Second GREENCYCLES MC-RTN Network Meeting Minutes

15th - 18th February, 2006
Lisbon, Portugal

Host: José M.C. Pereira, DEF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda 1349-017, Lisboa

Meeting Venue: Vila Galé – Hotel Opera

Part 4:
 
  Planned GC workshops  
       
  1. Supercomputing  
       
    Coding issues because of high contribution of modellers?
Objective: training at example codes.
Timing: the closer to present the better
  
  Marlies: in favour for such a workshop (9ESRs and ERs interested)  
  Allen: MetOffice could, but security in a clearing.  
    Potential hosts DKRZ, CEA?  
  Soenke: CEA potentially, but same security problems as MetOffice, pretty unlikely  
    Andrew to identify potential organisers  
    Nick is informing Andrew about the detailed options Corinne may know about  
       
 
  2. Remote Sensing  
       
  Allen: (and general audience) absolutely desirable, scheduled for next summer (2007), could this be held earlier, since it’s supposed to be a training workshop?  
  Andrew: Status at Alcatel? Are there any constraints on rescheduling?  
  Carole: Sometime at the end of this year should be possible to be organised.  
  Andrew: Is there a long preparation time for the organisation?  
  Carole: not that big an issue…  
  Andrew: suggests September/October 2006, but not during ES4 of QUEST. This would also be an opportunity to discuss secondments.  
  Dorothea: can supervisors attend workshops?  
  Andrew: Unclear, but up to us decide.  
    Alcatel to organise the workshop September/October 2006  
 
  3. Fire  
    as already taken place – there may be a need for a follow up workshop for the fast track people  
 
  4. Landuse  
    general scientific relevance, but of little relevance for the work within GC.  
 
  5. Methane  
    Opportunity for methane related workshop? Objective to reduce travel: do this at the time of Roxana’s stay at Lund. Mid autumn? Timing in September-October would allow to go to Abisko. Participants: relevant researchers of the GC labs working on the methane problem – should not be open to the general scientific community.

Objective: discuss within the GC project are parameters to be measured that help to constrain the models. What comparison can be done during the secondments planned in 2007 and 2008.

Torben to send measured parameters for the website for discussion leading into the workshop. There should be an exchange of parameters to Torben before the summer to be able to measure the desired parameters.
Torben to organise this meeting. Nodes to contribute: UBRIS, VAU, CEA, MetOffice. Information will be made available on the project website.

 
 
     
  6. Data-model evaluation  
    Andrew: Linking together observation and models in a somewhat more philosophical way, statistical info. Would have to be carefully planned to be useful.  
    Allen: would like to learn about data assimilation  
    Stephen: There is a DA training school in Edinburgh end of this summer (Stephen to send contacts to CEA for website)  
    Allen: general interest in how to evaluate models.  
    Andrew: ESRs perspective?  
    Maciek: interested in data assimulation, but …  
    Sandy: good thing to do, but it may well need to be targeted to a special problem, because methods are specific to the problem and its (geographic/temporal) scale.  
    Andrew: What about the general philosophical interest in how you do this across sciences?  
    Sandy: Difficult, because different foci to problems. Should concentrate on a limited set of examples to be useful.  
    Dorothea: potential to an extra day at the annual meeting ?  
       
    Agreed to be a good idea, but the implication is that there is then no meeting in Hunagary. Could be a good start to see if a meeting in hungary could be successful?
Andrew to follow this up!
  
       
 
  7. Outreach and Policy  
    To learn and inform non-specialists. Could be at the MetOffice. At the end of the project, but bring it forward a bit anyway (to be moved from winter 2008 to summer 2008).  
  Stephen: There is experience at MetOffice, could be done in Exeter.  
  Allen: only non-professional – influencing politics?  
  Andrew: no, not intended to steer politics. Emphasis on communication of scientific knowledge; this may include communication to politics, press, UNFCC, general public, school children.  
  Dorothea: courses on communicating with the press available at UEA. Do we really need a workshop on this topic? Wouldn’t it be more useful if each ESR and ER spend this time on outreach in a way that they fancy and if necessary take extra training for this.  
  Andrew: No one would be forced to engage in activities they don’t want to, but communication to non-scientists is clearly a need for successful future scientists (and GC!), and certainly warrants the organisation of a workshop for those greencyclists interested.  
       
 
 

EGU 2008:

 
    interest to apply for a special session on GC, but it is not possible to exclude non greencyclists. Invited speaker possible, but outside applications have to be seriously considered. Aim: At least one key presentation of the key findings needs to be organised. Should aim allow at a lot of greencyclists to talk. Make sure that all Greencycles get to contribute. Ensure that all greencyclists will be present at this and/or for other sessions.

Potential title: Greencycles – biogenic feedbacks in the climate system?

  
       
 
  ES4 (September 2006)  
    GC commited to a) supporting lecturers, b) ESR training (background of biogeochemical cycles and climate change, all domain, data and modelling, two weeks). Key issue: how many students, who is staff for this.  
  Dorothea: Clash with UK challenger ocean meeting  
  Andrew: Who is going to ES4?  
  Nick: recommends going there, very good, very top people  
  Sandy: hands on practicals, social interaction should be reinforced between lectures and students. Recommendation taken on board to be around for a bit longer to make connections. How many are interested? Info available on the website of QUEST and GC
  
  Andrew: Level of coverage of GC topics?  
  Sandy: Similar to last year, but taking recommendations on board, covering all relevant aspects, putting envelope around this. Influence depend on commitment. People to commit time, lectures or practicals.  
  Andrew: Need to make sure that GC is significantly visible.  
  Sandy: is organised by GC partner. Deadline 10th of may. Need to organised a block booking!  
       
    The following ESRs express their interested to participate in 2006: Valentina, Raquel, Sarah, Trevor, Maciek, Marcin, Anna, Marlies, Yannick, Meike, Roxana.  
    ES4 costs would be payed from what budget position exactly? To be clarified by Andrew/Anne. [response of Andrew: surely this comes from category E : the 400 euros/mo?]
   
 
  MarieCurie conferences / Summerschools etc.
    Summerschool on remote sensing and data assimilation using Envisat in Frascati, Italy July 2006. Contact: Valentina
Carboocean is having a week workshop Bergen in June 2006. see carboocean website.
Sensitivity summerschool in Venetia later this year (Soenke to provide details)
  
       
  General discussion of these and related issues  
  Sönke: Make sure that workshops can be used in obtain credit points for ESR that need these for their PhD.  
  Majick: could we add proposal writing  
  Andrew Hope that this type of training available locally, not in workshops?  
  Meike: problem in time availability – need to be taken into account, shouldn’t be made fixed now.  
       
 
  Communication, outreach and reporting  
  1. GC website:   
   

Sönke to provide a personal page webpage for the official GC pages. CDPs on secure webpage, and short CVs

Box for secondments to track everyone and addresses?
Make emails secure against spamsearch machines.
Section of outreach and aims and findings etc. for pub. Communication. Links resources to non-scientific explanation links.

Training possibilities at host institutions?

  
  Han: to be posted on the website or weblist. News board on website
   
       
  2. Visibility of GC  
    Open terrestrial and ocean carbon conferences in Crete and Las Palma (see respective websites). get them to link us.
Quest annual science meeting in April, science part is open to public (to push GC there for the participants).
IGBP: ILEPS & SOLAS open science conference at the end of lifetime of GC (start of 2008). Sandy is on science committee of ILEAP to make a link to GC.

ILEPS is desperately looking for authors of the ILEAPS, possible to capture a whole magazine for small papers that are not peer-reviewed to communicate to the public science (one of their newsletters, non specialist audience). Anne to organise this? Appears 4 times a year. Doesn’t cover the ocean. SOLAS is in principle the same. Could have also a link to oceans in ILEAPS as well, integrated issue for relevant topics…

GCP: Focus has shifted towards human dimensions. Allen has contacts

  
       
 
  3. Communication to the greater public  
    CarboSchools: Contact Phillipe Saugier, or their website (have teaching material)  
       
    Is the idea to provide facilities for network members to do this?  
  Andrew: the network would support all these types of activities as much as possible. Anne could help write things, create presentations, pamphlets, etc.
  Dorothea: let people decide what type of outreach they do.  
  Andrew: GC could support that, but there is no should! GC has an aim to promote this. Hard to generalise, depends on local institute. No GC strategy on this
Anne would be happy to support these type of activity.
 
  Nick: is there a requirement?  
  Andrew: for the network it’s a requirement, but this is not forcing individual members to get involved. GC encourages, expects to take an effort  
  Sandy: local institutions have a have potential to provide opportunities for this kind of communication/communication training. One step forward is to assemble request for public communication on web page!  
       
 
 

4. Mentoring

  
    Logical connections made up, but not forced. In principle, any ESR can contact any ER. Idea to have a contact point to raise concern or scientific issues, future plans, crisis negotiation etc.

Valentina, Maciek, Meike -> Nick
Raquel, Trevor, Roxana, Marcin -> Sönke
MetOffice, Sarah, Anna -> UBRIS
Yannick -> Allen
Marlies -> PIK

  
    Allen: what is the role of the mentor in relation to supervisor?  
    Andrew: more general advice, see above  
 
     
  5. Publications  
    To be revisited next meeting – encourage joint publications  
 
       
  6. Reporting  
    Andrew reports on the reporting for 2005. The report contains three lists on publications:
1. list of periodic activity, our own publication
2. list of publications of people involved in GC as either author or co-authors
3. Appendix for publication directly arising from GC research
Two things : ‘Individual and joint publications, directly related to the work undertaken within the contract’, and ‘List of publications directly resulting from the project’. ADF takes the former to include all publications within the year with GC scientists amongst the authors that concern the science domain of GC : they show we are active scientists in the research field of GC

The next report is due 45 days after new year: 14th Feb. 2007.
Deadline to send activity report to Andrew: before the 22nd December 2006
Finance report to Andrew before 31st of January 2007

Greencycles has to be acknowledged in all publications! The contract says that the supported researchers must acknowledge the support of the Community under a Marie Curie Research Training Network in any related publications or other media

  
    Sandy: timesheets for financial reporting. For administrative reasons time sheets required to calculate man month?? Sandy to send request to Andrew to ask the contact person in Brussels. Is it a requirement of a research training network to have a time audit.  
    Han: It’s the auditor responsibility to ask for this or not…  
    CEA requires an audit for each year because it makes prefinancing a lot easier!  
 
       
  Group photo:  
     
       
       
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