GeoLog

The EGU’s Geosciences Information for Teachers (GIFT) programme offers teachers the opportunity to hone their skills in the Earth Sciences.  The General Assembly Workshop is one of GIFT’s most important activities of the year and combines presentations on current research by leading scientists with hands-on activities presented by educators to teachers attending the event.

Natural Hazards is the theme of this year’s workshop series, which will be taking place from Monday, 8 April to Wednesday, 10 April during the EGU General Assembly 2013. This series will cover some of the issues surrounding the most topical natural hazards currently facing society, with presentations from world-renowned scientists at the General Assembly. Teachers will also be able to take home  a set of hands-on activities to use in the classroom – take a look at some of last year’s Palaeontology activities to get a feel for what’s involved.

You can find out more about this year’s GIFT workshop series in the workshop programme.

Take a look at the EGU’s YouTube page to get a flavour of what GIFT workshops are like!

Films that are relevant to the natural hazards series will be also screened in GeoCinema during the GIFT lunch breaks!

Welcome to the 2013 General Assembly! This is the first full day of sessions – we’ve put together a few highlights for today below. Be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here.

Of particular importance today is the Union’s Plenary Meeting (UM8) at 12:15 in Room R1, a forum for all Assembly attendants to discuss the development of the Union in front of the Union Council. Seeing as it’s over lunch, buffet of sandwiches and soft drinks will be served at the event.

The union-wide session on the Mars Curiosity rover’s first results will be taking place shortly after this (US2) 13:30–15:00 / Room Y1) – after recent news on the Red Planet’s exciting surface geochemistry, this is not one to miss! If you have a conflict, you can check out what’s happening at the session on Twitter by following the session’s hashtag (#eguMars).

Today also features four fantastic Medal Lectures:

• Augustus Love Medal Lecture by Michael Gurnis (ML15) 09:00–10:00 / Room G11
• Hannes Alfvén Medal Lecture by Göran Marklund (ML28) 10:30–11:30 / Room Y1
• Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists Lecture by Alexis P. Rouillard (ML4) 11:30–12:00 / Room Y1
• Runcorn-Florensky Medal Lecture by Tilman Spohn (ML31) 15:30–16:30 / Room Y1

The first round of Townhall Meetings start this evening – these are forums open to all conference participants at which new initiatives or decisions are announced to a larger audience following an open discussion on the matter raised. Today’s topics are:

• Monitoring geothermal reservoir depletion using seismic tomography (19:00–20:00 / Room B1)
• Tomorrow’s CLIVAR (19:00–20:00 / Room B5)
• Big data and software architecture meet geophysics and crisis management (19:00–20:00 / Room B3)
• ORCID: Connecting Research and Researchers (19:00–20:00 / Room Y1)

It’s also the first year we’re running PICO – or Presenting Interactive Content – sessions that combine the best of both oral and poster presentations. Take a look at what’s on here.

Finally, remember to take the opportunity to meet your Division’s representatives in the day’s Meet EGU sessions and, if you’re in need of a break, head on over to GeoCinema, where you can kick back and relax with a geological film (10:30-19:00 daily in B12).

Have an excellent day!

ESurf, more formally known as Earth Surface Dynamics is the new open access journal from the EGU. Focussing on the processes that affect the Earth’s surface at all scales, ESurf aims to communicate the interactions of Earth surface processes with the lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and pedosphere. Highlighting field measurements, remote sensing and experimental and numerical modeling of Earth surface processes.

The first issue of Earth Surface Dynamics!

As with most other EGU journals, Earth Surface Dynamics has an open review process, where the submitted papers are also available in an open access discussion forum (Earth Surface Dynamics Discussions). What’s more, because ESurf is the ‘new kid on the block’, all submission charges are currently waived, so it’s free to submit, free to access and free to use. Brilliant!

Take a look at the first issue here and to keep updated on the latest research in Earth Surface Dynamics, follow the journal on Twitter (@EGU_ESurf).

More information about the launch of this great open access journal is also available on the EGU website.

The Austria Center Vienna (ACV), the Assembly venue, is not far from the city centre and can easily be reached from the airport and central train station.

The ACV is located next to the Kaisermühlen/Vienna Int. Centre metro station

The ACV is located next to the Kaisermühlen/Vienna Int. Centre metro station (U1 line, direction Leopoldau from the city centre). Wiener Linien, Vienna’s public transport agency, provides a travel planner on their website, including information about getting to the city centre from the airport by train.

A regular bus service also connects the airport with the city – bus 1183 (stop 4, Wien Kaisermühlen VIC – Wagramer Straße) stops just outside the ACV.

Further travel information – including about where to find taxis at the airport – can also be found on the airport’s website. Additional information about Vienna’s public transportation system, including about fares and how to buy tickets, can be found here.

Once you’re in, you can navigate your way to your first session of the day using these maps of the Austria Center!

The EGU 2013 mobile app is now available for iPhones and the app for Android smartphones is expected tomorrow afternoon. To download it, you can scan the QR code available at the General Assembly website or go directly to http://app.egu2013.eu/ on your mobile device. You will be directed to the version of the EGU 2013 app for your particular smartphone, which you can download for free.

Once you open the app, the home menu will show you four possibilities: you can “Browse” and “Search” the meeting programme, select presentations to be added to your “Personal Programme”, or find out more about the General Assembly or what’s currently happening at the Assembly on “Twitter”.

The icon in the top left takes you to the main menu, where you can read more about the Assembly, and if you find yourself lost at the Austria Center Vienna, there are floor plans here to show you the way:

You can browse the meeting programme in “Browse” (also accessible from the dashboard), and choose a session or group of sessions (example, Short Courses, SC) for a list of talks including title, date, time and location. The coloured square indicates in what level the room is located (Blue Level – Basement, Green Level – First Floor, etc.).

By clicking on a listed talk, you can find more information about the presentation in question. To add an oral or poster presentation to your “Personal Programme” (accessible from the dashboard or side menu), simply click on the star on the top right corner of the “Description”. You can also add it to your phone calendar by clicking on the “Session in Calendar” button.

Presentations already added to your “Personal Programme” will be listed with a yellow star. Simply click on the yellow star again to remove it.

For what’s going on during, and in the lead up to the Assembly, click on the “Twitter” icon. If you are unfamiliar with Twitter, this is essentially a news feed for the General Assembly, where you can follow what’s going on in real-time, see what sessions other people recommend and ask questions of Assembly participants. To ask a question or highlight a great session, simply click on the bird. All tweets are automatically tagged with #EGU2013 so they will be added to the conference Twitter feed.

We think our conference organiser Copernicus certainly outdid themselves in creating this wonderful app. What do you think?

Blogging

GeoLog will be updated regularly throughout the General Assembly, highlighting some of the meeting’s most interesting sessions, workshops and lectures as well as featuring interviews with scientists attending the Assembly.

Writers from the EGU Blog Network will also be posting about interesting research and sessions during the Assembly, so you can catch up on any sessions you’ve missed and get a feel for what’s going on in the press room through them!

As in previous years, the EGU will be compiling a list of General Assembly related blogs (the blogroll) and making them available through GeoLog.  If you would like to contribute to GeoLog, add your blog to the blogroll, or join the EGU Blog Network please contact Sara Mynott at mynott@egu.eu.

Tweeting

Participants can keep updated with General Assembly goings on by following the EGU twitter account (@EuroGeosciences) and the conference hashtag (#egu2013). You can also direct questions to the EGU communications staff and other participants using #egu2013, or by tweeting to @EuroGeosciences directly.

Some sessions also have their own hashtag including the Great Debate (GDB1; #eguFrack), the Union Session on Curiosity (US2; #eguMars), how to apply for a job (SC9/EOS13;#eguJobs), and how to use blogs and social media in scientific research (SC8/EOS12; #eguSMedia). Make sure to tag your tweets accordingly if you are posting about these sessions!

And other social media!

While these will be the main media streams during the Assembly, you can also follow the European Geosciences Union on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube to keep up with us there!

With over 10,000 scientists all in one place, there are ample opportunities to meet other researchers in the Earth, planetary and space sciences, make friends, connections and start new collaborations. Here’s a sample of some of the great networking opportunities at the General Assembly this year:

The Earth Science Women’s Network (Sunday 7 April, 12:15 – 15:30)

The Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) is proud to announce a networking workshop the Sunday afternoon before EGU 2013 kicks off. The workshop will bring together stellar inspirational women (including two EGU medal winners) to give advice on using networking to build a successful career as well as women from funding agencies and women’s networks. All women working in the Geosciences are welcome and registration is free. Please note that space is limited and participants will be accepted on a first come first serve basis. ESWN will also be hosting a reception on Wednesday 10 April (see here for more information).

For more information on the workshop program and to register please visit here. You can also contact the organisers, Agatha de Boer, Mirjam Glessmer and Jaana Bäck for more information.

ESWN is an international peer-mentoring network of women in the Earth Sciences.

The Opening Reception (Sunday 7 April, 18:30-21:00)

The Opening Reception is a great place to meet the other EGU 2013 attendees, whether you’ve never been before, or want to catch up with old colleagues.

To make it easier for early career researchers, we’ve set up meeting points throughout the venue. The programme groups will be clustered into (1) Solid Earth, (2) Soft Earth, (3) Planetary and Space Sciences and (4) Interdisciplinary Areas. Stop by to meet fellow PhD students and early career researchers.

• Group I: Solid Earth Earth Magnetism & Rock Physics (EMRP), Geodesy (G), Geodynamics (GD), Geomorphology (GM), Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology& Volcanology (GMPV),Seismology (SM), Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Palaeontology (SSP), Soil System Sciences (SSS). Tectonics and Structural Geology (TS)
• Group II: Soft Earth Atmospheric Sciences (AS), Biogeosciences (BG), Climate: Past, Present& Future (CL), Hydrological Sciences (HS), Ocean Sciences (OS)
• Group III: Planetary and Space Sciences Planetary and Solar System Sciences (PS), Solar–Terrestrial Sciences (ST)
• Group IV: Interdisciplinary Areas Cryospheric Sciences (CR), Energy, Resources and the Environment (ERE), Earth and Space Science Informatics (ESSI), Geosciences Instrumentation and Data Systems (GI), Natural Hazards (NH), Nonlinear Processes in Geosciences (NP)

If you have any questions about events for Young Scientists at the Assembly, please contact Sara Mynott. 

Meeting other Geoscientists during the tweet up at last year’s General Assembly.

If you’re on Twitter, and want to meet other Earth Scientists with an interest in science communication, join us for this year’s EGU tweet up (#EGUtweetup).

The hugely popular GeoCinema returns to this year’s General Assembly! Featuring 42 films that cover a huge range of geoscientific disciplines  From short documentaries to full-length movies, this event runs almost continuously in the GeoCinema (Room B12) from 10:30-19:00 every day of the Assembly.

You can download the GeoCinema schedule, together with film descriptions here.

Just a small sample of what’s on offer at GeoCinema this year!

At the 2013 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union there are a variety of Union-wide sessions, summarised below.

Maria Theresien Platz, Vienna (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Union Meetings (UM)

These meetings are open to Union members; though note some are invitation-only events. Of particular importance is the Plenary (UM8) in Room D on Monday 8 April from 12:15 to 13:15 in Room R1. This is an annual event, open to all EGU members and all General Assembly 2013 participants, held to discuss the past and future developments of EGU. The whole EGU Council is in attendance and a free lunch buffet (sandwiches & soft drinks) will be served.

Union Symposia (US)

This year, the Union Symposia  include reports from the Curiosity Mars Rover in “Curiosity on Mars: first results – Part I” (US2), Monday 8 April, 13:30-15:00 in Room Y1, and the EGU Award Ceremony (US1) in Room R1, on Wednesday, 10 April from 17:30 to 20:00.

Great Debate (GDB)

With all the conflicting opinions on fracking for shale gas, what better a topic for this year’s Great Debate, entitled Shale Gas: to frack or not to frack? (Room Y9, Wednesday, 10 April from 15:30-17:00).

 Medal and Keynote Lectures (ML, KL)

There are 4 Keynote Lectures and a total of 32 Medal Lectures during the General Assembly.

Short Courses (SC)

There are 14 Short Courses at the General Assembly, from publishing and getting a job, to blogging about your research and getting a handle on technical topics.

Townhall Meetings (TM)

Townhall Meetings cover a variety of topics and are organised by participants, aiming to offer more discussion time than the normal oral presentations allow.

Splinter Meetings (SPM1)

Like Townhall Meetings, Splinter Meetings are organised by participants. However, they are typically smaller and can be either public or by invitation only.

Other

Educational and Outreach Symposia (EOS) are sessions dedicated to education and outreach, including to the Geosciences Information for Teachers (GIFT), a long-running event for high-school teachers.

Finally, now in its third year, GeoCinema (GC) features a nearly continuous schedule of relevant film content, including documentaries and full length features.

How to get to Vienna and what to do when you’re there – a brief, and by no means comprehensive, introduction:

Getting here

Vienna’s International Airport is served by many of the major European airlines. If you would like to consider overland transport (e.g train, car) there is an Information page on the EGU General Assembly 2013 website.

Getting to sleep

Information on accommodation options can be found on the Accommodation page of the EGU GA 2013 website. Other accommodation options include:

• http://www.jugendherberge.at
• http://www.hostels.com
• http://www.hotelscombined.com

Apartments for 2-5 persons from €39 / night / apartment are available on http://www.apartmentnetzwerk.at or http://www.govienna.net.

Getting to know Vienna

The Vienna tourist board has information about Sightseeing, Shows, Shopping, Dining and other information about Vienna on it’s website. A fairly comprehensive list of the museums in Vienna can be found on the Tour My Country webpage for Austria.

Tourist information on Vienna can be found in the Arrivals Hall of Vienna International Airport or at the Tourist Information Centre (Vienna 1) at Albertinaplatz/Maysedergasse, behind the Vienna State Opera that is open daily 9:00 am – 7:00 pm. Brochures can be ordered in advance from your local Austrian Tourist Office.

Since 2005, the EGU General assembly had taken place in Vienna [Source: Wikimedia Commons].