With this year’s EGU General Assembly (GA; #EGU19) looming in less than a week, it’s time for all attendees to finish (or start) their own scientific contributions, create their own personal programs as well as plan other activities during the conference. In this blog Nico Schliffke (GD ECS Rep) would like to share some useful advice how to successfully navigate through the conference and highlight relevant activities, both scientific and social, for Geodynamics Early Career Scientists (ECS).
The huge variety of scientific contributions (~18,000 at EGU18) might seem intimidating to begin with and makes it impossible for any individual to keep track of everything. To be well prepared for the conference, allow for a bit of time to create your own personal programme by logging in with your account details and search for relevant sessions, keywords, authors, friends or any other fields of interest. If you have found anything interesting, add it to your personal programme by ticking the ‘star’. After completing your personal programme you can print your own timetable or open it in the EGU 2019 app.
Besides all the (specific) scientific content of the GA, EGU19 offers a wide spread of exciting workshops and short courses to boost your personal and career skills, as well great debates, union wide events and division social events. Below you will find a list of highlight events, special ECS targeted events, social events and other things to keep in mind and to make the best of EGU19:
For first time attendees:
How to navigate the EGU: tips and tricks (Mon, 08:30 – 10:15, Room -2.16) – This workshop is led by several EGU ECS representatives and will give an overview of procedures during EGU as well as useful tips and tricks how to successfully navigate the GA.
GD workshops and short courses:
Geodynamics 101A: Numerical methods (Thur, 14:00-15:45, Room -2.62) Building on last year’s short course, we are happy to announce two short courses this year as a part of the ’Solid Earth 101’ series together with Seismology 101 and Geology 101. The first course deals with the basic concepts of numerical modelling, including discretisation of governing equations, building models, benchmarking (among others).
Geodynamics 101B: Large-scale dynamical processes (Fri, 14:00-15:45, Room -2.62) – The second short course will discuss the applications of geodynamical modelling. It will cover a state-of-art overview of main large-scale dynamics on Earth (mantle convection, continental breakup, subduction dynamics, crustal deformation..) but also discuss constraints coming from seismology (tomography) or the geological record.
Geology 101: The (hi)story of rocks (Tue, 14:00 – 15:45, Room -2.62) – The complementary workshop in the 101 series: Find more about structural and petrological processes on Earth. It’s definitely worth knowing, otherwise why should we be doing many of these Geodynamical models?
Seismology 101 (Wed, 14:00 – 15:45, Room -2.62) – The second complementary workshop in the 101 series. Many geodynamical models are based on observations using seismological methods. Find out more about earthquakes, beachballs and what semiologists are actually measuring – this is essential for any numerical or analogue geodynamical model!
GD related award ceremonies and lectures:
Arne Richter Award for Outstanding ECS Lecture by Mathew Domeier (Tue, 12:00-12:30 Room -2.21) – The Arne Richter award is an union-wide award for young scientists. We are happy to see that Mathew as a Geodynamicist has won the medal this year! Come along and listen to his current research.
Augustus Love Medal Lecture by Anne Davaille (Thur, 14:45-15:45, Room D1) – Listen to the exciting work of the first female winner of the Augustus Love Medal (the GD division award), Anne Davaille! She is specialised on experimental and analytical fluid dynamics which has given Geodynamics many new insights.
Arthur Holmes Medal Lecture by Jean Braun (Tue, 12:45-13:45, Room E1) – This one of the most prestigious EGU award for solid Earth geosciences. Jean is a geodynamicist from Potsdam and works on integrating surface and lithospheric dynamics into numerical models.
GD division social activities:
ECS GD informal lunch (Mon, 12:30-14:00) – Come and meet the ECS team behind these GD activities! Meet in front of the conference center (look for “GD” stickers), to head to the food court in Kagran (2 subway stops away from the conference center, opposite direction to city centre).
ECS GD dinner (Wed, 19:30-22:00) – Join us for a friendly dinner at a traditional Viennese ‘Heurigen’ with fellow ECS Geodynamicists at Gigerl – Rauhensteingasse 3, Wien 1. Bezirk! If you would like to attend the ECS GD dinner on Wednesday, please fill out this form to keep track on the number of people: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpi8gvDDMOOOjLbtq4BrElsoBtTv86Mud7qNQ5yl7qWP5cUA/viewform Remember to bring some cash to pay for your own food and drinks!
GD/TS/SM drinks (Wed, after ECS GD dinner) – Don’t worry if you cannot make for the ECS GD dinner! After dinner we’ll have a 5 min walk to Bermuda Bräu – Rabensteig 6, 1010 Wien for some drinks together with ECS from Seismology (SM) and Tectonics/Structural (TS), so you can meet us there too!
GD Division meeting (Fri, 12:45-13:45 Room D2) – Elections and reports from the division president, ECS representative and other planning in GD related matters. Lunch provided!
Meet the division president of Geodynamics (Paul Tackley) and the ECS representative (Nico Schliffke) (Wed, 11:45-12:30, EGU Booth) – Come and discuss with the president and ECS rep about any GD related issues, suggestions or remarks.
Geodynamicists eating lunch at Kagran – it’s tradition by now.
EGU wide social activities:
Networking and ECS Zone (all week – red area) – This area is dedicated to early career scientist all week and provides space to chillout, get your well deserved coffee or find out more about ECS related announcements.
Opening reception (Sun, 18:30 – 21:00, Foyer F) – Don’t miss out on many new faces and friends, as well as free food and drinks and the opening (ice-breaker) reception! There will also be a ECS corner to meet fellow young scientists, especially if it’s your first EGU.
EGU Award Ceremony (Wed, 17:30 – 20:00, Room E1) – All EGU medallists will receive their award at this ceremony.
ECS Forum (Wed, 12:45 – 13:45, Room L2) – An open discussion on any ECS topic
ECS Networking and Careers Reception (by invitation only) (Tue, 19:00-20:30, Room F2)
Conveners’ reception (by invitation only) (Fri 19:30 – 0:00, Foyer F)
Credit: Kai Boggild (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)
Great debates
Science in policymaking: Who is responsible? (Mon, 10:45 – 12:30, Room E1) – Actively take part in one of the presently most important and hot topic!
How can Early Career Scientists prioritise their mental wellbeing? (Tue, 19:00 – 20:30, Room E1) – Many ECS find it challenging to prioritise their mental wellbeing. Discuss with many other young scientist how to tackle this really important issue and maybe learn helpful tips how to improve your own wellbeing!
Other useful skills to polish your career/CV:
Help! I’m presenting at a scientific conference (Mon, 14:00 –15:45, Room -2.62) – Your first conference talk might be daunting. Find out best practices and tips how to create a concise and clear conference talk.
How to share your research with citizens and why it’s so important (Mon, 14:00-15:45, Room -2.16) – Do you share your research with the public? Can you explain in simple matters? An important topic for researchers currently!
How to make the most of your PhD or postdoc experience for getting your next job in academia (Tue, 16:15 – 18:00, Room -2.85) – It’s never too early to plan your next career step.
How to convene and chair a session at the General Assembly (Tue, 08:30-10:15, Room -2.85) – Find out what it needs to convene a session of short course at EGU. You may be surprised, but you could to it next year if you liked,
How to peer-review? (Mon, 16:15 -18:00, Room -2.85) – After the end of a PhD (or sometimes even earlier!) you may be asked to peer-review journal contributions, but hardly anyone knows the process beforehand.
How to find funding and write a research grant (Tue, 10:45-12:30, Room -2.16) – One of the major tasks when you finish your PhDs. It might even be useful when writing applications for travel support etc.
Funding opportunities: ERC grants (Tue, 12:45-13:45, Room 0.14) – Find out more about these generous grants and how to successfully apply for them
How to apply for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grants (Wed, 12:45-13:45, Room 0.14)
Balancing work and personal life as a scientist (Wed, 16:15 – 18:00, Room -2.85) – Find out how not to lose sight of your hobbies and personal life in a increasingly competitive academic environment.
Other interesting events:
Academia is not the only route (Thu, 10:45-12:30, Room -2.16) – Are you finishing your degree and not overly excited by an academic future? Try this short course on exploring career alternatives both inside and outside academia
Games for Geoscience (Wed, 16:15-18:00 (Talks) in Room L8 and 14:00-15:45 (Posters), Hall X4) – Games are more fun than work! Learn more on how to use games for communication, outreach and much more.
Unconscious bias (Wed, 12:45-13:45, Room -2.32) – Become aware of the obstacles that some of your colleagues face every day, and that might prevent them from doing the best science
Promoting and supporting equality of opportunities in geosciences (Thu, 14:00-18:00, Room E1) – Any of us should promote an open, equal opportunity working environment and this session promises some very interesting talk on common issues, solutions and initiatives.
What I’ve learned from teaching geosciences in prisons – (Thu, 14:00-15:45, Hall X4 – Poster) by GD ECS Phil Heron.
Rhyme Your Research (Tue, 14:00 – 15:45, Room -2.16) – Reveal the poet in you and explain your research in an interesting and unusual way!
This is just a small list of possible activities during EGU19, and I’m sure to have missed out many more. So keep your eyes and ears open for additional events and spread the word if you know anything of particular interest. Also make sure you follow the GD Blog, our social media (EGU GD Facebook page) and EGU Twitter, to keep updated with any more information during the week! The official hashtag is #EGU19. All the best for EGU and I am looking forward to meeting many of you there!
