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Friday 10 January 2020, No 1, Week 2
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Director's note

Southward bound

 
We have entered a new year and a new decade, and despite recent set backs in international climate negotiations and collaboration in general, devastating wildfires in Australia, record high temperatures in Norway, and an endless chain of cyclones heading towards us, I still think that we can preserve some optimism.
 
We see prices on clean energy continue to fall, a business sector that steps up its ambitions on sustainability, and increased awareness of the impacts of climate change.  I therefore expect that there will be more rather than less focus on mitigating climate change in the years to come, and that we will see this at the very important COP meeting that will take place in Glasgow in November.
 
We will also see much more focus on emission reduction in Norway. Our Prime Minister Erna Solberg spent at least two third of her New Years speech on sustainable development with particular focus on climate and ocean, and only days later the Norwegian oil company Equinor promised that they will cut emissions by 40% in 2030 and 100% by 2050. That is a start.
 
More than hundred of us attended the Bjerknes getaway at Geilo this week. We had good discussions on climate modelling and contributions to IPCC, on sustainability research and sustainable research practice, and on the future of the Bjerknes Centre. But perhaps most important were the group works, the poster sessions, the bowling and the bar, where we get to know the many excellent new people at the Centre.  
 
While this Bjerknes Times is being posted, I am at the KL597 from Amsterdam to Cape Town. Next week I will attend a mini workshop at the Norwegian research station Troll in Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica, together with some other rectors and directors of relevant Norwegian institutions. My presentation will be on Tuesday the 14th. The fun fact is that on that very same date, 30 years earlier, I took my first steps on the Antarctic ice sheet. This was at the Fimbul Ice Shelf where my job was to unload the two helicopters flying shuttle between the Coast Guard Vessel Andenes and the ice, carrying the snow cats and all the materials needed to build the Troll Station.
 
During my stopover in Cape Town, I will attend the Predictability of marine ecosystems summer school that Noel Keenlyside with his EU H2020 TRIATLAS project is organising. I look forward to give the lecture and to meet good friends from previous summer schools.   
 
Enjoy the rainy weekend!

Tore
Bjerknes Getaway 2020
This week the annual Bjerknes Getaway took place in Geilo, with 111 participants - some newbies, and some veterans. We had three days that included science discussions, group work, panel debate, poster sessions, skiing, a bowling tournament and time in the swimming pool.
Thanks a lot to the planning committee for your great effort: Madlen Kimmritz, Aleksi Nummelin, Clemens Spensberger, Jo Brendryen, Fumiaki Ogawa, Inge Althuizen and Hans Christian Steen-Larsen. An evaluation form has been sent out to you all, and we are looking forward to your answers.

Ellen G

Photos (from top):
1. Alexandra Touzeau and Bjørg Risebrobakken heading for the slopes. 2. Panel debate led by Lea Svendsen with invited guest Jan Fuglestvedt. 3. Jo Brendryen discussing his poster with Tyge Løvset. 4. Waiting for the train at Geilo station, 5. Xabier Davila in action at the bowling hall. Photo credit: Ellen Viste, Ellen Grong

 
Mitigation discussions in Geilo
This year I was – together with Jörg and Emil – presenting a plan to implement carbon footprint reduction guidelines for the Bjerknes Centre of Climate Research. This is one of several approaches around climate change mitigation that were presented and discussed at the meeting. There were other presentations and discussions around this subject as well, ranging from somewhat fundamental research to more political discussions.
Firstly, there was plenty of debate about IPCC reports, CMIPs and how this interacts with our research. Secondly, there were presentations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and during group discussions it became clear to many of us that much of our research can easily be put into the context of the SDGs. Thirdly, there was a presentation on the supply side of fossil fuel and how this is an essential element in climate mitigation.
All of these approaches are very important; they also triggered critical discussions. And then there was the discussion that we started on the carbon footprint of the scientists affiliated with the Bjerknes Center. Our presentation was different from the others' in that we are trying to look for a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions within our own lab. And in that people were outspoken; I believe that's a good thing.
There are many things we can improve, but for our example policy, or code of conduct, we decided to focus on two large environmental impacts, one of which is the food that we consume at meetings, which is a relatively easy target, and the other is aviation, a target that is more difficult for several reasons but nonetheless also the scientist's biggest greenhouse gas emitter. The precise code of conduct stands open for discussion, and we are inviting people to participate in the development of the code. The idea was already brought up at last year's Geilo meeting and thereafter there were no big developments in this code of conduct. But the general discussion has gone forward and there are many institutes that have sustainability guidelines, so we now plan to put forward such guidelines in an ambitious timeframe. We appreciate all the input we got so far for this, and more is greatly appreciated. We especially look forward to the experiences people have so far in their attempts in decreasing the carbon footprint at the workplace. This can be valuable for formulating the code of conduct in a determined and feasible way.
In 2019 there has been a lot of discussion in the media on anthropogenic climate change and mitigation policy. The leaders of institutes doing climate research, including those in Bergen, participated in this and they talked about introducing a policy. Multiple international climate research institutes and other groups (ETHZ, UEA, Tyndall) have implemented rigorous policies. As of yet, there are no policies publically available from the BCCR members or the BCCR that enforce change (for instance, quotas or taxes on flying, or registration of flights for publication of statistics). Of course we can everytime bring forth questions like if this is necessary or wanted, or if it is only symbolic, but in my view the precise answers to these questions are not that important, and these questions are mostly a way to delay action. Clear guidelines are necessary, and we hope that our initiative can help pushing forward this code of conduct.

Marco van Hulten
Southern California Calling the Bjerknes Centre
Life is pleasant in many ways in Southern California. There is plenty of nice beaches, clear water, and interesting animals including pelicans and sea lions. The down side is that you share these with a large number of other people, greater San Diego has about 5 million people. This makes the urban sprawl dominating most of the land inland of the beaches, and it takes about 30 min to get anywhere – if you are driving.
It has been a productive semester with Lars H. finally finding some time to sit down with MATLAB again over a significant amount of time, and so the Synthesis on Nordic Cooling has already come a little underway in understanding the variability in Atlantic Water inflow, and how it cools, over the last century.
Morven has also had a very fruitful semester currently working on a project with Professor Fiamma Straneo at Scripps, investigating the Atlantic Water influence on Greenland’s marine terminating glaciers and fjord variability from observations.

 
The US-Norway Ice-Ocean workshop on 5. And 6. December 2019 that brought a good bunch of Bjerknes people over the pond. Many new ideas for future proposals were discussed, and in general how we can further improve cooperation between Norway and the US related to Greenland, Svalbard and Antarctic research on ice shelves and marine terminating glaciers.

Town Hall #4 of the World Climate Research Programme at the AGU Fall meeting on December 12. Here we discussed how we can better bridge Climate Science and Society. It featured a wine maker, a city planner, a climate scientist, and Morven Muilwijk presenting “Ekte Data” and better ways to reach the younger generations through impactful and SMART-outreach (an acronym describing qualities of good outreach and communication practices). The “Wordly” on the screen shows what the audience suggested was important when we try to make this bridging.

Lars H. Smedsrud on one of the trails north of Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the Scripps Pier is visible in the distance. This is one of very few areas that are not covered by urban sprawl.
 
Morven & Lars Henrik.
 
Tropical climate dynamics group retreat in Mjølfjell
 
In the picture (from left to right): Noel Keenlyside, Lander Crespo, Ping-Gin Chiu, Dietmar Dommenget, Ashneel Chandra and Serge Tomety. Photo Gudrun Kårdal.

On the 11th-12th of December, a group of 7 climate scientists (5 Bjerknes and two visiting scientists) from the tropical climate dynamics group lead by Prof. Noel Keenlyside gathered at Kårdal Fjellstove, deep in the beautiful valley of Raundalen. With three complete beginners in the art of cross-country skiing, the deep new snow made the approach to the cabin both challenging and funny, with many falls and rolling on the snow. The participants were from 7 different nations: Fiji, Netherlands, Germany, Togo, Taiwan, Australia and Basque Country. We had a combination of scientific presentations, lively discussions, long breaks for practicing our cross-country skiing skills and enough time for socialising too. Some of the topics of the scientific presentations and discussions were: climate change in the tropics, ENSO multidecadal variability, decadal variability in the Angola-Benguela region, supermodelling and MJO impact in the tropical Pacific. We also discussed the SFF proposal on advanced climate prediction. The discussions were very fruitful in the relaxed and cozy atmosphere of the mountain cabin. It is the very first time we organise this kind of activity in our group and it has been a total success so we are aiming for more retreats in the future. Thanks a lot Gudrun for having us in your beautiful fjellstove! It was very nice to have the whole cabin just for us.

Lander Crespo
New proposal writing class from February to April 2020 at Bjerknes Centre
 
This is an offer to early-career scientists who plan to submit a project proposal in 2020 and have little or no experience yet in proposal writing.
 
This class will consist of weekly meetings of about 1.5 hours from the end of February until the NFR deadline on the 6th of May. By taking the class, you will consecutively develop your idea into a proposal draft and finally, a complete proposal ready to submit within the NFR deadline. 
 
Please register here: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=5975255 . Registration deadline is 31 Jan 2020.
After registration we will agree on a time slot that fits most participants, and detailed information will be sent out. The class meetings start in week 9 (from February 24).
 
Participants should have a clear intention to submit a proposal in 2020. When the class starts, they should have made a decision which call they are going to apply for. Are you not sure yet, please contact us so we can help you find a relevant call.
 
In the class we will have a special focus on the NFR funding schemes Young Research Talents, Mobility Grant and Researcher Project with call deadlines 06 May 2020. In-depth information on NFR evaluation criteria, proposal templates, and CV templates will be central. This class is also open for early-career scientists who plan to submit a proposal to other NFR funding schemes, as well as to other deadlines and funding schemes in 2020, such as for example MSCA IF or ERC StG. There will be no other proposal writing class offered in 2020 (but the annual 2-day CHESS proposal writing course will be offered in November as usual).
 
This writing class will be helpful no matter if you already have taken the CHESS proposal writing course or not.
 
This writing class will complement the support you get from your supervisor or scientific group leader, and cannot replace that kind of support.
 
Friederike, UiB-GFI, Friederike.Hoffmann@uib.no
Nadine, NORCE Climate, Nadine.Goris@norceresearch.no
Mahaut, UiB-GFI and BCPU, Mahaut.Vareilles@uib.no
Cat, NERSC, Catherine.Downy@nersc.no
Linling, UiB-GEO, Linling.Chen@uib.no
Vacant position
PhD position in organic/inorganic geochemistry and South African paleoclimate
Department of Earth Science /Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE)
Deadline: 15 January 2020
Publications 2019
The complete list of publications for 2019 is in the process of being updated right now. We will soon send it out to all of you and ask you to check if your 2019 publications are included and nothing missing. Stay tuned!
Also we will remind you to include the Bjerknes Centre as an affiliation when you send in new manuscripts to journals.

Send us information about new publications: publications@bjerknes.uib.no
Call for Bjerknes Visiting Fellow and Fast-Track Initiatives 2020
Follow the link to find the calls for Bjerknes Visiting Fellow and Fast-Track Initiatives.
Please note the application deadline January 31st 2020.

Bjerknes Visiting Fellow (BVF) - call
Fast-Track Initiatives (FTI) - call
BCCR/GFI Seminars
For more information see http://www.bjerknes.uib.no/en/events or http://www.uib.no/en/gfi/calendar.
If you know about a guest visiting, have a suggestion about an external speaker you think would interest the Bjerknes community or want to present something yourself, please contact us through our email: bccr-seminar@uib.no.
The seminars are scheduled for Monday afternoons at 14:15 in the west-wing auditorium (BCCR undervisningsrom 4020). 
Best regards,
the seminar committee 

Next seminar:
13 January at 14:15: Tim Woollings, University of Oxford: "Midlatitude Rossby waves and their links to higher and lower latitudes"
NERSC Seminars
Next seminar:
Title: Ensemble filtering with displacement errors
Speaker: Michael Ying,  NCAR, Boulder, Colorado
12. February 2020 - 13:00 - 14:00,
Location:  Lecture room, Ground Floor, NERSC

Upcoming seminars can be found here: 
https://seminars.nersc.no/seminars/upcoming
Bjerknes in the news
Hvor blir det av vinteren?                          
Morgenbladet  08.01.2020
Målte 11 varmegrader i dag tidlig: - Vinteren blir kortere                           
Drammen Live24 08.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Mildvær gir bare og våte veger               
Hadeland 03.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Varmerekord på Sunndalsøra - Ny varmerekord: - Nydelig                         
Dagbladet 02.01.2020 , Tore Furevik, Erik Kolstad
Klimafenomen gir varme vinterprognoser: - Ingenting med klimaendringer å gjøre             
VG Nett 02.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Forskar spår mildt vêr fram til mars. Det uroar ikkje turistnæringa                          
Hallingdølen 02.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Elvestuen: - Vi må bare ta mildværet innover oss                           
P4 (1 likt treff)  02.01.2020
Spår mild og våt vinter frem til mars                     
Fri Flyt (mange like treff) 02.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Slik kan resten av vinteren bli                   
Klar Tale 02.01.2020, Erik Kolstad
Contribute to the Bjerknes Times!
Bjerknes Times is our internal bi-weekly newsletter. Send an email for all registering of lectures, publications, meetings, and other tips to post@bjerknes.uib.no .

Join the Bjerknes Outreach Group!
Would you like to be involved in outreach activities? Join the Bjerknes outreach group, and you’ll get the opportunity to discuss your ideas with other enthusiastic outreachers. Whether you have plans for big or small projects, large or small audiences, traditional or innovative formats – or so far no specific plans at all – you’re very welcome.
Please, send an e-mail to gudrun.sylte@uib.no or ellen.viste@uib.no if you would like to have more information about the group.

BCCR on Flickr for photo sharing 
We have many good photographers here at the Bjerknes Centre.We have a Flickr account for sharing good photos and possibly also illustrations. This can be useful when you need an illustrative photo. Check out our photostream 
Send an email to ellen.viste@uib.no or gudrun.sylte@uib.no if you would like to contribute! 
Upcoming events
Summer School on Predictability of Marine Ecosystems, from physical oceanography to fisheries
13-21 January, Cape Town, South Africa
ARCTOS PhD Workshop 2020
January 26th to February 4th 2020, Tromsø
Third National SDG Conference: Action/InAction – Technologies and Partnerships
5–7 February 2020, Bergen
International Conference on 'Impact of Climate Change on Hydrological Cycle, Ecosystem, Fisheries and Food Security, 11-14 February 2020, Cochin, India
The Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020
16-21 February 2020 , San Diego, Calif., USA
The Sixt International Symposium on Arctic Research
2 - 6  March 2020, Tokyo, Japan
Nansen Tutu Center 10th anniversary symposium: Ocean, weather and climate, science to the service of society, 10-12 March 2020  ,Cape Town, South Africa, 10-12 March 2020 
CHESS Annual Meeting
20 – 24 March 2020 at Hurtigruten
15th Polar Low Working Group meeting
13-15 May 2020, Moscow, Russia
The 52nd International Liège colloquium on Ocean Dynamics
25th - 29th May 2020 Liège, Belgium
25th IAHR Ice Symposium
14-18 June 2020, Trondheim Norway
19th Swiss Climate Summer School
Extreme weather and climate: from atmospheric processes to impacts on ecosystems and society
23–28 August 2020, Grindelwald, Switzerland

Funding opportunities
Continuous submissions:
RCN support to strenghten participation in Horizon 2020
More information
Call for Project establishment support (PES and positioning support (POS) to prepare EU Projects
More information
NFR: Kommunikasjon og formidling av klimaforskning
More information
Personal overseas research grant FRINATEK
More information
_________________________________

IIASA Young Scientist Program
Deadline: 11 January
Funding for interdisciplinary research project at Center for Advanced Studies, Oslo
Deadline: 15 January
VISTA Research Centre
Deadline: 28 February
Peder Sather Grant, research collaboration
Deadline: 1 April 2020


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