On 21st April 2026, the MUSICC Consortium met in sunny Rotterdam, Netherlands as part of the project’s Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting marked the end of the project’s second year and was attended by a broad range of partners from various institutions and in various roles.
Annual meetings are a valuable opportunity for consortium members to meet in-person and make use of the benefits this provides, including to reflect on progress made and to align on next steps. The meeting also provides an opportunity to celebrate successes together and reinforce the collaborative spirit at the heart of MUSICC.
A picturesque riverside was the scene for this year’s meeting.
Throughout the day-and-a-half meeting partners from each work package presented in open sessions to the entire consortium, with members attending both in-person and online. Presentations shared progress updates and details of the plans ahead.
This highlighted how different strands of the project are coming together and provided a space for partners to query and contribute thoughts on this work. Discussions were lively, underscoring the importance of cross-disciplinary perspectives and fostered closer alignment between partners working on complementary aspects.
Consortium Lead Prof. Chris Chiu opened the presentations.
This year’s annual meeting was marked with reasons to celebrate. Year two saw continued growth in the project’s communication and outreach activities. Contributions and efforts from consortium partners enabled successful engagement events with the general public, students, and government officials, as well as informative articles on project themes and technology, progress updates, and partner profiles.
The project’s visibility has continued to grow, and this will be a vital to ensuring audiences impacted by MUSICC’s work are informed and educated on our activities. Clear and transparent communication is key to supporting public trust and will remain a key pillar of project communications.
MUSICC Communications Lead Mike Darkes celebrated the project’s many successful engagement activities over the past year – Additional image credit: Brendan Foster / Dave Guttridge / Imperial College London
A major milestone in the MUSICC project was also confirmed, with the closing of recruitment in the project’s first human challenge study. This shows a significant step in progress for MUSICC and you can find out more about what this achievement means in our recruitment closure article.
With Year 2 complete, there was much discussion by the consortium on the year ahead. As MUSICC approaches the half-way point, there are still many activities to take place and objectives to be completed. MUSICC will also begin to enter a phase where partners can begin to publish and discuss results, which will be highlighted here on the project website.
MUSICC’s Year 2 Annual Meeting concluded with a strong sense of direction and collaboration, providing continued optimism and strengthened partnerships.
The sunshine and collaboration brought many smiles to this year’s meeting.
This year’s meeting highlighted the strengths of the MUSICC consortium and conviction in its aims to improve human challenge models, establish vital research networks, better understand mucosal immunity and lay the groundwork for the next generation of vaccines.
With two years completed, the project is well positioned for the work ahead.
