The new leadership of the Oeschger Centre has been in office since 1 August 2024. Karin Ingold (Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance group) is the new President and Stefan Brönnimann (Climatology group) is the new Vice President of the OCCR. In her welcome message on the OCCR website, the new president writes: “The OCCR's multidisciplinary approach allows us to tackle various critical issues, including ocean heatwaves, urban climate, hail, climate extremes, climate justice and numerous physical, natural and social tipping points. Our research is focused on advancing academic knowledge in interdisciplinary climate science and meeting the needs and demands of society.”
There have also been changes to the OCCR's Scientific Advisory Board. Hubertus Fischer (Past Climate and Biogeochemical Studies on Ice Cores Group group) has been a new member since 1 August.
New OCCR research clusters
Clusters
- Earth System Processes
- Extremes, Tipping Points and (Managing) Risks
- Climate Justice
- Climate, Health and Cities
- Biodiversity, Ecosystem Health
- Societal Transition & Resilience
Platforms
- Earth System and Climate Modeling
- (Climate) Data Science and Analysis
Cluster workshops will be held before the end of this year to capture the science and profile and develop a roadmap of activities.
SNSF Lead Agency Grant
The Atmospheric Processes and Radiometry group has obtained an SNSF Lead Agency Grant for a project in collaboration with the University of Augsburg and the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen in which it has the consortia lead. The project is called GIGAWATT and will start in early 2025. It aims to set up a unique alpine observatory to monitor the atmosphere from the tropopause to the mesosphere, and it wants to measure winds and temperatures and study gravity wave dynamics at the MLT using tomographic techniques. It is planned to install a Swiss meteor radar and a FAIM all-sky camera with airglow camera in Zimmerwald. A total of three postdocs and one doctoral student will be funded as part of the project.
Effective solutions to regulate plastics
The Policy Analysis and Environmental Governance Group has secured funding for a new project of the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS). The project is entitled ‘Getting beyond the mess: Investigating effective solutions to regulate plastics’ and brings together researchers from the OCCR (project leader Marlene Kammerer), EAWAG, ETHZ, Empa and various institutions in Bhutan. Plastic is a problem because of the high CO2 emissions generated during its production, among other things. Excessive production, overconsumption and incorrect waste management cause health and environmental issues on a global scale. This is why a new multilateral agreement on plastics (UN Plastics Treaty) is currently being negotiated. While initial attempts have been made to assess plastics policies worldwide, there is still a lack of systematic assessments and comparisons, particularly regarding barriers to implementation and stakeholder perspectives. This project aims to close this research gap.
New video for Climate Master’s
The new ProClim Flash is out
The latest edition of ProClim Flash, the Swiss magazine on climate and global change, has just been published, the main topic is climate change and health. As usual, the magazine contains a double page on the OCCR. ProClim is a forum of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and serves as an interface for communication between science, public administration, politics, economy and the public. Register for the ProClim network or subscribe to the different ProClim publications.
Past Events
Summer School 2024
Lecturers for keynotes and workshops included among others Myles Allen, Oxford U; Erich Fischer, ETH Zurich; Hubertus Fischer, U Bern; Thomas Frölicher, U Bern; Nicolas Gruber, ETH Zurich; Gabriele Hegerl, U Edinburgh; Reto Knutti, ETH Zurich; Valerie Masson-Delmotte, LSCE, and Axel Timmermann, U Busan. Many of them were companions on the long career of former OCCR President Thomas Stocker who retired this summer and has said goodbye as one of the pillars of the Summer School with this issue.
"Beating the Heat" Conference 2024
Upcoming Events
Paris Climate Agreement
On 2 October,16:30 a seminar with Jeff Colgan will take place at Silva Casa Auditorium, Hallerstrasse 6, Bern. Jeff Colgan is a ‘Richard Holbrooke’ Professor of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute of Public and International Affairs at Brown University. The title of the seminar is “Has the Paris Climate Agreement Changed Corporate Behaviour?” This event is jointly organised by the OCCR, the World Trade Institute and the Wyss Academy (no registration required).
Mobiliar Lab Lecture
This year's Mobiliar Lab Lecture will take place on 5 November at 17:15 in lecture hall 001 of the Department of Geography at Hallerstrasse 12 (in German). Under the title ‘Records and black swans’, Prof. Dr Erich Fischer from ETH Zurich will talk about why record precipitation and other unprecedented extremes are on the rise (no registration required).
D·A·CH 2025 Meteorology Conference
D·A·CH is a triannual conference on Meteorology, Climatology and related topics, under the auspices of the German, Austrian and Swiss Societies for Meteorology (DMG; ÖGM; SGM). The D·A·CH 2025 Meteorology Conference is hosted by the Oeschger Centre and will take place at the ExWi building, University of Bern, from Monday, 23 to Friday, 27 June 2025. The conference aims to bring together academics and professionals from industry and administration. Abstract submissions and registrations can be made online at dach2025.ch from November. Save the date
Summer School 2025
The 23rd International Swiss Climate Summer School will take place from 24 to 29 August 2025 on Monte Verità, Ascona, Ticino. Its title is: Sustainable pathways to net zero. See the programme and registration details here.
ConTaSed 2025
The 3rd International Conference on Contaminated Sediments will take place in Bern from 2 to 4 September 2025. ConTaSed 2025 will focus on natural and synthetic pollutants, in particular emerging and persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, microplastics and natural toxins. Another focus will be on risk assessment, remediation and policy.
People
New professor for Experimental Climate Physics
During postdoctoral stays at MIT, Empa and later as Research Associate at the University of Innsbruck, she specialised in the use of (site specific) N2O analysis to understand the processes going on during biogenic N2O production. Over the last 3 years, she further developed her expertise in Data Sciences working as Senior Scientist at the Swiss Data Science Center in Zurich.
SNFS Consolidator Grant
By using state-of-the-art idealised climate models, statistical methods and machine learning, as well as risk assessment models, the project aims to identify key atmospheric factors and precursors that drive the frequency and intensity of mid-latitude storms.
SNSF Ambizione Grant II
The interdisciplinary environment of the OCCR provides the perfect framework for the connection of different research areas touched by the project.
Theodor Kocher Prize
His scientific interests include the governance of global food system transformation. From 2021 to 2023 he was the principle investigator for the project The Political Economy of Meat System Transformation, funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies.
Haller Medal
generation ice core methods’ and is now project leader in the Geoecology research group in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel.
Special honour from the Royal Statistical Society
Researchers who have recently left the OCCR:
Natacha Le Grix who was a PhD with the Ocean Modelling group will continue her research as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool.
Stéphanie Musy who was a PhD with the Environmental Isotopes and Gases group. He has a new position at the University of Basel and ETH / EAWAG, Stéphanie is investigating the hydrological system around Mount Fuji in Japan using novel tracers and real-time on-site monitoring.
Evelien Van Dijk who was a Postdoc with the Past volcanism and climate impact group and worked in the ERC Consolidator Grant Project THERA. In her future job she will carry out risk analyses of volcanic eruptions in past, present and future periods, but in her new position as a Postdoc in the School of Culture and Society at Aarhus University in Denmark, it will have a stronger focus on societal impact.
All the best for your future career!