New links in the climate research chain

A deeper understanding of climate phenomena could lead to significant advances in energy, agriculture, and marine and environmental sciences. However, as the Earth's climate is highly complex, there is a need to train interdisciplinary researchers to approach the subject from diverse perspectives.

The EU-funded 'Learning about interacting networks in climate' (LINC) project has been established to train young researchers in fields like physics, dynamical systems, computer science and climate science. It will also promote long-term international research collaborations in these fields, particularly between academia and the private sector.

Thus far, 15 young researchers have been recruited and several training and workshop sessions have taken place. The aim is to eventually up-skill a total of 12 early-stage researchers and 3 experienced researchers.

The recruited fellows also visited LINC partners to produce a number of joint publications. In addition, they have advanced software tools to construct and describe climate networks, and have developed a climate database.

LINC provides these young researchers with a unique opportunity to further their education at top academic institutions and private companies, thus boosting their employability. The fellows' new expertise will also enhance our knowledge of climate dynamics, which holds both ecological and socioeconomic consequences.