Welcome to Berlin for EPSC2024!

On behalf of Europlanet, welcomes to Berlin for the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2024! With 1075 in-person participants and 66 virtual registrations so far – we are looking forward to probably our largest stand-alone meeting to date.

We start proceedings at 16:30 this afternoon with the Icebreaker Reception, followed by the Diversity Keynote. Tomorrow, scientific sessions begin at 08:30 and the Opening Ceremony at 16:15.

Many thanks to all the Local Organising Committee, the Scientific Organising Committee, the Conveners, the EPSC Committee, the EPEC Early Career Network, the Europlanet Society Board, Committees and Working Groups and, especially, the team at Copernicus, who have put such an exciting week together.

If you want to find out more about Europlanet, the organisation behind EPSC, come by our stand in the exhibition.

We hope you enjoy EPSC2024!

What’s on at EPSC2024?

The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2024 will take place at the the Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, & online from 8-13 September. Europlanet, the EPSC Executive Committee, EPEC and the Regional Hubs are all looking forward to meeting people there.

Beyond the science programme, here is a heads-up of some of the community events that will be taking place during the week:

Diversity Events | E-SPIN | Early Career Events | Europlanet Events | Planets in your Hand

Diversity Events

Bystander Intervention Workshop at EPSC 2024

Have you ever overheard a comment that you knew was not right but did not know what to say? Are you ever the one who feels the need to “laugh” at a “joke” that is more harmful than funny? Do you ever find yourself heading home after work thinking, “I should have said…”? Would you like to have some specific skills designed to help interrupt break-room gossip?

This Bystander Intervention workshop is an in-person, interactive workshop that is designed to engage participants in conversation about difficult topics including, but not limited to, racial-, sexual-, religion-, age-, gender-, and sexuality-based harassment, bullying, and exclusion.

• When: Sunday, 8 September 2024, 13:00–17:00
• Where: Room Mercury – Konferenzraum III
• Who: Organised by the Europlanet Diversity Committee, the workshop trainer is @Moses Milazzo.
• How to attend: This workshop has a capacity of 27 participants, if you wish to attend, please sign up here. 
• More information. 

Diversity Keynote talk – Don’t shoot for the stars: shoot higher! by Iris van Zelst

Join us after the Icebreaker for this year’s EPSC Diversity Keynote talk. Iris van Zelst (DLR, Patience Cowie Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh starting in 2025) will show some preliminary results of analysis into the participants of the Ada Lovelace workshop — a biannual workshop for geodynamical modellers — to demonstrate the evolving diversity of the geodynamics community specifically. She will also discuss different initiatives to pursue both as an individual and as a community to make sure we continue to diversify our community and provide a welcoming space for everyone.

https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2024/session/51541

Europlanet SPace Innovation Night (E-SPIN) 2024

“SmallSat vs Large-scale Missions: Exploring Opportunities across the Europlanet Community”

To foster interactions, connections and potential collaborations among diverse
Europlanet communities — including academics, industry professionals, policymakers,
and communicators at all career levels — E-SPIN is a new thematic event at the 2024 Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) in Berlin. The event will focus on ‘innovation’ in planetary sciences, serving as a common thread across all these communities.

• When: Tuesday, 10th September 2024, from 19:00 to 21:30 CEST (19:00 –
  20:30 CEST for online participants)
• Where: Room Sun (Auditorium), Henry-Ford Building, Freie Universität,
  Berlin, and online
• Who: Open to all EPSC registrants (in-person and online), free of charge
• What: Moderated Panel Discussion on this year’s theme “SmallSat vs Large-
  scale missions: Exploring opportunities across the Europlanet community”, with in-
  person and online audience participation, followed by a networking reception (in-
  person only).
  To secure your place, please register your interest.

More information

The objectives of this year’s thematic debate are as follows:

• Analyse the potential challenges and benefits of integrating NewSpace
  approaches into traditional planetary science frameworks;
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas on how different stakeholders (including early
  career professionals) can contribute to and benefit from the evolving
  landscape of space exploration and technology;
• Discuss the role of Space Agencies and SMEs in the European NewSpace
  strategy;
• Explore how academia and industry can collaborate innovatively on future
  missions;
• Examine how novel forms of communication can effectively raise public
  awareness of planetary science.

The invited panelists (in alphabetic order) will offer unique perspectives and insights
to foster an engaging discussion and encourage the development of cross-
community interactions:

1. Dr Noel C. Baker, Project Manager of ALTIUS SmallSat, Brussels (Belgium),
   Member of EGU’s Science for Policy working group, representing the
   academic/policy/communication communities;
2. Tobias Bohnhardt, Head of the DLR School Lab, Berlin (Germany),
   representing the communication/outreach communities;
3. Prof. Nigel J. Mason, University of Kent (UK), Co-I of MAUVE cubesat,
   representing the academic community;
4. Irene Selvanathan, founder and CEO of Neurospace, Berlin (Germany),
   involved in the TACHELES satellite on Artemis 2, representing the industry
   community;
5. Dr Yannis Zouganelis, ESA Solar System Science Coordinator, deputy PI of
   the Solar Orbiter mission, representing the space agency/policy communities.
   
   For further information, contact Luca Montabone.

EPEC@EPSC Events 2024

Location: All Early Career Events take place in room Saturn* in the Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Find all links to connect with us before, during, and after the conference here: https://qrco.de/bdJX7p

Europlanet Early Career General Assembly

Time: Monday, 13:30 – 14:20

The EPEC network is the official entity representing early careers within the Europlanet Society. Early Careers from all over the world are encouraged to participate in the EPEC assembly organized during EPSC to unite, get to know the network and your peers. At this assembly, there will be an introduction to how EPEC is organized, an update on the past year’s activities, an overview of all early career related events at the conference and the latest news. Come meet the team and ask your questions! By joining our community, you will get opportunities to be involved in a variety of activities in a friendly, welcoming, and inclusive environment.

Science Flash

Time: Tuesday, 18:15-19:00

Science Flash returns to this year’s EPSC and we are excited to see what the contestants come up with this time! During the Science Flash, early-career scientists have three-minutes to convey their work in an unconventional, engaging way. Top tip: Less is more! Each presenter may use up to one prop and up to three figures – but no text allowed! For inspiration: The last winner used an image of a fizzy drink whereas the runner-up made great use of an onion.

All are welcome to come and enjoy the presentations. But why not give it a shot? This year’s main prize is a free registration to next year’s EPSC! But fear not, there are also three “one-of-a-kind” Science Flash 2024 mugs for the top three presentations. If you want to register as a contestant, send an email with your name, institution and a three-image only (no text) pdf to noah.jaeggi@virginia.edu (Deadline: Midday on Tuesday September 9).

Panel Discussion on Career Development

Time: Thursday 13:00-14:20

How can we shape our career in planetary sciences and face the current challenges in academia and beyond? How can different paths lead to landing a successful and fulfilling role? The Europlanet Early Careers have gathered four accomplished members of the Europlanet Community to talk about their experiences, each carving a distinct path through science that has led them to where they are today.

Join us for a lively discussion with our four panel members and learn from the different experiences of our community. With this discussion, we hope to inspire you on how to pursue the path that best suits you and leads us to our best scientific and personal development.

EPEC Social Event

Time: Thursday 19:30-23:00

Come and join us for the early career social event at Alter Krug, Dahlem. The social event is a great opportunity to meet up with your fellow early career researchers and students, and expand your network. The door of this cozy biergarten opens at 19:30 with drinks (alcoholic/non-alcoholic) and snacks (vegan/vegetarian options available) that can be purchased at the bar. No registration is required, just come and have a great time!

*The social event will take place at Alter Krug, Königin-Luise-Straße 52, 14195 Berlin. It is approximately 20 mins/1.5 km of walking distance from Henry-Ford building (our venue for EPSC).

Europlanet Events

General Assembly

Tue, 10 Sep, 12:15–13:15 (CEST) | Room Sun (Auditorium)

The Europlanet General Assembly is the annual forum for Europlanet Society members (and non members) to learn about the activities of the Europlanet Society which also runs EPSC and was integral to the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure. To learn about our activities, plans for the future and how you can get involved in the Society’s activities please come along to the General Assembly.
A limited number of lunch bags will be provided to General Assembly attendees during the assembly.

Agenda:

1. Approval of this year’s agenda
2. Approval of 2024 balance sheet and budget for 2025
3. Approval of Europlanet’s Sustainability Plan for organisational membership
4. Approval of changes to the Europlanet AISBL statutes
5. Appointment of the new Vice-President to the Europlanet Society Executive Board
6. Discussion of future activities
7. Date of next General Assembly
8. AOB
    

Planets in Your Hand

The Planets in Your Hand exhibition will be displayed on the Level 1 – Intermezzo of the EPSC2024 conference venue.

The Planets In Your Hand exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to see, learn and touch the special features of each planetary surface in our Solar System. At the same time, it contributes to the dissemination of the scientific knowledge we currently possess about planetary exploration to schools and the public, with a special focus on visually impaired people. 

The Planets In Your Hand team is one of the most active science communication groups in the Department of Physics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The program and the team were founded in 2017 under the “Europlanet Funding Scheme 2017” organized by Europlanet, the European network of planetary science. Our proposal was evaluated, distinguished among many others and awarded, receiving funding for its implementation. 

Planets In Your Hand program aims to highlight the different conditions that prevail in our Solar System. This has been done by building specially designed exhibits, where the surface and characteristics of each planet are simulated. 

In the context of the proposal’s implementation, a website and social media channels (facebook, instagram) have been created 

Apply to host EPSC in 2026 and 2027!

Deadline for applications extended to 15 May 2024

We are delighted to announce the call to host the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) in 2026 or 2027. EPSC is the major European meeting on planetary science, regularly attracting 1000-1200 participants from around the world, and is the annual meeting of the Europlanet Society. 

Top level requirements: EPSC 2026 and 2027 should be hosted in a European city under the responsibility of a very motivated and very capable LOC (Local Organisation Committee) led by a research institute/research organisation with close links to the local planetary science community. The proposed venue should be able to accommodate 1200+ participants onsite and offer options to allow hybrid access for virtual participation.  

Facilities should include a large auditorium for 350-400 participants, a large lecture hall for 160-200 participants, 2-3 rooms for up to 100 participants, and 2-3 rooms for up to 70 participants, as well as several smaller rooms for splinters, workshops, press conferences etc. The venue should include areas for coffee breaks, seating and working spaces, as well as the capacity to display 300 posters (300 single sided or 150 double sided) and to accommodate 10-20 exhibition booths. All facilities, including venues for proposed social event(s), should be of high-quality and accessible to all attendees, including those with reduced mobility and wheelchair users.  

The venue should be in a safe and attractive location with excellent transport links (at both an international and local scale). Low-cost transportation and suitably priced accommodation for students should be available.  

Process: Candidate host Institutes/organisations are welcome to apply for either or both 2026 and 2027. The preferred timing for EPSC 2026 is early-mid September, avoiding holidays (e.g. Yom Kippur). The dates for EPSC 2027 should ideally be 19-24 September to allow for reciprocal joint hybrid activities with the AAS Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS), which will take place that week in Providence, RI, US. 

To respond to this call, please download the application pack from the call page on the Europlanet Society website: https://www.europlanet.org/epsc/call-for-hosting-epsc-2026-and-epsc-2027/. The application pack contains a detailed summary of the venue requirements, as well as a set of guidelines that draw on the experience of past EPSC hosts.  

Applicants should fill in the application form on the call page to submit: 

• A document setting out your proposal in full, addressing all the areas listed in the venue requirements. 
• A completed EPSC Proposal Budget Template (Excel spreadsheet in the application pack). 
• A completed EPSC Room Requirements Template (Excel spreadsheet in the application pack). 

Tentative calendar:  

• Deadline for applications: 19 April 2024 15 May 2024
• Early site visit: June-July, (to be confirmed) 
• Proposal evaluation: July/August
• Host selection: Announced at EPSC2024. 

Any questions should be addressed to epsc@europlanet-society.org. We look forward to receiving your proposals. 

Lena Noack, EPSC Executive Committee Chair
Anita Heward, EPSC Executive Committee Acting Vice Chair
Ann Carine Vandaele, President of the Europlanet Society and Europlanet Association
Didier Moreau, Treasurer of the Europlanet Society and Europlanet Association
Mario Ebel, Copernicus Meetings 

EPSC2024 – Call for Abstracts

We invite the world-wide community of planetary scientists to submit an abstract for presentation of their recent work at the EPSC2024 meeting, which will take place at the Henry Ford Building of the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, 8–13 September 2024. EPSC2024 will be organized as a fully hybrid meeting and will allow virtual access to all oral and poster sessions.

We are looking forward to meeting everyone in person this year in Berlin. The ethos for EPSC2024 is to create a simple, flexible, and inclusive meeting that provides multiple opportunities for interaction, scientific discussion, and networking. The programme of the congress will contain oral and poster sessions, as well as workshops and panel discussions.

The current list of sessions is organized around the following Programme Groups:

• Terrestrial Planets (TP)
• Outer Planet Systems (OPS)
• Missions, Instrumentation, Techniques, Modelling (MITM)
• Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust) (SB)
• Exoplanets, Origins of Planetary Systems and Astrobiology (EXOA)
• Outreach, Diversity, Amateur Astronomy (ODAA)

The scientific programme and the abstract submission tool are accessible at: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2024/sessionprogramme

Please browse the list of sessions and identify the session that most closely matches your area of interest; your abstract can be submitted directly to that session.

The abstract submission deadline is 13:00 CEST, 15 May 2024.

You may see all deadlines & milestones of the conference at the following website: https://www.epsc2024.eu/information/deadlines.html

Information on registration and social events, as well as a separate online form for requesting splinter meetings & workshops will also be available soon on the meeting web site.

Lena Noack & Anita Heward (on behalf of the EPSC committee)
Stavro Ivanovski & Ákos Kereszturi  (on behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee)
Mario Ebel (on behalf of Copernicus Meetings)

Reminder – EPSC2024 Call for Sessions

The Europlanet Science Congress 2024 (EPSC2024) will take place from 8-13 September 2024 at the Henry Ford Building at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. 

The Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) is the annual meeting place of the Europlanet Society. With a track record of 18 years and regularly attracting around 1,000 participants, the Europlanet Science Congress is the largest planetary science meeting in Europe. It covers the entire range of planetary sciences.

The success of our meeting is founded on the excellence of the scientific sessions and as well as the session conveners. We therefore encourage you to submit session proposals through the conference website by 6 March 2024 at https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/epsc2024/provisionalprogramme

Session can be proposed for the following programme groups:

TP – Terrestrial Planets
OPS – Outer Planet Systems
MITM – Missions, Instrumentation, Techniques, Modelling
SB – Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust)
EXOA – Exoplanets, Origins of Planetary Systems and Astrobiology
ODAA – Outreach, Diversity, Amateur Astronomy

We will support conveners in their role by giving clearly defined guidelines, tools, tutorials and training – which will soon be released. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us at epsc2024@copernicus.org in case of any questions or doubts.

Stavro Ivanovski and Akos Kereszturi
Scientific organizing committee Co-Chairs

Lena Noack
EPSC committee Chair

Key Deadlines and Milestones for EPSC2024

All Deadlines and Milestones

DPS-EPSC Joint Meeting 1-6 October

The 55th Annual Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting joint with the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) and hybrid online/virtual is taking place this week! Here is a round up of information about the meeting:

EUROPLANET AND EPEC STAND
The Europlanet Society and EPEC have a stand (#27/28) in the exhibition – stop by to say “Hi”, talk to us about any queries or suggestions you have for our activities, or find out how you can get involved with Europlanet! 

JOIN THE EUROPLANET SOCIETY DISCORD SERVER
To connect with the Europlanet Team and other Europlanet Society members, please join our Discord and navigate to the DPS-EPSC23 channel and forum! 

EPEC AT DPS-EPSC
Meeting Event: Early Career Happy Hour Get-together (In-person)
Thursday Oct 5, 7:00 pm Central 

Informal networking event for early career conference goers. Spend a fun evening and expand your network! Planned to be held near the conference center (bar or restaurant –  must pay for yourself but we will get tables together so people can chat).  More details will be announced here closer to the event date (registration NOT required). This event is co-hosted by the EuroplanetEarly Career Group.

Europlanet Early Career (EPEC) General Assembly (hybrid)
Tuesday Oct 3, 5:30 – 7:00 pm Central

All early careers are encouraged to participate in the EPEC general assembly! At this assembly there will be an introduction to how EPEC is organized, an update on the past year’s activities and the latest news. Join our friendly and inclusive community!

OPEN MIC NIGHT
We will be holding the 2023 DPS open mic night on Wednesday 4th October at the Witte Museum running from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. 

DPS-EPSC 2023 VIRTUAL & HYBRID PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNIITES
Our Virtual Organizing Committee has made extensive improvements to the planned quality of the DPS-EPSC 2023 Hybrid Meeting format, including:  two or more dedicated cameras in each oral session room (for viewing the speaker, audience, and session chairs), a Lightning poster Zoom-session within the exhibit hall to advertise all posters, the Slack workspaces, the Engagefully app for personal itineraries, a Gathertown room for virtual posters, and a dedicated block in the Thursday schedule for virtual poster engagement by in-person attendees. There is still time to register for virtual participation through 6 October.

DPS-EPSC 2023 WEBSITE TOOLS AND RESOURCES
The AAS meeting website has many answers to the questions you might be seeking. The PLAN YOUR TRIP page has details on Ground Transportation (including a google form for Rideshares; rental cars are discouraged), recommendations For Families, and many recommendations by the LOC for great restaurants and bars nearby under the Food & Drink top-tab.  Early career folks should be sure to read the PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/EARLY CAREER page, including details on the Monday evening networking reception and the Wednesday lunch-time Women in Planetary Science (WiPS) Discussion Hour. The TOOLS & RESOURCES page has info on Poster Printing, LGBTQ+ Community Resources, Accessibility Resources, Reproductive Health Resources, and how to Contact Us.  Look for more timely information to come in the DPS-EPSC-2023 Slack channels #helpdesk and #aas_dps_announcements.  The Engagefully app is ready to download from your phone’s app store and link to our event, with more detailed instructions soon to follow on forming your own personalized itinerary.

DPS-EPSC 2023 MEETING APP: PLAN YOUR ITINERARY TODAY
All DPS-EPSC 2023 attendees received an unclear email titled “Log in to DPS- EPSC 2023” with a link to download the main meeting app (when clicking on their preferred device).  This email was indeed sent by our vendor for the app, RDMobile (no_reply@rd.com; check your Other/Spam folders).  Attendees may download the Engagefully app without clicking this link, but while starting the app the main thing to note is entering the email you used to register for the meeting.  Also note that we’ve contacted several people to be session chairs and found their emails to not be up to date within the AAS Membership system. Repeat the process for each device used, and note that the cross-links to Slack channels unfortunately only work on the web browser version.

Call for Vice Chair of EPSC Executive Committee

Deadline: Thursday, 17 August 2023

We are looking for a volunteer to act as Vice-Chair of the EPSC Executive Committee for upcoming Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) meetings in 2024-2027.

If you would like to put yourself forward for this role, please fill in the application form.

For more information, please see the EPSC Executive Committee Terms of Reference and the Job Description for the EPSC Executive Committee Vice Chair. If you have any questions, please contact the Europlanet Society Executive Board.

Job Description

The EPSC Executive Committee Vice Chair is responsible for:

• Serving as a member of the EPSC Executive Committee
• Supporting the EPSC Executive Committee Chair in the commission of their duties
• Standing in for the Chair where requested.

The EPSC Executive Committee Chair is responsible for:

• Together with the Europlanet Society Executive Office (ESF), the Conference Organiser, and the EPSC Executive Committee, maintaining oversight of the budget for EPSC and ensuring that the conference does not operate at a loss.
• Convening EPSC Executive Committee meetings and ensuring that appropriate records and actions are maintained and circulated.
• Leading the EPSC Executive Committee in supporting the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC), Virtual Organising Committee (VOC), Local Organising Committee (LOC) and Conference Organiser in the practical delivery of EPSC meetings.
• Extending invitations to high-level speakers and guests at EPSC.
• Updating the Code of Conduct and guidelines for EPSC.
• Disseminating information from the EPSC Executive Committee to the community.
• Ensuring that EPSC overall upholds the Europlanet Society’s Commitment to Diversity 
• Overseeing incident reporting procedures.
• Preparing reports for the Europlanet Society Executive Board on EPSC (including collated summaries of activities by the SOC, VOC and LOC) and overseeing evaluation of feedback from EPSC participants.
• Leading the EPSC Executive Committee and Conference Organiser in preparing calls for proposals of venues for future EPSC meetings and overseeing selection process.
• Liaising with the Division of Planetary Sciences in preparation of join EPSC/DPS meetings.
• Liaising with Europlanet Society Committees and groups (e.g. EPEC, Industry and Regional Hubs) in preparation for Europlanet Society events at EPSC.
• Organising calls for any bursary schemes in collaboration with the Europlanet Society Executive Office (ESF). 

Top

Upcoming EPSC Meetings

• EPSC2024 will take place at FU Berlin from 8-13 September 2024.
• EPSC2025 will take place as a joint meeting with the DPS at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki from 7-12 September 2025
• The call for venues for EPSC2026 and EPSC2027 will be issued in early 2024.

Top

Announcement of Changes to Venues for EPSC2024 and EPSC-DPS 2025 Joint Meeting

Dear Colleagues,

We learned in January that the refurbishment of the venue for the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) in 2024, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, has been subject to delays and that the facility will not be available in time for our scheduled meeting in September 2024.  

Over the past few weeks, we have reviewed various options, including alternative venues in Helsinki and elsewhere, that have been able to put together a quotation at very short notice. As well as the cost implications, we have also taken into consideration the commitment we made to the Helsinki LOC, whose agreement to host the meeting has already been postponed from 2021 due to the Covid pandemic and contractual obligations with the congress centre in Granada. 

We have reached the decision that the best option in terms of value and facilities for the community will be as follows: 

• EPSC2024 will take place at FU Berlin from 8-14 September 2024 
• The Joint EPSC-DPS 2025 Meeting will take place in the newly refurbished Finlandia Hall, Helsinki from 7-13 September 2025 

Before then, we look forward to seeing you at the DPS-EPSC2023 Joint Meeting in San Antonio, Texas (which will also take place as a hybrid meeting) from  

The call for EPSC2026 and EPSC2027 venues will be issued later this year. 

Yours sincerely, 

Nigel Mason 

President, Europlanet Society