ESSReS made a great start!
On October 1, 2008 the official inauguration of the Helmholtz Research School on Earth System Science took place at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven. The interdisciplinary graduate programme will train 24 PhD-students from 9 countries during the next three years. Apart from the doctorate, far-reaching skills in geo-, bio- and climate sciences will be confirmed for the PhD-students.
“The concept of the Helmholtz graduate school is new, since the focus during the doctorate will lie on cooperation and communication between the disciplines; without it, modern climate research will not work", explains Prof. Dr. Gerrit Lohmann, climate scientist and speaker of the research school at the Alfred Wegener Institute. “We will impart a better understanding of the complex system “earth” to increase the awareness of future scientists for the important questions of the interaction and change of the earth and climate system against the background of global change.”
In a symbolic act, the PhD students commonly released a weather ballon in front of the Alfred Wegener Institute, in order to demonstrate their common goal for the comming years: "Together, for a better understanding of the earth's climate system".
After the welcome and introductory words of the speaker, Prof. Dr. G. Lohmann, the presidents of the three institutions, Prof. Dr. K. Lochte, Prof. Dr. W. Müller, and Prof. Dr. J .Treusch recognized ESSReS as a result of many years of mutual efforts of the institutions involved. "ESSReS strengthens the network of universities and big research institutes in the federal state Bremen", said Prof. Lochte.
Subsequently, the ESSReS-coordinator Dr. Klaus Grosfeld handed out the membership certificates to all PhD students, after introducing them shortly to the audience.
At the end of the inauguration ceremony, Prof. Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research gave a great scientific lecture on "The Climate Problem", which has shown to be a highlight of the inauguration ceremony.
The day concluded with a reception in a nice and relaxing atmosphere, bringing together the new students and all guests. In parallel, the North German Radio (NDR) magazin NDR-LOGO broadcasted an extended round table with different interview partners about Earth System and Climate Research. The full podcast can be found under Press/Media on our webpage.