Coimbra Summer School 2007

The summer school was held in Espegrend, Norway, from July 1 to July 11 2007. This website acts as a platform to support communication an collaboration between the participants. For background information, below is a description that was taken from the announcement of the summer school.

Background

Following the publication of the most recent assessment report of the United Nation International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) during spring 2007 (see IPCC web pages at http://www.ipcc.ch/), this school provides an unique opportunity to hear from specialists in the issues covered and to work with other PhD students from across Europe from a range of relevant disciplines to discuss the findings and implications of the report.

A particular focus will be the links between climate change and extreme weather events, having potential to cause substantial economic or human losses. Examples include hurricanes, storm surges, heavy rainfall with land slides or flooding, heat waves and droughts. The devastating effects of extreme weather, the public and the policymakers need for more information, the medias need for dramatic headlines, the complex political, economical, and ethical questions related to global warming all challenge the communication skills and the objectivity of the only reliable source of information, the researchers themselves, be they climate scientists, public health experts, economists or political scientists.

Producing and building on the impacts of the IPCC report brings with it a range of high level transferable and professional skills. This includes communication with the media, the public and policy makers; international and interdisciplinary project leadership and collaboration; and knowledge and technology transfer. Such skills are relevant to all PhD students who wish to embark on a career as a future research leader.

The lectures will be given by world-leading experts presenting state-of-the-arts in climate research, collaboration, communication or knowledge transfers and entrepreneurship.

Target group

Advanced PhD students (second or third year) and early stage post docs from the European Coimbra Group Universities. Due to logistical constraints, there will be a maximum limit of 28 students.

We wish to encourage applications from young researchers working in a range of academic disciplines with an interest in the causes and consequences of climate change and extreme weather, especially those working in climate science and meteorology, public health, economics and politics. Interested students should use the online registration form on http://web.gfi.uib.no/conference2007/registration.html

The organising committee will select participants on the basis of the information provided by the students and recommendations from their home universities. The deadline for applications is 25 May 2007 and the selection process will be completed by 5 June 2007. The University of Bergen will cover accommodation and course fee. Bursaries are available from participating Coimbra Universities to cover students travel and accommodation.

Content

A key aspect of this course is to provide participants with an opportunity to work with specialists in a range of disciplines to gain new insights on their area of research and consider the professional and transferable skills essential for future European research leaders.

This includes a focus on:

1) Collaboration (across disciplinary, national, or cultural boundaries)
2) Communication (e.g. to non-experts, the media, cross-cultural collaborators)
3) Knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship

The summer school will be based on an active dialogue between student and teachers. Active group dynamics is an objective.