On 13 and 14 November, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) will host the Autumn School for the 21st time. It is organised by the GFZ student lab in cooperation with the German Meteorological Society (DMG). This year's title is "Africa - A continent in the focus of the geosciences".

The teacher training programme serves as a bridge between current geoscientific research and school lessons. Over 70 teachers and other interested parties will gather at the GFZ to gain insights into the latest developments in geological research on the topic of "Africa".

Scientists from renowned institutions such as the German Weather Service (DWD), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (Tropos), as well as the GFZ, will present exciting insights into their research on climate and resources in the context of Africa in specialist lectures.

An excerpt of the lecture titles:

- Where do our energy metals come from? Platinum and the Bushveld Complex in South Africa

- Africa's water resources: challenges and opportunities

- The East African Rift - plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes

- In search of microbial life in the Kalahari and what it tells us about the climate history of the dry savannah

- Aspects of sustainable land use in African countries

The teacher training programme aims to promote the transfer of knowledge from research directly into the classroom, not least in order to strengthen the scientific component of geography. However, it not only offers geoscientific insights, but also supports teachers in their applied subject teaching with concrete approaches and first-hand materials. This is why workshops are organised to complement the specialist lectures. These offer participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with experiments and practical exercises. They are organised by the GFZ, DWD and the Lindenberg Weather Museum and cover a wide range of topics and age groups: The topics range from climate change and desertification to plate tectonics and volcanism, with impulses for pupils from primary school age to secondary level ll.

In this way, the path from laboratory to school is actively supported in order to promote an understanding of and enthusiasm for geoscientific topics among schoolchildren.

The programme of the 21st Autumn School with all speakers, lecture titles and workshops can be found here: 

media.gfz-potsdam.de/gfz/wv/school/HS/Herbstschule_Programm_2023.pdf