Events

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow at 11h, it is time for our third "talk and discussion" in the Hazards meeting series on "your science and society”.

Ingrid Myklestad Sætersdal (NORCE) will talk about the work she is doing as part of her PhD. The title for tomorrow’s talk is "Assessing biodiversity shifts in a western Norwegian fjord over the last four centuries using sedimentary ancient DNA”. The presentation will be followed by a general discussion on how science can reach “society”.

When: Wednesday 8 April, 11h00

Where: Bjerknes Meeting Room (Jahnebakken 3rd floor)

All welcome!

Stijn and Mari

Dear all,

Mark Seefeldt from the University of Colorado - Boulder who is in Bergen for the spring as a visiting Fulbright Scholar kindly invites you to a workshop or short tutorial on Self-Organising Maps. A brief description of which is below, and the key details are:

When: Wednesday, April 8, 12:30-1:45 PM

Where: BCCR - Undervisningsrom 4020

Please send an email to Mark Seefeldt (mark.seefeldt@colorado.edu) if you would like to download the slides prior to the workshop. Or if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Priscilla

Workshop Description

The method of Self-organizing maps (SOMs) is an artificial neural network data analysis technique that objectively stratifies large volumes of data into a smaller number of recurring patterns on a physically meaningful basis. SOMs have been used for the past 20+ years in the atmospheric and climate sciences identifying patterns in sea-level pressure, winds, relative humidity, and vertical profiles of potential temperature, to name a few applications. This workshop will provide an introduction to the application of SOMs in atmospheric and climate sciences by providing an overview of SOMs, a description of what is done during SOM training, and reviewing two common methods to create SOMs and corresponding analyses. Throughout the presentation there will be a variety examples provided showing the different ways in which SOMs have been applied to atmospheric and climate sciences.

Hi everyone,

Hope you all had an amazing Easter break:) We’ll have our Stormtracks group meeting (08.04) from 14:00 to 15:00 at U105. This week Birgit will give a talk on Recent increase in dense-water formation on the Laptev Shelf: a shelf-process comeback for the Arctic Ocean.

The meeting will be hybrid and you can join remotely via Zoom: https://uib.zoom.us/j/62886269543?pwd=ajWbi97zr0hbniaoQdZkUtD2EUSSri.1
Meeting ID: 628 8626 9543 | Password: qSKTfKU3

The meeting schedule for this semester is in the following google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F9hy45DSeS9qrXl-3l4cNzCPSE9OuBBVqdCu3VY240U/edit?usp=sharing

See you all there! :)

Cheers,
Birgit and Yangfan

Hazards Discussion Meeting Series 2026 – Your science and society

What?

Science talk on a paper or project, followed by an open discussion on how the presented science can reach “society”.

In the open discussion we will address the target “society” audience for the paper/project, how the main outcomes can be best communicated, and who at BCCR can help.

Who can attend?

Open to all BCCR.

When?

Every second Wednesday of the month, 11–12h, in Bjerknes Meeting Room (3rd floor).

13 May

Mats Venning (NORCE)

Climate Services

Paper

10 June

Victoria Miles (NSERC)

Urban climate hazards

FTI

Bjerknes Proposal Writing Workshop 2026

From idea to project: Writing successful project proposals

19.05.2026: 9:00 – 16:00 

20.05.2026:  9:00 – 15:30 

Registration deadline: 24.04.2026

Link for registration: Bjerknes Proposal Writing Workshop 2026 – Fill out form

Venue: UiB Læringsarena, Nygårdsgaten 5, Bergen

Workshop leaders: Friederike U. Hoffmann, Research coordinator at GFI and EU expert evaluator; Nadine Goris, Researcher and Research Adviser at NORCE; Catherine Downy, Research Coordinator at NERSC 

Credit point: 1 (ECTS)

Maximum number of participants: 15 

For questions, please contact Friederike.Hoffmann@uib.no

The target group is early career scientists (postdocs, early career researchers, PhDs) in climate sciences with little or no experience in proposal writing. The workshop targets both those who already have a concrete project idea and a plan to submit a proposal, and those who want to gain general proposal writing and project development skills.

The workshop will enable you to apply for external funding for your own research. You will obtain the necessary skills through a mix of short lectures, group work, and plenary presentations, during which the research ideas of 3 participants will be developed into proposal concepts. 

You will learn about:

the central elements of a project proposal

how successful research proposals are developed, structured, and presented

the most relevant funding opportunities for early career scientists

You will learn how to:

present a project idea briefly and concisely (pitching)

develop the central components of a research proposal

structure these components into a convincing project concept

draft a project budget

In case the workshop is overbooked, Bjerknes members and scientists with own project ideas will be prioritized. For PhD students: this workshop makes the most sense if you are in the 3rd (or 4th) year of your PhD. PhD students in their 1st or 2nd year will not be prioritized. 

References:

General information about the workshop: Proposal writing training at Bjerknes Center

Publication about the course concept: Proposal Writing Training and Idea Development for Early‐Career Researchers Based on Constructive Alignment, Co‐Creation and Active Learning Strategies - Hoffmann - 2025 - Ecology and Evolution - Wiley Online Library

Topic: Modeling the Polar regions - what do we have and what are we missing?

Hazards Discussion Meeting Series 2026 – Your science and society

What?

Science talk on a paper or project, followed by an open discussion on how the presented science can reach “society”.

In the open discussion we will address the target “society” audience for the paper/project, how the main outcomes can be best communicated, and who at BCCR can help.

Who can attend?

Open to all BCCR.

When?

Every second Wednesday of the month, 11–12h, in Bjerknes Meeting Room (3rd floor).

10 June

Victoria Miles (NSERC)

Urban climate hazards

FTI

Hi all,

We are excited to announce an upcoming workshop, "Technological Advances in Climate Modelling", taking place June 15–19 at Bjerknes. We have invited five climate model developers to lead a mix of talks and hands-on sessions throughout the week.

The current program is as follows (subject to change):

• Monday morning: Introduction to Julia and script-based and interactive ESM modelling

• Monday afternoon: Introduction to GPU modelling

• Tuesday morning: Hands-on experiments using Oceananigans (ocean), SpeedyWeather (atmosphere), and Terrarium (land surface)

• Tuesday afternoon: TBD – possibly biogeochemistry-focused

• Wednesday morning: Hybrid physics–ML modelling, differentiable ESM modelling, and more

• Wednesday afternoon: A bit of continuation from the morning, and afterwards we will have a couple of hours for discussions and general questions of everything introduced since Monday

• Thursday morning: Coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations using script-based and interactive ESM modelling (it can be easier than you think!)

• Thursday afternoon: Coupled atmosphere–ocean large eddy simulation (LES) / nonhydrostatic modelling, with examples such as prescribed sea-ice leads or complex topography

• Friday: TBD; more discussion time

This workshop is designed to cater to a wide range of experience levels — from those running their first ocean, atmosphere, or land surface simulation, to seasoned modellers looking to deepen their knowledge of GPU computing, hybrid physics–ML approaches, and more. The introduction and hands-on sessions on Monday and Tuesday in particular are aiming to be beginner friendly, even if you have never approached a model, or Julia/GPUs, before. You are welcome to join only the sessions most relevant to you; there is no expectation to attend the full week. Our guest experts will be around for most of the week and will be available to discuss and help you get started.

We are also in discussions with Sigma2 about using their new supercomputer Olivia, which is equipped with the latest-generation GPUs and opens up exciting new possibilities for climate modelling.

A sign-up sheet will be circulated after Easter, once the program is finalised. In the meantime, we encourage you to block the week in your calendar if you are interested in joining.

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions — we look forward to seeing many of you there!

Best regards,

Kjersti Daae, Guillaume Boutin, and Andreas Klocker

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