Greetings from the second FluxBEATS summer school

The second FluxBEATS summer school, held from June 3 to 12, 2026 in Germany, was an important network-wide event that deepened participants’ training in both scientific and soft skills.

The main organizer of the summer school was the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, and during the summer school, we even had the opportunity to spend a day on a research vessel.
 
In this newsletter, we are sharing the highlights of the summer school, so hop on board!

Exploring the depths of the Baltic Sea…

The official program started on Thursday, June 4, with a day cruise with the German RV Alkor to the Western Baltic Sea near Boknis Eck. For most participants, this was their first experience aboard a research vessel, making the day both scientifically and personally an exciting experience.

The research vessel Alkor in front of GEOMAR. The 55 m long vessel was built in 1990. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

During the cruise, we had the opportunity to observe the seafloor using underwater drones, including a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
 
The first objective of the cruise was to locate a permanently stationed lander from GEOMAR and to identify areas suitable for sediment sampling on the seafloor. After the mini-ROV made ground contact for the first time and produced sediment clouds that made navigation very challenging, we instantly understood the advice shared by its operator, who underlined the importance of avoiding contact with the seafloor. This was also a very nice showcase for the difficulty of deep-sea scientific work.

Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Albert I.. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

Once a suitable sampling location was identified, it was time for hands-on action!

Sediment and water sampling were carried out using a multicorer (MUC) and a conductivity-temperature-depth instrument (CTD). The CTD is a traditional but still very important and reliable oceanographic sampling tool, with several Niskin bottles attached to a rosette system. These bottles can be filled with seawater from different depths in the water column. The CTD continuously measured the conductivity, temperature, and density of seawater.
 
MUCs, on the other hand, allow sampling of the uppermost sediment layers on the seafloor. During this expedition, participants had a chance to observe the collected sediment and participate in sample handling. Layer by layer, the sediment was transferred into small tubes before being labeled. The extremely soft texture of the sediment led to quite a muddy experience for some of the sampling volunteers.

The collected sediment and water samples can later be analyzed in a geochemical laboratory, depending on the exact aim of the research project.
 
All cruise participants enjoyed the view on a windy but nice day, and at 17:15 it was time to dock at the pier. The collaboration with the ship’s crew worked perfectly, and we felt very welcome on board. Thanks to Captain Klaus Bergman and his crew, the cruise was a great success. And thanks to GEOMAR for this unique opportunity.

…and the geology around Kiel

Just like in the first summer school in Iceland, participants had the chance to explore the region’s geology through a field trip. This time, we spent one day in the field.
 
The theme of the field trip was “traces of the last glaciation” around Kiel. At the beginning of the excursion, we visited the cliffs near Stohl – a classic geological locality for the regional students.

Dr. Philipp Brandl introduced the geology of the area and the evolution of the North German Basin and the geomorphological evolution during and after the last ice age more than 10 000 years ago.

Site of our geological excursion. The beach includes a variety of different rock types as pebbles and boulders, and thus it was a great place to discuss how different types of rocks can be identified. These rocks were transported here from Scandinavia mainly during the last ice age, ca. 10 000 years ago. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

In addition, the beach provided a good opportunity to identify different rock types found as pebbles and boulders at the beach, fostering field expertise for those PhD researchers whose projects do not include extensive fieldwork.

Discussions led by Philipp Brandl and Professor Christoph Beier focused on the petrology and lithology of the beach rocks, many of which were transported by glaciers from Norway and Sweden, for example. The rocks included sedimentary (chalk, carbonates, flint, black shales), metamorphic (gneiss), and magmatic rocks (basalt, gabbro, granite, diorite, porphyry).
 
From Stohl, the participants continued to the town of Eckernförde. As a third stop, we visited a view tower on the top of Aschberg, the highest point of the last glacial terminal moraines of the Hüttener Berge.

Views from a view tower on the top of Aschberg. Photo: Elina Lehtonen

Learning from others

One important aspect of the network is the interaction between researchers at different levels. This summer school was an excellent opportunity for the members of the network to identify and see how individual PhD projects are scientifically connected.
 
We had the pleasure of having two external advisors of the network, Professor Marie Edmonds from the University of Cambridge and Professor John Jamieson from the University of Ottawa, join the summer school and give presentations of their research.

Marie Edmonds gave a talk related to volcanic degassing and trace metal volatility in a joint research seminar with GEOMAR’s Research Division 4 “Dynamics of the Ocean Floor” and the FluxBEATS summer school. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

First, Edmonds gave an informative presentation related to volcanic degassing and trace element volatility, and their implications for both volcanic hazards and ore deposit formation. The talk was part of a joint research seminar with Research Division 4 of GEOMAR and the FluxBEATS summer school – a good opportunity to meet resident researchers.
 
Two days later, John Jamieson gave an engaging “Pint of Science” lecture to introduce us to research on hydrothermal vents. The lecture was highly entertaining (including a bingo using the term “seafloor”), particularly through personal insights and the presentation of deep-sea videos and photographs.
 
The summer school included several lectures from GEOMAR researchers. Professor Mirjam Perner, who has done a lot of research in the field of hydrothermal microbes, gave a lecture related to microbiology at mid-ocean ridge vent systems. Dr. Anna Krätschell held a workshop related to GIS and data processing. In the beginning, the participants learned how the first detailed geological map of the Lau Basin at the Australian-Pacific plate boundary was developed and where reliable data sources for the doctoral researchers’ own mapping projects can be found. In the practical part of this workshop everyone worked on their own GIS application, with the aim of creating and exporting an overview map of their study area.

Engage, inspire and impact!

One central theme for the summer school was how to communicate your research. During our visit to GEOMAR, we experienced an immersive documentary movie, “A traveller’s guide to the seafloor” made by Dr. Tom Kwasnitschka in the ARENA2 visualization lab – a great example of how to visualize geological information.
 
We also joined a tour led by Dr. Sven Petersen, who showed us around GEOMAR’S research infrastructure and the core repository that hosts thousands of meters of cores from the seafloor. This was quite a refreshing experience, since most of the samples are stored at a temperature of 4°C.

Sven Petersen giving a tour at GEOMAR. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

For the doctoral researchers, Dr. Kimberly Crow gave a workshop related to scientific writing. The workshop involved practicing communicating their own research to each other and reflecting on scientific writing methods. The workshop included the opportunity for one-on-one consultancy with Dr. Crow.
 
Dr. Lorenz Adlung from NAWIK (National Institute for Science Communication) held two workshops during the summer school. The first one was related to science communication for grant proposals and was aimed at senior researchers of the network. The second workshop, aimed at doctoral researchers, concentrated on the basics of science communication. Both workshops included practical exercises.
 
Doctoral researchers had to, for example, think about the importance of having a core message for the research. According to Adlung, the core message should address three key questions:

• What is your research about?
• What conclusions do you aim to draw?
• And what gap in existing knowledge are you attempting to address, i.e., why is your study important?

 
The doctoral researchers practiced formulating their core messages in small groups and provided peer feedback to one another. The exercises continued with discussions related to target audience and building a clear structure for an imaginary scientific presentation.  

Adlung introduced the participants to the European Science Engagement Association (EUSEA) and their material that could be used as a basis for planning. This exercise was also done in small groups, in which one person was responsible for presenting, and the other acted as the audience and asked questions and gave feedback.

Overcoming challenges

Scientific research involves various challenges, ranging from mentally demanding situations to hazardous work environments. For instance, geological fieldwork can be conducted in remote locations, sometimes requiring several weeks or even months aboard the same research vessel.
 
Christoph Beier and Philipp Brandl gave a workshop reflecting on working in challenging environments. They shared their experiences in the academic environment and especially from working in the geosciences. The workshop was very open and engaging. Everyone was invited to share previous and current challenges in academia.
 
“It was intriguing to see that many of us share similar challenges, which felt like a very supportive and connecting thing in our parallel PhD journeys”, Shima Soheili and Lisa Heinz described their thoughts after the workshop.
 
“Doing a PhD sometimes feels very challenging, but we also know that we can learn a lot along the way.”
 
Fittingly, Prof. Colin Devey’s lecture, which began after the workshop, opened with the golden sentence: “You cannot plan things!”

The lecture itself concentrated on the basics of mid-ocean ridges and volcanism on the seafloor and the tectonic aspects of the mid-ocean ridges, and Devey also showed that an academic career, however well planned, will always be full of surprises.

The summer school included several workshops related to both scientific and soft skills training. Photo: Elina Lehtonen.

Reviewing the yearly progress

One goal of the summer school was to conduct the annual assessment of each research project and its progress. As part of this, each FluxBEATS doctoral researcher created a poster about their project. These posters were exhibited in a poster session held at GEOMAR and at the science café during the latter part of the summer school.
 
Presenting the posters both to network members and visitors gave an excellent opportunity to practice making a scientific poster and how to present it. Based on the poster presentation, we also gathered tips for future posters, so keep an eye out at upcoming conferences for FluxBEATS posters!
 
Based on assessing the first year, all doctoral candidates of the FluxBEATS network have successfully begun their research. One take-home message from the summer school was the importance of setting realistic goals and regularly monitoring progress.
 
“It is wonderful to see how the network has progressed and how our activities provide an opportunity for interaction among different individuals and institutions”, project manager Dr. Elina Lehtonen says.
 
“This sets a good foundation for planning next year’s summer school in Finland.”

(Most) participants of the FluxBEATS summer school.

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This newsletter was mainly written by the doctoral candidates of the FluxBEATS network: Shima Soheili and Lisa Heinz. Additional contributions came from Philipp Brandl and Elina Lehtonen. Doctoral candidate Jakob Rahner and Christopher Beier reviewed the text. 

FluxBEATS is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.