IAGA Summer School 2021

The pandemic's plan to keep students and scientists from interacting and working together was a fail, because the first virtual IAGA Summer School 2021 was a success! 7 lecturers and 34 students were well managed and coordinated by the organisers. The interactions took place using various online platforms.

The first interaction started much before the summer school using Slack. Everybody was informed about the activities and lectures here. The platform was active till after two weeks of the end of the school, in case people wanted to interact or ask any questions regarding the topics discussed. 

A few days before the school, social interactions took place through Gather. All networking events as well as practical lessons during the school happened here. People could roam around in the different classrooms to work and discuss. The space was open 24/7 for whoever wanted to stay and chat.

All participants and lecturers came together from different time zones for the classes on Zoom. The lectures were on topics discussing the magnetism and modelling of the geomagnetic field and related phenomena. The organisers were always present in case of any technical or communication difficulties.

Finally, here are some testimonies from the participants themselves -

Shivangi Sharan, a PhD student working on the magnetic field of planets, says: The screens were our contact links as well as our barriers. The school was *almost* like a physical meet where everybody would come for the classes and eat together later. Just that some were eating their breakfast, some lunch and the rest dinner!

Sarasija Sanaka, another PhD student studying magnetotellurics, says : I felt very blessed to attend such an event. Lectures were organised very well and Gather is a very interactive platform. I didn't expect we all could interact so lively. It was my pleasure to take part in such an event. I heartfully thank the organisers for providing such an opportunity.

Hannah Rogers, a final year PhD student in geomagnetism, says : The summer school was an amazing way to meet other early career researchers from around the globe. Despite the challenges faced due to the global pandemic, it was an educational experience with many benefits from the excellent lecturers. I particularly enjoyed the chance to use jupyter notebooks to cement my understanding. Thanks so much to the organisers for all their hard work and to IAGA for facilitating this wonderful opportunity. I hope to take the knowledge gained with me into my future work in my PhD and beyond.  

All in all, the school went very smoothly, with its goal for imparting knowledge and interaction achieved.