In September, early-career climate scientists gathered in eastern Crete for a week of advanced training with real atmospheric data. The Autumn School “Advanced Atmospheric Observations, Data Mining & Modelling” took place from September 14 to 18, 2026, in Agios Nikolaos, Crete.
The program was co-organized by the University of Crete and the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, with support from the partners of the European project Edu4Climate, funded under Horizon Europe.
A week of science in action
The Autumn School welcomed master’s and PhD students in atmospheric and Earth system sciences for an intensive mix of theory and practice. Participants:
- Learned cutting-edge methods for observing the atmosphere
- Analyzed real environmental and atmospheric datasets
- Ran numerical models to explore atmospheric composition and the processes shaping our air and climate
- Connected observations with modern computational and analytical tools, the core focus of the program
Field visit: Finokalia station
One highlight was a visit to the University of Crete’s Finokalia atmospheric monitoring station, one of the most important long-term atmospheric monitoring sites in the Eastern Mediterranean. Participants saw firsthand where the data that powers climate research is collected.
Building tomorrow’s climate scientists
The Autumn School showed what interdisciplinary training can achieve when observations, data, and models come together. It’s one more step toward preparing the next generation of atmospheric and climate scientists, and Crete is a great place to take it.
