Baltic Earth Summer and Winter Schools

It has been the primary task of the Baltic Earth Working Group on Education to organize educational events like summer schools and conference sessions and workshops for young scientists. Baltic Earth Summer Schools have been conducted from 2015 onwards on the Swedish island of Askö, with two courses held in Estonia (Tartu/Vilsandi and Tartu/Voru). Since 2019, a dedicated Winter School is scheduled to take place every March in Warnemünde, Germany. Various lecturers from different disciplines and locations take part in the schools, providing a wide range of expertise. The series will be continued and developed further.

In cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde and the international Baltic Earth Network, the students are offered a high-quality education, which is complemented by guest lecturers from the Baltic Sea states. Every year many students from the entire Baltic Sea region apply for taking part in the Summer and Winter School, which is reflected in the international flair that is spread by the multi-cultural composition of the group.

With the help of teachers from several disciplines, a holistic Earth System approach is presented while the main focus of the course is on the physical aspects of changing climate. In addition to lectures, tutorials, exercises and literature studies, the course give the students the opportunity to discuss the learned topics further during group exercises. 3 ECTS for the successful participation (exam) in the course are granted.

Schools are open for undergraduate and graduate students, and young scientists active in the Baltic Sea region, or from outside the region, but also with interest in the focus of the specific school. From all applications the organisors each time carefully choose around 20 young scientists, criterias are many, including their studies so far, gender and countries.

As of September 2024, approximately 450 young scientists (roughly 60% female) from 20 countries have participated in our Summer and Winter Schools. 70 students have participated in flow-up Baltic Earth events.

We would sincerely like to thank all lecturers and all participants at this occasion, as well as the Askö Laboratory of Stockholm University, Baltic Sea Centre for hosting our summer school.

Hereby we would like to invite and encourage young scientists to apply for our schools, to enjoy this unique experience to study "out of the box" and to connect to each other. We are always happy to again welcome all of you to our conferences and workshops and bringing fresh perspective to the established scientific community.

The Baltic Earth Summer and Winter School Team and Baltic Earth Working Group on Education
Markus Meier, Marcus Reckermann, Piia Post, Berit Recklebe, Silke Köppen