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Latest news:
No GEFD Summer School in 2007
The Summer School in Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Dynamics (GEFD) has been held annually in Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) from 1991 until 2006. It was set up in 1990 in response to an invitation from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
DAMTP views the GEFD Summer School as a great success from many points of view. The Schools have been attended by over 1000 students of 30 different nationalities. They have initiated national and international links between researchers in diverse areas of geophysical and environmental science, exposing many young scientists to fundamental ideas in fluid mechanics, which are central to most natural phenomena, and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas between different disciplines. The School has been characterized by a unique blend of teaching approaches, including specially developed hands-on laboratory experiments and interactive computer simulations of both fundamental and geophysical-scale fluid phenomena, alongside lectures given by DAMTP staff and by eminent invited speakers.
Financial support from NERC has been vital for the Summer School, and NERC-funded students have been the core constituency. New NERC policy on funding summer schools and similar activities does not allow for such support and without it DAMTP is unable to sustain the School, which will therefore not run in 2007. DAMTP is currently discussing future possibilities for funding of the Summer School with colleagues in NERC and elsewhere and it may be that these allow resumption of the School in due course.
For the moment we simply thank everyone who has been involved in the Summer Schools over the years, particularly the external lecturers and the students for their enthusiastic participation and NERC for its foundational support, and we
send our best wishes to the international GEFD community.
Peter Haynes, on behalf of the DAMTP GEFD Summer School Committee
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