Up-skilling young researchers to help tackle the complexities of climate science
A deeper understanding of climate phenomena could lead to significant advances in energy, agriculture, and marine and environmental sciences. However, as Earth's climate is highly complex, there is a need to train interdisciplinary researchers to approach the subject from diverse perspectives. The EU-funded LINC (Learning about interacting networks in climate) project set out to train young researchers in fields like physics, dynamical systems, computer science and climate science. It also aimed at promoting long-term international research collaborations in these fields, particularly between academia and the private sector. In total, 12 doctoral students and 3 postdoctoral researchers were recruited and received extensive training. These early stage and experienced researchers participated in two schools, four workshops and research stays. Research output includes 28 publications that were presented in peer-reviewed journals. Secondments to academic and commercial partners enabled the research fellows to produce 12 joint publications. To date, three students have completed their theses, with more being finalised in the near future. In 2015, a final conference on complex networks and climate variability was organised in Vienna that attracted world-renowned experts. The high-profile event gave several researchers the opportunity to present their findings. These include enhancing understanding of relevant climate phenomena, proposing novel early-warning indicators of critical transitions, and identifying hydrodynamic communities that help design marine reserves. A climate database and analysis software were developed and can be downloaded for free via the project website. Videos and training material are also freely available. LINC advanced knowledge of climate dynamics and complex systems, which holds both ecological and socioeconomic consequences. Watch the project’s video here.
Keywords
Climate science, LINC, interacting networks