Universidad Compultense de Madrid, 29 May – 2 June, 2023

Our Cycle 3 Hackathon was the biggest so far: 140 participants from Europe and Senegal gathered in Madrid. Partner Projects like MULMOD, DestinE, EERIE and WarmWorld took the jump into the rabbit hole, joined our journey and shared the spirit in exploring high-resolution next generation Earth system models.

Although the weather differed from expected, the heat raised while science was discussed, new things were discovered, computers were humming and groups were working on the new model output of our Cycle 3 runs, which included this time a new grid for one of our models (HEALpix for the ICON output). The nextGEMS Cycle 3 runs allow for even more physics since a new aerosol and a biogeochemistry model were integrated. Scientists dove into the ocean, studied blocking events, got more realistic representation for the precipitation and located nice fishing spots across the world. Some challenges remain but it keeps us motivated to dive deeper into the rabbit hole.

Beside all the hacking, two members of our Advisory Board shared their work with the nextGEMS community. Prof. Katja Fennel, Dalhousie University, introduced us to challenges and opportunities for biogeochemical modelling in the ocean. And Prof. Yukari Takayabu, University of Tokyo (AORI), gave an insight into extreme rainfall observed from TRMM and GPM.Prof. Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, was invited to talk about the Destination Earth Initative, aimed at creating a Digital Twin interface for user-oriented climate information. Further, our Storms & Society theme held a workshop for nation-wide stakeholders from the renewable energy sector to create storylines building up on our renewable energy challenge.

We bring our community together in the framework of the hackathons to explore a wide range of scales and diversity of processes, and to exchange in experience, workflow and insights.

Even if neither the date nor the location is set for the next hackathon, the spirit of the hackathon will remain and everyone is excited about the second half of the project: the application phase!

Where and when: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, 29 May – 2 June 2023

nextGEMS offers up to 15 stipends for participation in the Cycle 3 Hackathon to support young scientists (at Master and PhD student level) from outside the project.

Application deadline: 03 April, 2023.
-> quicklink to registration & application

What is a nextGEMS hackathon?

nextGEMS is an European project that follows a new approach to climate modelling with global storm-resolving Earth-system Models. The project members meet regularly at hackathons to collaboratively analyse the latest model runs, exchange ideas and develop new ways forward.

We would like to include universities and research groups, especially from regions with less of a tradition in climate science. External participants applying for a stipend will (mostly) be organized in teams to work on an Application Challenge Problem, this time related to fisheries. nextGEMS scientists, as well as experts from the fisheries field, will supervise and support those teams.

If you haven’t been to a hackathon, have a look at our Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 hackathons to get an impression of the atmosphere during our previous meetings.

Who can apply?

We welcome young scientists with a strong interest in climate science or Earth system informatics!

Eligibility criteria:

• Master or PhD students in either physics, geophysical science, computer science, or marine biology (ideally fisheries), or applicants from African countries, whose research relates to the marine ecosystems and fisheries sectors.
• The application shall be supported by a supervisor.
• Applicants must be able to communicate comfortably in English.
• Experince and familiarity with large data analysis, using Python or similar, is preferred.

What is included?

The hackathon participation is free and includes coffee breaks, lunches and a dinner. Additional travel and accommodation costs (incl. breakfast) up to €1000 are available per stipend.

How to apply?

Before applying for a hackathon stipend, please prepare the following documents:

• Letter of motivation
• CV (max 2 pages)
• Proof of current enrollment and latest BSc / MSc certificates
• Letter of support from a supervisor or equivalent, stating the relevance of the applicant’s participation

Information on the hackathon, as well as registration details, can be found on the event website.

During the registration, please indicate that you apply for a hackathon stipend. Following the respective check-box, please upload the documents listed above in one single (concatenated) PDF file.

Application deadline is 3 April, 2023.
We will let you know as soon as possile whether we can arrange for your hackathon participation in Madrid.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with the nextGEMS coordination office (nextgems_office@mpimet.mpg.de).

Hackathons are communal exploration, analysis and development activities – all various forms of ‘hacking’. They prioritize working together over lecturing one another. At NextGEMS meetings, our fingers will do the talking.”

Our nextGEMS Hackathon goes into the 3rd Cycle! This time it takes place in Madrid, from Mon, 29 May to Fri, 2 June 2023, and it is hosted by Prof. Elsa Mohino from Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

In the spirit of what was written in our proposal, participants will sit together in small groups working on a topic. The topics will be related to the four nextGEMS research themes, as well as to marine ecosystem and fisheries Challenge Problem. We will all explore those topics based on the new Cycle 3 simulations run by the IFS and ICON models, identify bugs and improvements, and ultimately prepare for the nextGEMS production runs. If you haven’t been to a hackathon, have a look at our Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 hackathons to get an impression of the atmosphere and collaboration.

Continuing the tradition of the previous hackathons, we are also opening a call for stipend applications to support the participation to the nextGEMS third hackathon. Go here for more details.

As a new feature compared to the first two hackathons and a pledge for wider community collaboration, this time we will welcome guests from partnering projects: WarmWorld, EERIE and Destination Earth.

Registration
If you are interested in participating in the Hackathon, please register here until the 3rd of April, 2023.

The event will charge a EUR 150 participation fee. Once your participation is confirms, you will also receive the instructions for the payment. We have a limit of 110 people and will give priority to the core nextGEMS scientists and programmers. Nevertheless, we hope that this will leave enough space for friends and advisors of the project and we explicitly invite everyone related to nextGEMS to register. We will let external people know by mid-April whether we have enough capacity to accommodate for their participation.

For any additional questions, please contact the nextGEMS project office at nextgems_office@mpimet.mpg.de.