For the project we appointed, through two recruitment calls 17 COFUND candidates: 13 female and 4 male candidates. Unfortunately during the project three candidates dropped out, two because of COVID related issues (e.g. away from family (support) and one candidate proved not to be sufficiently qualified for the position). All projects were checked for potential ethical issues, issues were identified in the following domains: third countries, health and safety and the environment.
In month 12 of the project the COVID pandemic hit and we adjusted our original plans. Changes made: we changed to online meetings, we increased the number of meetings and organised additional online lectures to ensure maximum interaction within the consortium. The lectures provided an unique opportunity to invite top international researchers, who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands. These lectures and additional meetings proved to be a great source of inspiration.
All PhD students were enrolled in local Graduate Schools and profited from their trainings. Additional trainings were offered by NESSC. The PhD students played a large role in their own development and were consulted on their (training) needs. The majority of the PhD students used the opportunity to apply for a grant through the NESSC exchange (or workshop) program and gained their first experience in grant writing.
Some fieldworks that were originally postponed (e.g. China) due to COVID could still be executed. One of the projects for which fieldwork was planned decided a different course - they brought the field in the laboratory (see technical report).
We managed to secure additional funds to extend individual employment contracts, providing the PhD candidates the chance to finish their studies without additional stress. Due to the extensions the final dates of the majority of projects now fall beyond the COFUND end date. Currently one PhD students has successfully completed her studies and defended her thesis, one other student will defend shortly. Some students have handed in their thesis and are waiting for approval of the reading committee, the majority of the students are in the final stages of finishing their thesis (see technical report). Currently, various students have already found new jobs, both scientific positions as well as at research institutes.
Exploitation and dissemination overview:
Used platforms: NESSC website (NESSC.nl) TPA website (www.tippingpointahead.nl/) Twitter/X, LinkedIn, newsletters/websites of hosting institutions
Our main dissemination effort is our program Tippingpointahead, where we provide low key information for secondary school students and teaching materials and events for their teachers. The scientific results of NESSC provide the base for all information on tippingpointahead.nl highlight of the dissemination activities :
-Climate change workshop for secondary school teachers
-Information stand and short lecture at secondary school teacher event
-Teach the (secondary school) teacher in collaboration with the KNAW (Dutch Royal Society of Sciences) (hybrid meeting)
-Climate change workshop for secondary school teachers
Through the enthusiasm for this program NESSC also participated in:
-Lecturers without borders one PhD student was one of the lecturers on Climate Change
Other activities include:
-Blogs of various PhD students sharing experiences on working at home and coping with the pandemic
-Blogs of two PhD students of their field trips
-Sponsoring of Urbino (2019, 2022, 2023) and Karthaus summerschool (2019, 2022, 2023)
-Symposium at the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW)
-NESSC Christmas lectures at the Dutch Science Museum
- Miocene climate dynamics (MioMEET2023) in Doorn, NL
-Workshops of submarine weathering of siliciclastic sediments in the Earth system was organized in Utrecht by a COFUND PhD student
- 2nd international GDGT workshop, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
