欢迎来到成都 – Welcome to Chengdu Logbook TransTiP - Part 1: Summer School in the City of Panda Bears

Lectures, institute visit and icebreaker dinner: Before the team of the international DFG Research Training Group TransTiP leaves for Tibet, they attend a two-week summer school in Chengdu, China, the city of the panda bears. Dr. Nicole Börner, Kim J. Krahn and Alexandra Müller from the Institute of Geosystems and Bioindication report on the summer school and the expedition in a series of logbook entries.

Prof. Antje Schwalb presents the TransTiP project during the opening of the summer school, which is based on 15 years of successful
cooperation between Germany and China. Picture credits: Alexandra Müller/TU Braunschweig

“Finally, it starts: On August 12th the ‘2019 TPE & TransTiP Science and Technology Training’ started in Chengdu, organized by the TPE Program and the Graduate School TransTiP. The summer school was opened by Prof. Fan Zhang and Prof. Yaoming Ma from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and by Prof. Antje Schwalb from the Institute of Geosystems and Bioindication of the TU Braunschweig.

Natural disasters and their effects

The day was filled with scientific presentations on atmosphere-land interaction and deposition of heavy metals in soils. In the afternoon all participants visited the “Institute of Mountain Hazards and the Environment (IMHE-CAS)”. Prof. Genxu Wang led through the exhibition, which presents the Institute’s work. Using various landscape models, he explained the hazard potential of natural disasters on the Tibetan highlands and in the foothills of the Himalayas, in particular the effects in the area around Chengdu.

Prof. Genxu Wang from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment uses a landscape model of the Tibetan Highlands and China
to explain the danger of landslides. Each lamp marks a landslide in recent years. Picture credits: Kim J. Krahn/TU Braunschweig

The day ended with the Icebreaker Dinner, at which all 85 participants and lecturers came together and introduced themselves and their research interests. In a relaxed atmosphere, scientists of different nationalities got to know each other and gained insights into the different cultures. Dr. Nicole Börner, the evening’s presenter, raised some laughs as she tried her best to pronounce the names of the Chinese participants correctly.

Text: Dr. Nicole Börner, Kim J. Krahn, Alexandra Müller