Swiss Climate Research
The network of leading Swiss institutions in climate research and education invites young scientists to join high-profile climate researchers in southern Switzerland for keynote lectures, workshops, and poster sessions on the occasion of the 21st Swiss Climate Summer School 2023.
Scope of the Summer School
The 21st International Swiss Climate Summer School focuses on the theme “Climate-Water-Energy-Food-Nexus”. The purpose of this highly interdisciplinary summer school is to bring early stage researchers in touch with established scientists from different disciplines to bridge the topic of climate change with sustainable development goals strongly focusing on social, economic, and humanity aspects. The main questions to be addressed in the keynote lectures and discussed in smaller groups within the planned workshops are:
- What is the impact of the changing climate on the water, energy and food systems?
- What is the adaptation potential of the water, energy and food systems coping with climate stress?
- How can we create innovation across the climate, water, energy, and food systems for them to be co-beneficial for sustainable development goals and transformation towards a net zero society?
- How can achieving climate mitigation and adaptation goals have positive spill-overs on the water, energy and food systems?
- What are the ethical and societal implications when we take the nexus approach seriously and consider the climate, water, energy, and food systems together?
Owing to the highly interdisciplinary nature of the topic, the proposed summer school addresses early stage researchers from the climate and Earth system sciences to food, social, political, and economic sciences, as well as humanities. The one-week summer school is organised akin to a conference and is structured around keynote lectures by internationally renowned experts with ample time for discussions, poster sessions, workshops, and concluding workshop summaries, as well as a panel discussion that involves lecturers and participants. All summer school participants are expected to present a poster of their research to discuss their own research with the other participants.
The summer school is organised back-to-back with the ETH Zurich summer school “Energy Technology, Policy and Politics: How can we reach a net zero GHG emissions energy supply?” from 27 August – 1 September 2023 allowing interested participants to expand their knowledge on both the complex nature of the climate-energy-food system and the necessary energy transition towards a net zero society.
Lecturers for Keynotes and Workshops (confirmed)
C. Beisbart (external pageUniversity of Bern, CH)
A. Branth Pedersen (external pageAarhus University, DK)
D. Bresch (ETH Zurich, CH)
D. Conway (external pageLondon School of Economics and Political Science, UK)
J. Fanzo (external pageJohn Hopkins University, USA)
R. Finger (ETH Zurich, CH)
R. Garrett (external pageUniversity of Cambridge, UK)
K. Ingold (external pageUniversity of Bern, CH)
T. Lenton, (external pageUniversity of Exeter, UK)
A. Lipponen (external pageMinistry of Agriculture and Forestry, FI)
T. Schmidt (ETH Zurich, CH)
S. Seneviratne (ETH Zurich, CH)
R. Winkler (external pageUniversity of Bern, CH)
Application
Deadline: 17th February 2023
The summer school is open to early stage researchers (PhD students and postgraduate students) worldwide. Participation is highly competitive and will be limited to a maximum of 65.
The registration fee (1350 CHF) includes full board accommodation, excursion, and teaching material.
Successful applicants will be notified in March 2023. The Swiss Climate Summer School thrives on the physical presence of both participants and speakers. Note that depending on the Covid-19 situation, we might need to adapt the school format accordingly.
Cover image by Alain Rieder.
