On 13 June 2023, the Surrounded by Science Midterm Review Meeting took place at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, and online. It marked a significant milestone for the project, confirming the remarkable progress that the consortium has made towards achieving its objectives and producing useful research and practice-oriented results.

Together with a preparatory meeting on the previous day, this opportunity brought together key consortium members to the premises of the coordinating institution, as well as some more members of the team attending online, with the aim to present the accomplishments of the first half of the project to the Project Officer and the external Expert assisting in the review procedure.

The meeting was organized around the different Work Packages that constitute Surrounded by Science. The work carried out in the first 18 months of the three-year project and the ongoing activities and plans for the next period were presented, followed by questions and discussion.

The oral feedback from the Project Officer and the external Expert on that day, as well as the written Reviewed Report that followed, acknowledged the high quality and significance of the contributions of Surrounded by Science. At the same time, the midterm review of the project gave the consortium a good opportunity to reflect on, and present its work so far, and to receive very useful advice that will guide Surrounded by Science in the next phases up to its completion in September 2024.