Early Career Researchers at IUGG '23

The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) recognises the Early Career Scientists (ECS) upper limit as people who completed their PhD 10 years back. For all the ECS, there was a registered social event that took place at the IUGG General Assembly in Berlin on 15th July 2023. It was the first of its kind event with participation from all the 8 associations of IUGG working on different sciences. 

The ECS social evening was attended by more than 200 people spread across all the associations. After a long break from online conferences due to the pandemic, everybody was quite happy to interact face-to-face. Scientists early in their career got the chance to meet and interact with other scientists working on a different domain in a different country. The highlight of the event was a set of 10 questions related to their fears and academic lives that was to be discussed in a panel session the next day. Some pertinent questions were raised in hopes of the associations recognising and solving these problems. The attendees also had the opportunity to give suggestions and ask questions to IUGG.

Poll results from two of the ten questions asked to the Early Career Researchers in the social evening. Credit: Jamie Farquharson

The next day, at the Big Themes panel discussion, each of the association had a representative who tried to answer the poll results and raise the awareness and concerns of their association to IUGG. It was an hour long open discussion which was attended by both ECRs and established scientists.

The representatives and organisers of each of the 8 IUGG associations with the IUGG Secretary General at the Big Themes panel discussion on July 16th, 2023 in CityCube Berlin. Credit: Jan Pauls

This event was the starting point of a hopeful long association between IUGG and its ECR's needs, wishes and demands. Hopefully, in 4 years, in the next IUGG Assembly in Incheon, Korea, some of these problems will no longer exist or will be partially solved.