Date: 

Thursday, 16 October, from 8:00 CEST until Thursday, 23 October 2025, 22:00 CEST

Organizers: 

Giuseppe Puglisi and Gilda Currenti (INGV-OE), Giorgio Riccobene (LNS-INFN), Laura Beranzoli (INGV-RM2, EMSO), Sara Pero (EMSO)

Contact: 

geo-inquire-2025schoollns.infn.it

Description: 

Geo-INQUIRE is offering a summer school in the Eastern Sicily Test Bed (Italy) for 40 PhD Students, PostDocs and Early Career Scientists from the fields of Solid Earth and Ocean and their interface. The school will last one week, including four days of lectures and hands-on activities integrated with two one-day field trips to visit the INFN – EMSO marine infrastructure at Capo Passero and the volcanic features and the INGV - EPOS facilities at Mount Etna. The school will take place in Malavoglia Hotel in Acitrezza (https://www.hotelmalavoglia.it/) from 16 to  23 October 2025. 

This summer school is based on the “Eastern Sicily Test Bed” infrastructure offered in the framework of the Geo-INQUIRE project. The infrastructure is cross-disciplinary by nature and embraces the Western Ionian EMSO-ERIC node, the KM3NeT underwater neutrino telescope, and the INGV multiparametric volcano monitoring system providing scientific services to EPOS.

Eastern Sicily is a unique natural laboratory to study and monitor geological hazards and marine environments. Mount Etna volcano is one of the most monitored worldwide and offers the opportunity to collect a wide spectrum of geophysical and geochemical data related to the current continuous activity. Western Ionian Sea is a privileged site for investigating water circulation in the Mediterranean Sea, trophic chain and migratory routes of oceanic fauna and in particular cetaceans. 

The school will be focused on the new technologies used in environmental, Earth Science and Oceanic studies. In particular, theoretical and practical use of the fibre optic sensing to study the strain in the wide spectrum will be presented, together with some cutting edge techniques used in volcanology and environmental studies. There are also foreseen cross fertilization activities between the two domains (Earth Science and Marine science).

Program: 

Geo-INQUIRE Sicily Summer School 2025 

Confirmed speakers:

• Jacopo Aguzzi (CSIC)
• Cecilia Clivati (InRIM)
• Vittorio Curri (PoliTo)
• Lilli Freda (EPOS)
• Philippe Jousset (GFZ,Geo-INQUIRE)
• Aljaz Maslo (EMSO)
• Ali Masoudi (Southampton University)
• Shane Murphy (IFREMER, Geo-INQUIRE)
• Javier Quinteros (GFZ)
• Letizia Spampinato (INGV)
• Salvatore Viola (INFN)

Financials:

For successful applicants the school will cover the following expenses: hotel accommodation, transport to/from Catania international airport, welcome reception, meals, coffee breaks, conference dinner, field trips and conference material. Attendees will have to book tickets to Catania and pay in advance. After successful participation, travel costs could be reimbursed up to a maximum of 500 €. 

Logistics:

• Hotel: Accommodation will be provided in double rooms with single beds. Accordingly, participants of the same gender will share a room.
• Transportation to/from the venue: 
  • Arrival Transfer (Thursday, 16 October): Transfers from Catania International Airport to the venue will be organized by the hotel. Participants are required to inform the school organizers early in advance of their flight number and arrival time.
  • Departure Transfer (Thursday, 23 October): Transfers to Catania International Airport will also be organized by the hotel. Participants must provide the school organizers with their flight number and departure time in advance.

Requirements:

The Summer School applicants should have strong interest in Earth and Marine Sciences, or in general physics, engineering and ICT applied to environmental studies. Programming skills, computing knowledge and user level Linux skills will be positively considered during the applicants’ evaluation. Students will have to bring their own laptops. The school lectures will be given in English.

Application:

All applications will have to provide a motivation letter. Successful candidates will have to provide abstracts through the Indico platform and bring a printed poster to the school to present their work. 

Please apply here: https://events.hifis.net/event/2217/

The submission of the abstract and the information about the flight are mandatory to confirm the acceptance of the participation to the school.

If you have special dietary requirements or need special assistance, please specify this in the application form. Please also get in touch if you need help to apply for a visa. 

Timeline:

01.03.2025: Opening of Registration

06.05.2025: Registration Deadline (23:59 CEST)

31.05.2025: Notification to applicants

30.06.2025: Submission of abstracts (via Indico) and confirmation of attendance (including flight details and dates)

Inclusion criteria:

We aim to make the summer school an inclusive event. Geo-INQUIRE promotes diversity and inclusion within the scope of the project, including the applications for the Geo-INQUIRE Sicily Summer School 2025. Therefore, applications from female colleagues and applications from colleagues working in one of the widening countries, associated countries and outermost regions of Horizon Europe will be given special attention during the evaluation process. Widening countries are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Associated countries (allowed to coordinate widening projects) include Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine. Outermost regions include La Réunion, Mayotte, Canarias, Azores, Madeira, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana.

Geo-INQUIRE is funded by the European Commission under project number 101058518 within the HORIZON-INFRA-2021-SERV-01 call. Terms and Conditions for participants in Geo-INQUIRE activities: https://www.geo-inquire.eu/about/terms-and-conditions