• The transferable skills training was about scientific writing. It started with an interactive workshop by Taylor Krohn (Premier Taaltraining) who presented some general advice about scientific writing. After that, ESRs worked in groups, traded texts, and gave each other feedback on their work. Some of the advice that would help write clear and informative texts was to use consistent vocabulary, start with familiar information in each sentence, and use parallelism when needed.

• The next speaker was Dr. David Peralta (Editor-in-Chief on ChemMedChem, Wiley), who presented the rules of effective writing in science and highlighted some tips for publications. Knowing your audience was the most important rule, knowing who you are addressing. Also, keeping the story short and simple and letting it guide you, please the readers, and be confident about what you are publishing were very important. Dr. Peralta’s speech was a very informative speech that could help ESRs publish their work.

• The transferable skills training ended with the talk of Jacqueline Strehler and Joanna Plesniak (Accelopment) who provided us with up-to-date information about open access publishing and data management.

• The 2nd day of the network-wide event started with an inspiring speech delivered by Pr. Benoit Deprez (Scientific director - U1177, University of Lille, FR) and titled “European drug discovery panorama: Players in the Drug R&D Value Chain”. Key aspects were shared regarding the rapid development of the pharmaceutical/biotechnological industry in order to target the unmet medical need for common and rare health disorders. The need for scientific agility, innovation, and transdisciplinary communication was highlighted, as well as the element of strong ethics for research involving human subjects.

• Continuing on a similar tone, Pr. Rebecca Deprez-Poulain (University of Lille, FR) presented insightful information related to “Innovation in drug discovery”. Basic research for new drug candidates and especially small molecules were highlighted, with emphasis on breakthrough therapies for untreated diseases. In addition, essential parameters for the development of a lead compound to a pharmaceutical product (e.g. solubility, stability, bioavailability, potency, selectivity, metabolism, toxicity), were described.

• Post-doctoral researcher Laetitia Lesire (University of Lille, FR) provided industrial examples of drug discovery with a focus on “Case studies in immunology and immuno-oncology”. The lecture included therapeutic applications with synthetic and biological drugs targeting protein-protein interactions (PPI). Benefits and drawbacks of the use of antibodies, peptides, and small molecules as immunotherapeutic agents, were also mentioned along with optimization techniques against known immunomodulatory targets (TNF-α, IL-17).

• Dr. Doriana Fruci (Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IT) closed the training sessions by delivering a lecture about “ERAP1 in cancer immunity”. The subject was centered around therapeutic implications of ERAP1 expression in the cancer-immune cycle and the impact of its polymorphisms on tumor progression, together with the immunopeptidome alteration observed after genetic or pharmacological inhibition of ERAP1.

•   At the end of the day, the organizing committee provided a wonderful guided tour around the historic center of Rome, which gave the   opportunity to all CAPSTONE members to interact and socialize around signature monuments and places such as the Colosseum and   the ancient Roman Forum.

• During the 3rd and last day of the meeting, ESRs had the opportunity to present to each otherand to supervisors some early results of their projects.

   "The 3rd CAPSTONE meeting in Rome gave us the possibility to finally meet in person and to share face-to-face our ideas and impressions concerning these first 6 months as PhD students. Having the chance to interact with each other and talk about our feelings and emotions was very supportive, giving us more energy and motivation to face the next future months. " Alice (ESR7)

   "Being part of the first physical CAPSTONE meeting was a memorable experience filled with skill-building activities around our common purpose. It was exciting to interact with the fellow members as a team and exchange valuable knowledge during the scientific workshops " Vasilis (ESR2) 

   "During the 3rd CAPSTONE meeting, we had the opportunity to build a constructive scientific discussion with the members of the consortium. Along with the knowledge gained during the scientific workshops, I went back to work with new insights for my research" Adele (ESR13)