Attending the EGU General Assembly offers you countless opportunities to meet scientists from all over the world, learn about the latest advances in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences, and present your research to the science community. This annual meeting is also a great chance to network, pick up tips on how to boost your career, and find job opportunities. Here are just some of the ways the General Assembly can help you advance your career in the geosciences, both in and outside of academia.
Job Centre
The Job Centre at the General Assembly offers the opportunity to connect employers/recruiters and highly-qualified candidates in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. The centre is located on the basement level of the conference venue.
Employers and recruiters can use the space in two ways to raise awareness of their current job opportunities. First, recruiters can put up paper-copy job adverts or small brochures on the centre’s job-posting pillar close to room -2.32, at the basement level. In addition, the centre has a job presentation space (room -2.34), which is equipped with a projector and is available for employers/recruiters to present their vacancy(ies) on their own notebook to interested job seekers.
Job presentations are listed online in the meeting programme under programme group JC. You can find more information on how to reserve a 30-minute presentation time slot on the EGU 2019 Job Centre page.
Next to the job presentation room, rooms -2.35 and -2.36 are available for job interviews. These are booked through door sign-up sheets.
On the flip side, if you are looking for a position, the Job Centre offers many opportunities for scientists to get career advice, connect with recruiters, and seek out jobs:
- Ivo’s clinic: Ivo Grigorov, research coordinator at the National Institute of Aquatic Resources at the Technical University of Denmark, offers daily clinics for scientists seeking advice and training for job applications.
- Post your CV & find job listings: at the entrance of the Job Centre, close to room -2.32, there is a job-posting pillar offering space to put up your CV and browse job adverts from recruiters.
- Present yourself: Take the chance to advertise your skills to potential employers with the Meet the talents session (JC1), scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, 18:00–19:00, on the gallery on the Green Level 1 (first floor).
- Visit the job presentations in room -2.34: check the meeting programme to find days and times that employers of interest are presenting.
- Use EGU’s online job platform: search for vacancies at: https://www.egu.eu/jobs/
Please note that a conference registration as participant or as exhibitor is required to take part in the Job Centre.
Networking at the General Assembly
Beyond the Job Centre, the EGU offers other events and venues with networking in mind.
The Networking & Early Career Scientists’ Zone, on the second floor of the conference centre, offers a space to catch up with your peers and make new connections. Scientists across all fields are encouraged to meet here to grab a free coffee, have informal discussions, organise and attend pop-up events, and perhaps even find opportunities for new collaborations. Check out the Zone’s notice boards to find out all the details. On these boards you can also find information on various topics, such as interest group meetings and division social events taking place during the conference.
The ECS lounge (now called the Networking and ECS Zone) at EGU 2014. Credit: Stephanie McClellan/EGU
In addition, the Early Career Scientists’ Networking & Careers Reception, an informal EGU-hosted event with drinks and light snacks, will bring together early career scientists (ECS) and experienced researchers with the aim of facilitating new connections. This reception allows ECS to get to know and get advice from researchers further along their career, and for established scientists, in and out of academia, to share their experience with researchers in the early stages of their career.
To attend the reception, which is scheduled for Tue, 9 April, 19:00–20:30 in room F2, you need to register in advance. Please sign up using this form. Places at the reception are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Your place is guaranteed only once you receive a confirmation email from the EGU Communications Officer, Olivia Trani.
Sessions for advancing your career
The General Assembly is also a source of many short courses with career development in mind. You can check out the following sessions to explore career options and get advice for how to thrive as a geoscience professional – be it in academia or outside:
Meet the Experts: Geomorphology (SC3.1/GM12.1)
Academia is not the only route: exploring career options for Earth scientists (SC3.12)
Polar Science Career Panel (EGU Cryosphere and APECS co-organised) (SC3.15)
Making your PhD aspirations a reality! (SC3.18)
How to make the most of your PhD or postdoc experience for getting your next job in academia (SC3.19)
Balancing work and personal life as a scientist (SC3.20)
The EGU General Assembly will take place from 07 to 12 April 2019 in Vienna, Austria. For the full session programme and more information on the General Assembly, see the EGU 2019 website and follow us on Twitter (#EGU19 is the official conference hashtag) and Facebook.
