It was expected that at the end of the project several of the recruited PhD students will probably have found positions in collaborating industry, or academic, partner organizations, or in some of the spin-off companies that have been created from their research projects. All 18 PhD fellows who have successfully defended their PhD thesis found employment, so the employment rate is 100%. The majority, however, is employed outside Wetsus’ network.
The number of publications was expected to rise to 50 and the numbers of patents to 10 at the end of the project period. So far, the Marie Curie PhD fellows published a total of 97 peer reviewed international articles, all open access. The average impact factor of the journals WaterSEED PhD's published in was very high: 7.231 (2.745- 16.774 impact factor values for 2021). Three patents have been filed based on the research outcomes of the Marie Curie PhD fellows. The number of articles and patents is expected to increase in the future, as about half of the Marie Curie PhD fellows are still working on their PhD.
All researchers joined the personal development program. The PhD students are positive about their experience in the program, with extensive professional development opportunities, both through formal training courses at Wetsus and their "home" universities and informal interactions with industry partners and their peers.
There is a wide range of global and regional water-related issues and challenges that Wetsus research makes strong contributions to. These cover not only the provision of water with adequate quality to society, but also include environmental and biodiversity protection, the recovery of valuable materials from waste, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of energy-efficient water treatment processes and the exploitation of novel sustainable energy sources. These issues are all pervasive and the Wetsus program is making significant and growing impacts in these areas, therefore the research of Wetsus is very relevant to society. Currently, 7 companies are testing/using the technologies/knowledge developed by the graduated Marie Curie PhD fellows. 7 companies showed interest in the results obtained. These numbers show the relevance and socio-economic impact of the research carried out during the WaterSEED project.