31^st March - 4^th April 2025
4th outer planet moon - magnetosphere interaction workshop
Prof. Dr. Joachim Saur (Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology)

The goal of the workshop is to advance our understanding of moon-magnetosphere interaction in the outer solar system, in the context of past (e.g. Galileo, Cassini, Hisaki), current (e.g. Juno), upcoming (e.g. JUICE, Europa Clipper) and next generation missions (e.g. icy giants). We will welcome contributions including but not limited to: data analysis, modeling, remote sensing and laboratory studies.

A focus of the workshop will be on magnetic sounding of subsurface oceans in icy satellites and a comparison with magnetic sounding of the Earth's ocean (e.g., based on data from the Swarm mission).

Abstract deadline: 1st of February 2025

From the Cologne side, Joachim Saur and Alexander Grayver would scientifically and practically organize the workshop.

For further details, see https://indico.esa.int/event/551/

25^th - 27^th August 2025
Machine Learning for the Earth System Modelling
Prof. Dr. Martin Schultz (Research Center Jülich and University of Cologne)

The workshop takes place in the Universitätsclub Bonn, Germany.

The workshop will discuss the latest developments on large-scale machine learning for Earth system modelling and will cover the following topics:

• Machine learning-based numerical weather prediction
• Climate emulators and machine learning-based climate models
• Machine learning-based Earth system component models, such as ocean and land models
• Incorporation of Earth system observations in the above models
• Evaluation and explainability of the above models
• Datasets for model training, evaluation and benchmarks

Registration for on-site participation is closed. You can still register for online participation until August 21 here. 

Additionally, the workshop will be followed by a Hackathon from August 27-29, 2025 - a hands-on event for PhD students and early-career researchers passionate about applying ML to weather and climate research! 

Why join? Gain insights from inspiring expert talks, tackle hands-on coding challenges, connect with leading researchers through mentorship and networking, and compete for exciting prizes. With two tracks—Beginner & Advanced—there’s a place for every skill level!

For more information about the Hackathon, please click here. Apply now!

At the Kick-off event of our AlgoEarth Semester, we will bring together researchers from Algorithm Design, Machine Learning, and Earth Observations who are interested in interdisciplinary research. The program will consist of keynote talks by our invited Speakers, discussions and poster sessions.

Call for contributions! We will welcome contributions from you in the form of posters or short talks. Submit your abstract now and register for the event! Submission deadline for short talks has been extended until  15 September! The submission deadline for posters is 15 September; decisions will be communicated by 23 September at the latest. 

Please note that in order to submit an abstract or register for the event, you have to create a free user account first. After creating your account, you can submit an abstract, register for the event, or both.

Conference fee for all days: 200€ including catering and social event, registration deadline 30 September. 100€ Early bird tickets, registration deadline 31 July.

For further details, see here.

5 - 7. November 2025
Learning from limited data in Earth System Sciences: optimal selection of Datasets and Methods
Dr.in Claudia Acquistapace, Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Bojchevski & Prof. in Dr.in Nikki Vercauteren, 

Small data challenges are particularly common in Earth System Sciences. Examples include the study of rare and extreme events, which tend to have high societal impact but are often poorly forecasted by classical models. The workshop will discuss targeted machine learning methods for “small data” problems - when the underlying learning task is highly underdetermined, due to a large problem dimension relative to the size of training datasets. The goal is to bring together experts of data and computer sciences with experts of Earth system sciences that use and possibly develop such methods.

For further details and registration, see here.

Die Stiftung Wissen der Sparkasse Köln/Bonn unterstützt uns mit ihrem Paket aus Schülerveranstaltung, öffentliche Podiumsdiskussion und Fachsymposium. In ihrer jährlichen Veranstaltungsreihe nimmt die Stiftung Wissen eine aktuelle und innovative Forschungsfrage in den Blick. Vom 18. bis 21. November 2025 geht es um “Intelligente Methoden für Erdsystemwissenschaften” und bildet damit einen Baustein in unserem Semester AlgoEarth.

(in deutsch)
Bei der Schülerveranstaltung am Dienstag und Mittwoch (18./19.11.) führen (Nachwuchs-)Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler Schülerinnen und Schüler an dieses Thema heran. Diese erhalten dabei die Gelegenheit, sich direkt mit Expertinnen und Experten auszutauschen und ihre Fragen zu diskutieren.

Weitere Details siehe hier.

Die Stiftung Wissen der Sparkasse Köln/Bonn unterstützt uns mit ihrem Paket aus Schülerveranstaltung, öffentliche Podiumsdiskussion und Fachsymposium. In ihrer jährlichen Veranstaltungsreihe nimmt die Stiftung Wissen eine aktuelle und innovative Forschungsfrage in den Blick. Vom 18. bis 21. November 2025 geht es um “Intelligente Methoden für Erdsystemwissenschaften” und bildet damit einen Baustein in unserem Semester AlgoEarth.

(in deutsch)
Am Mittwoch Abend 19.11.2025 von 19:00 - 20:30 Uhr bieten wir eine öffentliche Podiumsdiskussion mit dem Titel “KI als Chance für die Klimaforschung?” an. Diese ist für die interessierte Öffentlichkeit bestimmt, stellt für die Schülerinnen und Schüler die Abschlussveranstaltung dar und gleichzeitig die Einführung in das Fachsymposium, das in den zwei darauffolgenden Tagen stattfindet.

Ort: Fritz, Thyssen-Stiftung, Apostelnkloster 13-15, 50672 Köln

Anmeldung per E-mail an veranstaltungen(at)stiftung-wissen-koelnbonn(dot)de oder unter 0221/169129-75
 

Weitere Details siehe hier.

(in englisch)

The Stiftung Wissen der Sparkasse Köln/Bonn is supporting us with its package of student event, public panel discussion and specialist symposium. In its annual series of events, the Stiftung Wissen focuses on a current and innovative research question. From 18^th to 21^st November 2025, the focus will be on ‘Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences’ and thus form a building block in our AlgoEarth semester.

The symposium will take place on Thursday and Friday (20^th/21^st November). It will offer scientists and experts from politics, industry, the media and other interest groups a space for exchange and discussion. Experts from a wide range of disciplines can work together here on current research issues. The symposia focus on a particularly intensive and interdisciplinary working atmosphere that provides new impetus for research. In this way, they contribute to networking the research and scientific landscape. We also summarise the results of the symposium in a research report and thus provide a well-founded and up-to-date insight into the subject area. The report will be published by the foundation.

For further details, see here.

9th -11th December 2025
Workshop "Smart Earth Observation System Design"
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Löhnert, Dr.in Sabrina Schnitt, Prof. Dr. Christian Lessig & Dr.in Maria Toporov

Join this 3-day workshop in person in Cologne with invited keynote & impulse talks, poster session, break-out groups, and lively discussions!

What type of Earth system observations do we need for improving forecasts in particular application areas - ranging from the urban-scale, over regional (sub-)km and global, storm-resolving to seasonal, coupled modeling? To answer this question, this workshop will go a step beyond the "classical" Observation System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) approach, which is typically applied in a non-systematic “trial-and-error” manner. We invite experts from Earth system observations, data assimilation, AI, and computational science to present and discuss methodologies to optimally design the future Earth observation system.

For further details and registration, see here.

24rd - 25th February 2026
Streaming Workshop
Prof. Dr. Christian Sohler (Computer Science, University of Cologne)
 

Venue: InnoDom Cologne

This workshop brings together leading experts in the area of streaming algorithms to discuss the newest developments in this area. The workshop is invitation-only, if you are interested to participate please send an email to akoenen(at)cs.uni.koeln(dot)de.

Confirmed participants: 

• Alexander Munteanu
• Amit Chakrabarthi
• Andrew McGregor
• Anne Driemel
• Artur Czumaj
• Christian Konrad
• David Woodruff
• Ekaterina Kochetkova
• Erik Waingarten
• Guy Even
• Michael Kapralov
• Morteza Monemizadeh
• Pan Peng
• Samson Zhou
• Sariel Har-Peled
• Sebastian Lüderssen
• Shaofeng Jiang
• Robert Krauthgamer

For further details, see here.

AlgoEarth & CESOC Workshop “Advancing AI Climate Models”
Prof. Dr. Martin Schultz (Research Center Jülich and University of Cologne)
Dr. Florentine Weber (Research Center Jülich and University of Cologne)

4th -5th March 2026, Cologne
 

Machine learning is increasingly used in weather and climate science. While AI-based weather forecasts can now rival or outperform traditional Numerical Weather Prediction at short time scales, extending these methods to climate - especially under changing conditions - remains a major challenge. Observational data are limited, and the climate system involves complex interactions and feedbacks that are not easily captured. This workshop asks: how can we push AI beyond forecasting and emulation to help understand and model the climate of tomorrow?

The workshop within the framework of Algorithmic Earth System Science and CESOC at the University of Cologne builds on the successful conference series on Machine Learning for Earth System Sciences (MLESS) but focuses specifically on discussing ways to tackle the fundamental problem of AI climate modeling. Even though remarkable progress has been made in AI-based weather forecasting and climate model emulators, fully operational AI climate simulations remain extremely difficult - largely due to sparse observational records and complex interactions across atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere, and biosphere. To achieve breakthroughs in this field, it is necessary to re-think how current deep learning networks are built and how architecture choices may limit the applicability to climate feedbacks.
This workshop aims to bring together world-leading experts to explore the potential and limitations of AI climate modelling and raise awareness for this fascinating yet highly challenging field. We would be thrilled to have you onboard.

Our goal is to connect expertise across algorithm design, machine learning, and Earth system science, fostering interdisciplinary thinking around next-generation AI methods designed for emerging global observation platforms and their use in weather and climate prediction.

For further details and registration, see here.

2-weekly from 20th October to 2nd Februray

KPA IMfESS offers a lecture series about the modern earth system sciences in the 3rd year. In this winter semester 25/26 we will present at least three inaugural lectures. Take a look at the always updated list of the lectures. 

Location: Geo-/Bio-lecture hall, Zülpicher Straße 49a, Cologne

Time: Mondays from 4pm to 6pm

For further details, see here.