This year's Research Conference took place on 23 May 2025. The day before, a team of volunteers prepared the venue by setting up chairs, poster walls and tables. Dr Hannah Hartung, the main organiser of the event, led all of this. Thank you very much!

Registration opened at 9:30 am and welcomed PhD students who arrived early, giving them enough time to install their prepared posters on the poster walls. A quick glance at the programme revealed the poster number, and everyone found their allocated space. By 10:00, most attendees had arrived and collected their name badges and goodies, such as pens and notepads, sponsored by the Geoverbund ABC/J and the Graduate School of Geosciences.

After a short welcome by Dr Hannah Hartung, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, an invited speaker from the Wageningen University, gave a keynote on ‘Investigations on the relations between photosynthesis and clouds at the Amazon basin’. The keynote was followed by two PhD Talks: José M. Vicencio Veloso talked about ‘The contrasting paths of moisture, clouds and rain in the Atacama and Namib deserts’ and Camila Riffo Contreras explained ‘The Geological Cycle of Atacama Desert Nitrate Deposits’ to 126 interested participants ranging from bachelor students to professors of all geoscience disciplines within the Department.

Following a lunch break, the general assembly and elections took place. During the General Assembly, the spokesperson of the GSGS, Prof. Boris Braun, reported about highlights, main events and important milestones that have been achieved in 2024 by the GSGS, its coordinators and the Steering Committee. Additionally, the Doctoral Representatives Linda Maßon and Stefan Schöttle presented the results of the MNF-wide survey, which took place in 2024. For the first time, this survey captured results on mental health and general satisfaction of doctoral candidates during their doctoral studies at the University of Cologne.

A new Steering Committee was elected during the General Assembly: Profs Boris Braun, Roel Neggers & Bernd Wagner were re-elected with their new deputies: Jun.Prof. Svenja Riedesel, Profs Nikki Vercauteren and Janet Rethemeyer. The scientific staff is represented by Dr. Kerstin Ebell and Dr. Steven Binnie as deputy. We also welcome the new Doctoral Rrepresentatives in the GSGS Steering Committee: Leonie Hesselmann (deputy: Alexander Pschera) and Felix Reize (deputy: Gibson Mulokozi), and thank them in advance for all the work and time they will spend for the community!

After the General Assembly, two poster sessions took place. Our PhD students who participated in the poster award were asked to give a short pitch talk to introduce their own research and convince people to come and see their posters afterwards. Throughout the day, we learned about the effects of climate change, soils, geoarchaeology, the atmosphere and many other topics. It was a great opportunity for the candidates to practice speaking to a wide scientific audience. A total of 36 people prepared a poster and presented their research in two different poster sessions. 

At the end of the Research Conference, everyone was invited to vote for their favourite poster and give feedback to the presented posters. 

The winners of the GSGS Poster Award 2025, the Audience Award 2025 and the Gateway Innovation Prize are:
Jacob Ryan Feller - East Antarctic Ice Sheet instability: insights from a >50 ka sediment record from the Vestfold Hills (GSGS Poster Award — selected by a selection committee)
Michelle Marie-Luise Zander - Between Location Change and Everyday Working Life – The Dynamics of Logistics and Employment in Online and Hybrid Retail Using the Example of Cologne (GSGS Audience Award — selected by the participants of the conference)
Ajeng Larasati - Showcasing the Wild: Commodification and Standardization in the Global Trade of Tropical Freshwater Ornamental Fish (Gateway Innovation Prize - selected by a selection committee from the Gateway Excellence Start-Up Center)
Stefan Dittmann-Zöllner - Sustainability in geography textbooks: concepts and didactic implications (Gateway Innovation Prize - selected by a selection committee from the Gateway Excellence Start-Up Center)
Many Congratulations!

We thank the Gateway Excellence Start-Up Center and the Albertus Magnus Center for attending, as well as everyone who came and made this day possible. Especially the people who have always thought of ways to support the GSGS staff. It was greatly appreciated!  

More impressions can be found here.

The next GSGS Research Conference will take place on 12th of June, 2026. Please save the date.