Johannes Thun shared his experience within a new ITN

VERTIGO (www.vertigo-itn.eu) is a new Initial Training Network coordinated by NEMOH partner Ulrich Kueppers from LMU Munich. The 13 ESRs are working on various projects related to volcanic ash. For their first workshop, Ulli invited me to give a talk on the benefits and risks that ESRs in ITNs are facing - to “brief” them so to speak. As I started to think about the talk, I realised that I don’t only want to present my own experience and opinion in it, but involve all NEMOHs. So I carried out a little anonymous online survey asking all 18 NEMOHs a few questions about their experience. The resulting presentation included the most important points on slides and a few more in my head.

The workshop took place from 27 September to 2 October in La Sirenetta Hotel on Stromboli. It was filled with interesting lectures by great people, sunny days, amazing food, boat trips, a beautiful lava flow and a calm sea (unlike after the NEMOH field school there). I gave my talk on the third day but was around all week to share my experience with the new ESRs. I think it was a great idea by Ulli and in hindsight I think a more experienced ESR to give us some information would have been helpful on our first school, too.

Thanks VERTIGO for having me and good luck with your projects!