Insights from the 18th INTEGRAL/BART Workshop & AHEAD Summer School

The 18th INTEGRAL/BART Workshop, held from 13th to 17th May 2024, was a milestone event that contributed significantly to the advancement of high-energy astrophysics and CubeSat technology. This year's event was uniquely integrated with the AHEAD Summer School, fostering an enriched environment for knowledge exchange and collaboration. This year the workshop attracted 49 participants from six European countries and was kindly hosted and supported by the grammar school (Gymnázium Cheb) and the secondary school (Integrovaná střední škola Cheb) in Cheb. The diverse programme covered a wide range of topics, including gamma-ray bursts, black holes, active galactic nuclei and gravitational waves. Discussions covered detection methods for X-ray emissions, the design and implementation of novel detectors and payloads, and missions ranging from balloon experiments and small satellite ventures to large-scale international collaborations. Thanks to the funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme under the AHEAD2020 project (Grant Agreement No. 871158), the event was enriched by the integration of the AHEAD Summer School. This collaboration has particularly increased the participation of international students and young researchers, giving them the opportunity to present their projects and to interact directly with experts in the field, as well as to attend insightful lectures given by nine invited speakers, including: • Rosa Poggiani, University of Pisa, Italy • Dorota Rosinska, University of Warsaw, Poland • András Pál, Konkoly Observatory, Hungary • Klaus Schilling, Zentrum für Telematik, Germany • Martin Jelinek, Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic • Filip Münz, Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Czech Republic • Jiří Svoboda, Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic • Enrico Bozzo, University of Geneva, Switzerland • Karl Mannheim, University of Würzburg, Germany These experts provided invaluable insights, bridging theoretical concepts with practical demonstrations, such as those presented - for example, the THESEUS mission. The 18th INTEGRAL/BART Workshop and AHEAD Summer School were held under the auspices of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Czech Technical University in Prague. The success of this workshop was underpinned by the generous support of the key partner Rigaku Innovative Technologies Europe s.r.o. Additional support was provided by Huld and GCI. We are pleased to present this special issue, which contains peer-reviewed papers submitted by participants of the workshop and summer school. The diversity of the contributions underscores the wide range of topics discussed and highlights the role of the workshop in fostering international collaboration in space science. We would like to sincerely thank all speakers, participants, and partners for their commitment, dedication and enthusiasm. We look forward to continued success and fruitful collaboration in future endeavours.