We are organizing a semester of ”Algorithmic Earth System Science” at the University of Cologne and partners at the University of Bonn, the ECMWF and the Research Center Jülich.
The main goal will be to bring together the reseachers from Algorithm Design, Machine Learning and Earth Oberservations that are interested in interdisciplinary research on the algorithmic challenges arising from new earth observation systems such as satellites, etc. to exploit their full potential for modelling and analzing the earth system, in particular, for weather and climate prediction.
What we are going to do:
Kick-off and networking event: Earth Observations meet Computer Science, 7 - 10 October 2025
Workshops
Fellowships for postdoctoral researchers
Public symposium and lectures
Events
During this semester a lot of different events take place. A complete list is shown below. If you have any questions, please contact one of the coordinators or use our general contact form.
Workshop "New Earth Observation techniques to better understand oceans in the solar system"
31st March- 4th April 2025
31st March - 4th 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.
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 and abstract submission will open in April 2025. For further details click 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 from March 17th!
KICK-OFF Semester AlgoEarth
7th-10th October 2025
At the Kick-off event of our Semester of Algorithmic Earth System Science we will bring together researchers from Algorithm Design, Machine Learning and Earth Observations that are interested in interdisciplinary research. The program will consist of presentations, discussions and poster sessions.
We will welcome contributions from you in the form of posters or pitches. If you are interested, please, send a short abstract until 30th April 2025 to abstractsalgoearth.net .
Workshop "Learning from limited data in Earth system sciences: optimal selection of datasets and algorithms"
November 2025
November 2025 Learning from limited data in Earth system sciences: optimal selection of datasets and algorithms Prof. Dr. Nikki Vercauteren & Dr. Claudia Acquistapace
When the underlying learning task is highly underdetermined, due to a large problem dimension and relatively small data statistics size. The small data challenges are particularly common in Earth System Sciences. The focus should be on mathematically transparent formulations and rigorous characterizations of the methods, so that theoretically founded interpretation of the methods and their results is possible. Discussions should be around highly efficient approaches to the small data problem and overfitting challenges in AI, and on the identification of key challenges motivated by AI application in Earth system sciences.
The main goal of this workshop is to bring together experts of DL mathematics and algorithmic with experts of Earth system sciences that use and possibly develop such methods.
Schülerveranstaltung "Algorithmen in Erdsystemwissenschaften" (Stiftung Wissen)
23.-24.November
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 24. bis 27. November 2024 geht es um “Algorithmen in den Erdsystemwissenschaften” und bildet damit einen Baustein in unserem Semester AlgoEarth.
(in deutsch) Bei der Schülerveranstaltung am Dienstag und Mittwoch (24./25.11.) 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.
Podiumsdiskussion “Brauchen wir komplexe Algorithmen, um das Erdsystem zu verstehen?” (Stiftung Wissen)
25. November 2025
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 24. bis 27. November 2024 geht es um “Algorithmen in den Erdsystemwissenschaften” und bildet damit einen Baustein in unserem Semester AlgoEarth.
(in deutsch) Am Mittwoch Abend (25.11.) bieten wir eine öffentliche Podiumsdiskussion mit dem konkreten Titel “Brauchen wir komplexe Algorithmen, um das Erdsystem zu verstehen?” 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.
Symposium "Algorithms in Earth system sciences" (Stiftung Wissen)
26/27 November 2025
(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 24th to 27th November 2024, the focus will be on ‘Algorithms in Earth System Sciences’ and thus form a building block in our AlgoEarth semester.
The symposium will take place on Thursday and Friday (26/27 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.
Lecture series "Modern Earth System Sciences: Algorithmic Earth Observation Science" (KPA IMfESS)
October 25 - February 26
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 are focusing on the topic "Algorithmic Earth Observation Science". The always updated list of the lectures are here.
Location: Geo-/Bio-lecture hall, Zülpicher Straße 49a, Cologne
There will be several different possibilities to participate in the program, both for international researchers as well as local ones. The program is supposed to run from 1.10.25 till 28.2.26.
External researchers can participate in the following ways:
Short-term (a few days, upto a week) and long-term faculty visits
A postdoc visitors program
Summer schools for PhD students at the organizing universities
Participation in specialized workshops at the organizing locations
Participating in a distingiushed lecture series at the organinzing locations
Students can participate in the distinguished lecture series and selected workshops.
Public is invited to the lecture series and the public panel discussion.
Outreach
We plan to regularly make press releases particularly in the local press to establish also a good visibility in the local population.
Partners
Our partners are the University of Cologne (UoC), the University Bonn and the Research Center Jülich with smartEO (smart Earth Observations), with the Key Profile Area "Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences" (KPA IMfESS), with the Center for Earth System Observation and Computational Analysis (CESOC) and the Stiftung Wissen der Sparkasse KölnBonn.
CESOC is a cooperation in research and teaching among the Universities of Bonn and Cologne and Forschungszentrum Jülich, working closely together with ECMWF and other cooperation partners to bundle expertise and tackle the current challenges of global environmental changes.
KPA IMfESS is one of 9 key profile areas at the UoC and 5 institutes of the University are initially involved: the 3 institutes of geosciences (Institute of Geography, Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology), the Institute of Computer Science and the Institute of Mathematics.
Within TRA Modelling researchers from a broad range of disciplines create models that not only describe complex systems, but are able to analyze their behavior. This is achieved by the interaction of mathematical modelling, classical observational methods, data analytics, data simulation, and creative spirit.
The Stiftung Wissen der Sparkasse KölnBonn supports a package of 3 events in one week about our topic: a scholar event, a workshop for scientists and a public panel discussion. See Events.
The University Bonn (UB) and the Research Center Jülich (FZJ) are our strong regional partners. Many projects are realised together.
Contact
You can contact the main coordinators of this semester via infoalgoearth.net
algoearth.net