting up “infrastructure”. Candidate selection was completed in Sept 2024 but formalities (including visas and degree validation continued for several months in some cases). In the meantime, the consortium set up corresponding “infrastructure”, including a professional website (
https://BeyondTheEdge.network(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) which now provides the external “face” of the consortium, social media accounts, mailing lists, and administrative structures to communicate within and across the consortium.
BeyondTheEdge’s research program started with the Kick-Off Meeting at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA) as the coordinating institution. The meeting brought together a large part of the consortium and consisted of dedicated training sessions for PhDs (e.g. Scientific Integrity and Writing, Open Science) as well as for supervisors, the first meeting of the Supervisory Board, and a workshop with expert speakers inside and outside of the consortium.
The first research phase covered by this report (M11–24) yielded progress towards BeyondTheEdge’s research objectives This scientific progress in this initial 13 months has led to three preprints and research papers directly linked to the work by our PhD students by the end of the reporting period. In the meantime, there has been progress towards the training objectives of the consortium. First, BeyondTheEdge created four training courses that were held at the first Network Symposium (May 2025; online) and the second Network Workshop (Oct 2025; at beneficiary AMU in Marseille). The lecture material is openly available through BeyondTheEdge’s website and YouTube channels. Second, by exchanging ideas with invited speakers at the BeyondTheEdge events and being visible at international conferences central to the field, the PhD students were brought to the edge of current research. Third, hands-on training through a hackathon at the second Network Workshop in Marseille added to practical training.
Despite the research program being months away from completing its first half, BeyondTheEdge has left a mark in the community and beyond to realize impact. Highlights include:
Conceptualization of a children’s book “Bear Networks” to bring networks and dynamics even to the smallest (
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11190872(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)).
The BeyondTheEdge online seminar series brings together key speakers in the field.
BeyondTheEdge was featured in the PI’s plenary talk at the SIAM Conference on Applied Dynamical Systems (1100+ delegates).
BeyondTheEdge hosted plenary speaker and a Focus Session on “Network Dynamical Systems” including higher-order interaction networks at NetSci 2025 (800+ delegates), a key conference in network science.
BeyondTheEdge researchers have been active in organizing events and given various invited talks in the community.
Overall, the project is well on track, and all deliverables have been submitted on time.
