The Dresden International Summer School (DISS) was held in Dresden between the 14th and 19th of July 2019. The goal of the Summer School was to bring master’s and PhD students together, who work on impact resistance of concrete structures and fiber-reinforced cement-based materials, and give them a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art research in the field. Besides the members of the GRK 2250, twenty international master’s and PhD students from various universities around the world participated at the event. The focus was on use of textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) and strain-hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) for strengthening of existing concrete structures against impact loading.

In the first day of the Summer School the invited researchers got familiar with the research concept of the GRK 2250 and with the high-performance cementitious composites, which are commonly investigated in the project. Various types of reinforcements were presented and clarified regarding their function and advantages and different specimen types were produced covering the entire range of meso-level experiments.

The second day of the Summer School was dedicated to the research presentations of the GRK 2250 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. The evening social program included a guided tour through the historical center of Dresden.

In the third day of the event the associated GRK 2250 members gave short presentations on their research, while the prepared posters served as a good basis for detailed discussions in the breaks. Besides that, Prof. Edeltraud Günther (TU Dresden) gave a lecture on Sustainability and Resilience and Prof. Marco di Prisco (Politecnico di Milano) held a lecture on New Cementitious Composite Materials for Tunnel Safety.

The second part of the day was marked by experimental testing in the laboratory of the Institute of Construction Materials, in which composite specimens were tested with different reinforcement configurations under quasi-static and impact tensile loading. Same as during the production in the first day, the students documented their practical exercises in detail, which was necessary for a subsequent results evaluation.

In the next day Prof. Josko Ozbolt (TU Stuttgart), Assist. Prof. Ravi Ranade (University at Buffalo, USA) and Dr. Jaap Weerheijm (TU Delft, The Netherlands) held lectures on such topics as Dynamic Fracture of Concrete and SHCC for Infrastructure Resilience.

For getting a better insight into the structural level research done in the frame of the GRK 2250, the DISS participants had a guided tour through the lab of the Institute of Concrete Structures, where they could also follow a drop tower impact test on a large reinforced concrete plate.

Finally, the highlight of the day was the bicycle tour from the campus of the TU Dresden to Pillnitz with short stops in the Großer Garten and at the Blaues Wunder Bridge on the Elbe river.

The fifth day of the summer school was dedicated to the evaluation of the practical exercises and of the obtained experimental results by the invited researchers. The evaluation was done in teams of five people, which allowed covering the entire range of performed exercises in an efficient and synergetic way. Besides the evaluation itself, the participants performed optical analyses of the tested specimens, such as Digital Microscopy and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM).

In the end, the teams had to summarize their findings in presentations on specific topics based on the performed experimental work.

The teams did a great job both in terms of scientific evaluation and team work, which could be judged based on their well-structured and detailed presentations.

The second GRK2250/1 workshop took place in Spindleruv Mlyn, a ski resort in Czech Republic.

The winter workshop combined technical and free-style activities in a tight three-days schedule. The oral presentations and discussions were held in the morning and afternoon with four-hours breaks in between for outdoor activities, such as skiing and hiking.

The second GRK 2250 Summer School was held between 18th and 22nd of June 2018. The first two days were held in Radebeul, a charming town located in the suburb of Dresden. Radebeul is well-known for its viticulture, being located in one of the northeasternmost areas where wine is grown in the 21st century.

Besides the technical presentations and discussions, the summer school included a cultural program. One of its highlights was the trip from Radebeul to Moritzburg on a steam train along a narrow-gauge railway followed by a walk through Moritzburg and its surroundings.

The last three days of the summer school were held in the campus of the TU Dresden. The participants visited the main laboratories and facilities, to which the members of the GRK 2250 are affiliated. At their turn, the invited experts gave dedicated lectures on various engineering topics (experimental and numerical) as well as interdisciplinary topics, such as on resilience and sustainability in civil engineering. The invited experts were Prof. Milan Jirasek, Prof. Barzin Mobasher, Assist. Prof. Ravi Ranade, Prof. Koji Sakai, Prof. Flavio de Andrade Silva and Prof. Bert Sluys.

Another highlight of the cultural program consisted in a boat tour on the Elbe river to Pillnitz and back do Dresden Historic Center. The participants enjoyed not only the warm and friendly atmosphere but also the nice weather and the beautiful surroundings.

The first GRK 2250 workshop took place in Dresden on the 5th and 6th of March 2018. Within two days, the direct and associated doctoral researchers of the Research Training Group presented their main results. The presentations were followed by questions and discussions with the workshop participants. Five international experts took active part in the workshop, stimulating fruitful discussions and offering valuable recommendations to the presenting researchers. The invited experts were Prof. Francois Boussu, Prof. Ezio Cadoni, Assist. Prof. Eric Jacques, Assist. Prof. Waiching Sun and Prof. Marzia Traverso.

The first GRK 2250 Summer School was held in conjunction with the Fourth International Rilem Conference on Strain-Hardening Cement-based Composites – SHCC 4. The Conference was organized at the Technische Universität Dresden by the Institute of Construction Materials under the coordination of Prof. Viktor Mechtcherine.

The conference offered the GRK 2250 doctoral researchers a great opportunity to directly communicate with the leading experts in the fields of SHCC and other high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious materials, such as Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC), including the father of SHCC – Prof. Victor C. Li from the University of Michigan, USA.

After three conference days, the members of the Research Training Group together with six international experts continued the summer school in a more focused format. During two days, the doctoral researchers presented their research concepts and progress after the first four months of research. The presentations were completed by individual and group consultations with the principal investigators and invited experts. The invited experts were Prof. Christopher Leung, Prof. Barzin Mobasher, Prof. Anna Pandolfi, Prof. Alva Peled, Prof. Bert Sluys and Assoc. Prof. En Hua Yang.

The kick-off meeting has coincided with the official start of the project and it was the first time when all the doctoral and postdoctoral, direct and associated researchers could meet and get to know each other. Prof. Mechtcherine, the speaker of the project, gave an overview about the concept and structure of the project, presented the curriculum as well as the initial plan of actions.

The kick-off meeting was followed by a lecture series given by the Principal Investigators of the project, as well as lab exercises dealing with the entire set of experimental tasks, from specimen production to testing and results evaluation.