Here below you’ll find a list of various activities that were organized by VAME in the past. Browse through to get some inspiration in case you also want to organize some similar or completely new events for the department. You can contact Sofia, Vanille, or Betti (see details here) to find out about funding opportunities to sponsor your events.
21st of June: D-ERDW VAME General Assembly
The VAME General Assembly of our academic association was held on the 21st of June from 12:30-14:00 on ETH NO D11. During the assembly, the Mittelbau had the opportunity to learn more about our department, including recent updates from the DK and UK and projects that our team has been working on. As always, we provided delicious snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, offering a great opportunity for members to mingle, connect, and network.
11th-14th of May: D-ERDW Doctoral Retreat in Parpan, GR
The 9th Doctoral Retreat of the Department of Earth Sciences took place May 11th–14th 2023 in the scenic high valley of Lenzerheide near Chur (Graubünden/Grisons). At the foot of the Sätzerhorn and the Parpaner Rothorn in the village of Parpan lies our lovely accommodation, the Grischalodge (www.grischalodge.ch). The Grischalodge was the ideal location to combine breathtaking views with an academic program and other, less scientific activities. The vacation region Lenzerheide is famous for its idyllic, park-like nature and offers a wealth of activities all year long, both indoors and outdoors, which we will explore on Saturday afternoon. Many members of the scientific staff joined us in the valley that once was part of an important Roman transit route and had a great time together at the retreat. Find more info here.
Thanks to the support of the Department of Earth Sciences at ETH Zurich, this event (excluding beverages and potentially some activities) was free of charge.
17th of March 2023: Friday Peers with VAME
On Friday the 17th of March, VAME and members of the department D-ERDW gathered together for a fun and engaging social event. Our aim was to bring together individuals from the D-ERDW in a relaxed and informal setting, and re-introduced VAME’s work and impact on the department! We enjoyed delicious pizza and refreshing beers while we participated in lively discussions! The event was a great success and we were pleased to see that so many attendees took advantage of this opportunity to connect and learn more about VAME.
We would like to express our gratitude to all those who contributed to the success of the event, especially the Friday Peers team for its support. We would also like to thank everyone who participated and we look forward to seeing you at future events!
2022 D-ERDW Doctoral Retreat: Bernau im Schwarzwald
The 8th D-ERDW Doctoral Retreat took place from the 19th to the 22nd of May, 2022, in and around the Konfuziushaus located in the lovely Black Forest in Southern Germany. On the outskirts of the little village Bernau, surrounded by meadows and forest, the Konfuziushaus offered great possibilities and spaces for the academic program and all not-so-serious activities in and around the house that make the Doctoral Retreat so unique.
The academic programme of the Doctoral Retreat included a range of different talks and short-courses given by invited speakers from the scientific world as well as private companies. Amongst others, topics covered in these presentations included ongoing geoscientific research as well as writing, teaching, and visualizing skills. In addition to this versatile programme, were research group and poster presentations given by the attendees.
Previous D-ERDW Doctoral Retreats in 2013-2019
Since 2013 the Doctoral students of D-ERDW organize a PhD Retreat (renamed Doctoral Retreat as of 2018) during which they present their science in oral and poster presentations. Along with this, the retreat has offered the opportunity to discuss and learn more about e.g. gender equality in science, conflict management, and techniques to improve poster and oral presentations, thanks to workshops and talks by invited speakers. Each year, one day of the retreat was dedicated to excursions, with diverse options from geological hikes to mine visits, in order to provide an additional occasion to socialize with colleagues in a relaxed and fun environment.
The 2013 and 2014 Retreats were held in Parpan, the 2015-2017 retreats took place in the Black Forest and the 2018 Retreat took place in Liechtenstein. In 2019 the retreat was held in Entlebuch, Luzern. The retreats were continued again in 2022 since there was a hiatus due to the pandemic COVID-19 situation!
Football tournament: 3rd Earth Science Kick-Off
On Saturday, May 20th 2017, the 3rd edition of the Earth Science Kick-Off took place on the artificial grass field of the ASVZ in Fluntern. With seven teams competing in a tournament played in fair and good tradition, the team of the Joint Master students (Multiple Scoregasm) could decide the final in their favour in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. But also the other teams (FC Column, FC Moritz, Teamy Mc Teamface, CCCP, Shaky Legs, and Quarzazate Supergroup showed a memorable performance. At favourable weather conditions with plenty of sunshine, the 3rd edition of the Earth Science Kick-Off tournament set high standards and the fourth edition next year is already awaited by many. A big thank you goes to all organizers and in particular to Matthias Friebel and Henner Busemann for the fantastic organization of the event. We are looking forward to the next Earth Science Kick-Off!
Pictures of the event can be found in the Gallery.
Earth and Environmental Science Graduate Research Symposium
Born as an idea during the 4th PhD Retreat, this was a day-long research symposium held in D-ERDW focusing on young scientists, PhD students, and PostDocs. Through poster presentations, it exhibited and highlighted the ongoing research and gave members of the department an opportunity to present their work and learn from each other. The symposium brought together, both scientifically and socially, the diverse members of D-ERDW and D-USYS.
The symposium took place on October 5th 2017 and was organized by Stephane Beaussier and Quinn Wenning. You can find further details here.
What’s my PhD worth? -Science career options in and out of academia
This was a seminar and discussion series aimed to help PhD students and other Mittelbau members within D-ERDW to develop more informed ideas for their future scientific careers. The series focused on career options related to Earth Sciences and also addressed the topic of gender equality, given its specific relevance to this field of science. The invited guest speakers all held a PhD in Earth Sciences and were representing different scientific occupations covering the whole spectrum of this field. The seven seminars were held on a fortnightly basis, consisted of a panel discussion with plenty of time for questions from the audience, and were each followed by an apero.
The seminar series took place between September and December 2015, after being awarded funds by the SUK, and was organized by PhD students Emily Ciscato, Krisztina Kelevitz, Franziska Lechleitner, and Brandi Revels. For further details on the proposal submitted to the SUK, contacts of invited speakers, and organizational details of the event you can email emily.ciscato@erdw.ethz.ch
Movie nights
Two free screenings were organized in February 2017, see posters below. If you’d like to organize Earth Science-related movie nights in the future all you need to do is book a room, ensure you are allowed to screen the movie and advertise the event.
Kicker nights
We have a very nice kicker table, so why not make use of it? A small kicker tournament was organized in January 2017, with drinks and snacks sponsored by Vame. If you’d like to organize one in the future you need to send a request to Ernst Kreuzer and make sure you compile to all regulations when hosting the event (especially if after working hours).
