EPEC Annual Week 2025
The EPEC Committee and EPEC Annual Week Local Organising Committee (LOC) are pleased to announce that the 7th edition of Annual Week will be held at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin from 19 – 23 May 2025.
The EPEC Annual Week is an opportunity for the EPEC community to better get to know each other, to strengthen their connections with the international science community in a conference exclusively catered to early careers. The programme for EPEC Annual Week 2025 (EPEC AW25) consists of science talks, invited speakers and a chance for our members to present their work in a low-stakes setting to build their confidence and scientific communication skills. Furthermore, the school brings together scientists from different career stages to provide a networking platform where science discussion and collaboration are stimulated via a series of group activities.
Participants must be enrolled in a B.Sc., M.Sc. course (or equivalent), be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. programme in the field of planetary/space science or have obtained their Ph.D. qualification no more than seven years ago. Note that in order to apply to the training school you are NOT required to be a member of EPEC, although this is encouraged.
Attendance at the workshop is subject to a selection process. Successful candidates will be notified via email within a week of the registration deadline (19th April 2025). In case of any queries or problems related to the application, please send an email to epec.network@gmail.com.
Programme for EPEC AW25
- Talks and workshops – With this year’s program, we cover a wide variety of scientific and industrial topics from experts who has worked on missions like MESSENGER, Perseverance etc. Featuring talks from: ESA Planetary Protection Officers, JAXA, Daniela de Paulis, Joern Helbert, Mickael Baque, Lena Noack and Nozair Khawaja.
Some of the topics covered are –- Instrumentation on planetary missions.
- Machine learning
- Funding opportunities
- Astrobiology
- Planetary protection.
- Laboratory visits – Participants get the opportunity to visit the world class laboratories at DLR, Berlin.
- Visit to the Archenhold-Sternwarte Planetarium and Natural History Museum in Berlin.
- EPEC Annual Week – Geo.X Joint event (https://www.geo-x.net/en/news/dates-and-events/2025/geox-phd-day-2025/)
Accommodation
Accommodation, sponsored by Europlanet, will be provided for participants attending from outside of Berlin for the complete duration of EPEC AW25. Participants will be provided a shared room in a hotel chosen by the organising team.
Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy
EPEC AW25 is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive experience for all participants and abides by Europlanet’s diversity commitment.
All participants (defined here as organisers, speakers, poster presenters, session leads, volunteers, sponsors, staff and other attendees) are expected to abide by the EPEC AW25 code of conduct. If you have experienced or have witnessed behaviour which is contrary to the EPEC AW25 code of conduct at EPEC AW25 or via the online meeting, please submit a report through the online form.
All personal data for EPEC AW25 is processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Europlanet Privacy Policy.
Venue
The Venue for most of the event will be – German Aerospace Center (DLR), Rutherfordstrasse 2, 12489, Berlin. DLR is located in the south-east part of Berlin and is well connected via different local transports. The nearest S-Bahn (Train station) is called Berlin-Adlershof which is around 15 mins of walk while the nearest tram and bus stop is called Magnusstrasse which is around 5 mins of walk from DLR.
Berlin
Being the capital of Germany, Berlin has a huge variety of things to offer from literally all parts of life. From world famous museums, historical spots to the food scene, Berlin has a lot of possibilities which can be explored at any time of the day.
Reaching Berlin
- By Plane – The airport in Berlin is called the Berlin Branderburg Airport which is quite conveniently connected via trains to Berlin. All the major airlines including the Ryanair operates from the same airport.
- By train – Being the capital city, Berlin is very much connected via trains from all major cities around Europe.
- By bus – Flixbus has an amazing connectivity from Berlin to all major cities around Europe.
Public Transport
- The public transport system in Berlin is very convenient and easy to operate. There is a centralized ticketing system which is used for all the local transports – S-Bahn (Trains), U-Bahn (Metros), Trams, Buses and Ferries. You can buy the tickets online using the BVG website or on train stations or inside the trams (You would need to validate the ticket if you buy the physical ticket).
- There are multiple options that you can chose from – short journey tickets, day tickets, multiple day tickets etc. Please note that there are different zones in Berlin – A, B, C. Our Venue lies in the A-B zone, as do most of Berlin. You can find more information on the tariff zone here.
- The timetable can be found on the BVG website, the BVG app or google maps.
- The public transport usually operates throughout the day with night buses available between 01:00 – 05:00 at major locations.
- Visit the website here for information about tourist attractions and discounted tourist card – https://www.visitberlin.de/en
Social Dinner
The social dinner – sponsored by Europlanet, will be organised on Wednesday, 21st May 2025 for the participants attending EPEC AW25.
There will be options for anybody with dietary requirements, please indicate this in the registration form.
Organising Team
- Nimisha Verma, DLR (EPEC Co-Chair)
- Devanshi Kacholia, DLR
- Gabriel Maynard Hernández, GeoPlaNet
- Akin Domac, DLR
- Sarah Cader, GeoPlaNet
- Jessie Hogan, Open University (EPEC Co-Chair)
- Shreya Chauhan, Freie University
