GeoLog

Welcome to the final day of EGU 2013! As ever, there are many many great sessions on today – here’s our final selection of highlights. Be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here.

After you’ve settled into the day and had your morning coffee, why not pick up some skills to show off your talents to a potential employer, make the most of your CV and beat the competition (in academia and industry) in the “How to apply for a job” Short Course? Join career training experts Helen Goulding and Sarah Blackford in Room G10 at 10:30.

Today’s Medal Lectures:

• Julius Bartels Medal Lecture by Nikolai Tsyganenko (ML29), Room Y1, 08:30–09:30
• Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists Lecture by Simon M. Mudd (ML5), Room B6, 13:30–14:00

…and a taste of the interdisciplinary sessions that are on:

• Crustal structure and geodynamic evolution in the Antarctic and Arctic regions 08:30–12:00,  Room G11
• Nature and physical properties of the plate interface in subduction zones: Cross-disciplinary views from Geodynamics-Geochemistry-Seismology-Modeling 08:30–12:00,  Room B1
• Integrated Research Infrastructures and Services to users: supporting excellence in a science for society 13:30–17:00,  Room B3
• Integrating Multiple Techniques to Determine the Evolution of the Himalayan-Karakorum-Tibetan Orogenic System: Surface, Sub-surface & Deep Earth Processes 13:30–17:00,  Room B1

We hope you’ve had a wonderful week, we certainly have!

Welcome to the fourth day of General Assembly excitement! Once again the day is packed with great events for you to attend – be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here.

Short courses! Today there’s a whole host of them, including a panel discussion on using blogs and social media in scientific research, while Web 2.0 isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it can certainly raise your profile! Join in from 15:30 to 17:00 to pick up tips and quiz the panellists (Room G12). Later, we have an informal discussion on open access publishing for early career researchers, where experts in the audience will answer your questions on the topic. Drop in anytime from 17:30-19:00 and discus all things open access (in Room R11).

If you’re a young scientist, you can also join the EGU Young Scientists Forum (12:15–13:15 / Room B1) over lunch – a buffet of sandwiches and soft drinks will be served. If you’re a female geoscientist, head on over to the Women in the Geosciences Townhall Meeting to find out about current EGU initiatives and network.

Today’s interdisciplinary highlights:

• Moho oral sessions (SM6.3/GD2.11/GMPV26/TS11.6), 08:30-12:00 / Room B5 (the posters are on show tomorrow)
• Long-term rheological behaviour of the lithosphere (GD2.5/GMPV10/TS9.8): orals (08:30-12:00 in Room G10), posters (17:30-19:00 on the Blue Level) and poster summaries & discussions (15:30-16:15 in Room R7)
• Biochar and organic waste in soils: global warming mitigation and SOM quality (SSS8.6/CL2.9): orals (13:30-17:15 in Room B9) and posters (17:30-19:00 on the Blue Level).
• Geodiversity and geoheritage in geoscience research (SSS6.3/GM1.5): orals (15:30-17:15 in B6) and posters (17:39-19:00 on the Blue Level)

If you need a change of pace, why not stop by the Imaggeo photo exhibition, next to the EGU Booth on the Blue Level? You can vote for your favourite finalist there. Finally, remember to take the opportunity to meet your Division’s representatives in the day’s Meet EGU sessions.

Have a super day!

We’re halfway through the General Assembly already! Once again there is lots on offer at EGU 2013 and this is just a taster – be sure to complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here.

One thing we’ve been looking forward to is this year’s Great Debate on shale gas – “to frack, or not to frack?”, that is indeed the question! The aim of the EGU Great Debates is to tackle contemporary issues in the geosciences and break down the evidence with a panel of science, policy and environment experts – with all the coverage fracking for gas has received, this is sure to be a great debate! The Great Debate will take place in Room Y9 (15:30-17:00).

Another not-to-miss session is the EGU Award Ceremony, where the achievements of many outstanding scientists will be recognised in an excellent evening event from 17:30-20:00 in Room R1. Here are today’s lectures from some of these award-winning scientists:

• Ian McHarg Medal Lecture by Alessandro Annoni (ML13), Room R11, 11:00–12:00
• Stephan Mueller Medal Lecture by Leigh H. Royden (ML30), Room B9, 11:00–12:00
• Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists Lecture by Xavier Fettweis (ML6), Room G11, 12:00–12:30
• Alfred Wegener Medal Lecture by Edouard Bard (ML1), Room R1, 12:15–13:15
• Beno Gutenberg Medal Lecture by Jeroen Tromp (ML25), Room B5, 13:30–14:30
• Vilhelm Bjerknes Medal Lecture by John P. Burrows (ML8), Room B10, 14:00–15:00

Why not expand your knowledge base in an incredibly interdisciplinary session on Anisotropy and small-scale heterogeneity in the Solid Earth, combining Geodynamics, Seismology, Geochemistry, Mineralogy and more?! Orals are in G10 (13:30-17:00), posters are on the Blue Level (17:30-19:00) and poster summaries and discussions are in R12 (10:30-11:15).

Finally, remember to take the opportunity to meet your Division’s representatives in the day’s Meet EGU sessions and, if you’ve had enough of the formalities, head on over to the Andean Geotrail photo exhibition where you take a breather and enjoy the fantastic photos taken on an incredible journey through South America (Exhibition Gallery, 1^st Floor, Green Level).

Have a lovely day!

Welcome back to the second day of the 2013 General Assembly! With so many excellent sessions, it isn’t easy selecting highlights, here’s just some of the great sessions on offer today. Make sure you complement this information with EGU Today, the daily newsletter of the General Assembly, available both in paper and for download here.

Why not venture outside of your comfort zone and investigate some of the interdisciplinary sessions on at the Assembly? From Chernobyl to Fukushima: Development of the Geoscientists’ Knowledgebase (GI1.4/SSS6.11) PICO sessions will be on this morning, followed by oral sessions this afternoon. There’s also a great series of orals and posters on the occurrence of earthquake hazards on today (SM3.3/NH4.4) and for something less close to home, there’s the session on evolution in the Earth and other planetary bodies (GD6.1/GMPV11). Take a look at the oral and PICO sessions for this series here.

Find out more about the role and responsibility of geoscientists in natural hazards in today’s Geoethics and natural hazards series (NH9.8) and how we can better determine earthquake source processes in session SM2.5.

If you’re a young scientist, join the EGU Young Scientists Forum (12:15–13:15 / Room B1) over lunch – a buffet of sandwiches and soft drinks will be served.

A tethered balloon will be measuring the aerosol profile outside the front entrance of the conference centre during the coffee breaks (10:30 and 15:30) – you can watch the launch and check out the results, which will be displayed live on computer screens throughout the building.

Today’s Townhall Meetings, organised by conference participants, include the following:

• Future Earth – research for global sustainability (TM4) 19:00–20:00 / Room B6
• Shaping future climate research in Europe (TM1) 19:00–20:00 / Room B13
• IODP-ICDP Townhall meeting (TM2) 19:00–20:00 / Room B5
• JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) (TM11) 19:00–20:00 / Room B8

Finally, remember to take the opportunity to meet your Division’s representatives at the EGU Booth in today’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 B13).

Have a great day!

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!

Will you be blogging at the 2013 General Assembly? If so, sign up here and we’ll add you to our official blogroll. We will be compiling a list (blogroll) of blogs that feature posts about the EGU General Assembly and making it available on our blog.

We’d ask you to write posts directly related to the Assembly during the meeting in Vienna. The content of each blog on this list is the responsibility of the authors and is not sanctioned by the EGU, but we will make details of all the blogs on the General Assembly blogroll available.

If you would like your blog to feature on our list, please submit your blog details to us.

With free (and open!) wireless internet and plugin points available throughout the building; we’ve got everything you need! International plug adapters can even be borrowed from the Austria Center Information Desk!

GeoLog, the official EGU blog, will also be updated regularly during the General Assembly. It will include posts about some of the meeting’s sessions, highlight media coverage of the assembly, and feature interviews with relevant scientists. If you would like to contribute to this official blog, please contact Sara Mynott with your idea. You may also use this email address for any questions you might have about the blogroll.

A limited amount of the overall budget of the EGU General Assembly is reserved to assist young scientists who wish to present at the meeting. From 2005 to 2012, the total amount awarded grew from about €50k to €80k; for the 2013 General Assembly, the EGU has allocated €90k for support awards.

The financial support may include waiving of the registration fee and a refund of the Abstract Processing Charge related to the abstract for which support was requested. Additionally, the grant may include a support for travel expenditures. The EGU currently runs three different financial support schemes; you can find more details about these awards on the Support & Distinction section on the EGU2013 website.

Scientists who wish to apply for financial support should submit an abstract, on which they are first authors, by 30 November 2012. Late applications, or applications where the young scientist is not the main author, will not be considered.

To submit the abstract of your oral or poster presentation, please enter the Session Programme page on the EGU2013 website, select the part of the programme you would like to submit an abstract to, and study the respective session list. Each session shows the link to Abstract Submission that you should use. More information on how to submit an abstract is available from the EGU2013 website.

To apply for financial support, make sure you click the appropriate box(es) when submitting your abstract. Bare in mind that, even if you are applying for support, you will still need to pay the Abstract Processing Charge. A screenshot of the first screen of the abstract submission process is shown below; the support application section is just above the Abstract Title box.

The selection process follows a three-step process:

• The first and most important step, after the submission deadline of 30 November 2012, corresponds to the evaluation (ranking and comments) made by the session convener and/or co-conveners.
• The second step corresponds to the decision made by the EGU support selection committee which is based, on a first instance, on the quality of the abstract, which is reflected on a convener’s higher ranking and favourable comments.
• In the third and final step, the Treasurer/Finance Committee takes into account the overall annual budget allocation, the number of abstracts submitted by each session, and the number of registered participants by country (estimated based on previous-year numbers).

In 2012, of the 1113 applications received, representing 1086 applicants, 218 were awarded financial support. Next year’s financial-support awardees will be notified in late January.

Townhall Meetings
Townhall Meetings are meetings open to all General Assembly participants where new initiatives or decisions are announced to a larger audience following an open discussion on the matter raised.

Anyone may organize such a Townhall Meeting subject to approval by the Programme Committee chair. Townhall Meetings will be scheduled from Monday–Tuesday, 08–09 April 2013, and Thursday–Friday, 11–12 April 2013, 19:00–20:00 in the lecture rooms of the congress centre. Applications should be forwarded to the Programme Committee chair by using the Townhall Meeting Request Form. Upon acceptance, the respective meeting will appear in the Townhall Meetings Programme as a regular session

Splinter Meetings
Participants at the General Assembly can organise side meetings during the course of the General Assembly. If the meeting is non-commercial in purpose, organisers can reserve two successive time blocks in one of the six available Splinter Meeting rooms free of charge. For commercial meetings (e.g. editorial board meetings) these rooms can be booked at a cost. In both cases, all Splinter Meeting participants are required to be registered at the conference. Interested parties should check the Splinter Meetings page on the General Assembly website for more information on the rooms and time blocks available, as well as for access to the request form.

Please note, that Splinter Meeting rooms are not available for booking as an extension of a session or a Poster Summary Discussion.

Meeting room at the Austria Center Vienna during last year’s General Assembly.

International Innovation is a global dissemination publication that provides access to interviews, content and presentations for the wider scientific, technology and research communities. The magazine has, on various occasions, interviewed EGU personalities such as Ulrich Pöschl (Publications Committee Chair), a few division presidents and, most recently, EGU’s Executive Secretary, Philippe Courtial. Some of these EGU-related interviews are now available online.

• Interview with Gert-Jan Reichard: “Biogeology has emerged over the past decade as one of the most important fields within the geosciences. Dr Gert-Jan Reichart, Division President of Biogeosciences at the European Geosciences Union offers his insight into the environmental challenges we face and how this research area is striving to address them”
• Interview with Philippe Courtial: “Executive Secretary of the EGU, Dr Philippe Courtial, details the work of the Union in assisting scientists and improving the availability of accurate scientific data”
• Interview with Michael Kühn: “Boldly trying to push science for solutions to solve the energy problems of tomorrow, Michael Kühn [EGU Division President of Energy, Resources and the Environment] is studying new approaches where renewables play a vital role”
• Interview with Ulrich Pöschl: “The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is the world leader in interactive open access publishing and public peer review. We speak exclusively to Dr Ulrich Pöschl, the EGU Chair of Publication Committee, about the important work being done in the pursuit of knowledge sharing in the geosciences”
• Interview with Denis-Didier Rousseau: “President of the European Geosciences Union, Division on Climate: Past, Present and Future, provides an insight into the ever expanding remit of this branch of the EGU”

(A few of these texts have also been reproduced with permission in GeoQ, the quarterly newsletter of the European Geosciences Union.)

To commemorate approaching the magical 1,000-follower mark on Twitter, the EGU is happy to launch its online journal club! This relatively new concept has proven to be very popular in other areas of science and we’re keen to see how it evolves within the rapidly growing EGU online community.

Get ready for the launch of EGU’s very own journal club!

How does it work?
Initially, we will present you with a publicly accessible journal article (likely from an EGU publication), you read it, then all of us ‘discuss’ it on Twitter at a specified time using a specific hashtag (#egutjc). The Storify transcript of the event will subsequently be published on our blog. As the club progresses, you will be asked to recommend articles for discussion based on your own interests and expertise.

How long do we get to read the article?
You will get around a week to read each article before the discussion takes place.

How long is the discussion?
The formal portion of the discussion will last one hour but, if there’s more to say, feel free to continue for longer.

Will we be provided with background information?
Yes, we will precede each discussion by tweeting any relevant links and information we can find – and we hope you will do the same. The announcement of the article will be accompanied by a short summary as well as discussion points to get you started.

Sounds great! When does it start?
Soon! The first article will be divulged on GeoLog and Twitter on Friday 15 June. The first journal club discussion will take place on Thursday 21 June at 17:00 CEST, allowing even our most distant North American friends to join in from the breakfast table.

What if I have more questions?
Please email the EGU’s Science Communications Fellow Edvard Glücksman with further questions.