The third EEBIOMASS Summer School took place from 12–16 May 2025 at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena. We received a total of 63 applications (29% female, 14% from German institutions). Out of 42 invited applicants, 22 participants ultimately attended the summer school on site in Jena (8 women, 6 participants from German institutions, 14 nationalities).
This year, visa requirements presented a significant challenge, meaning that some participants from the United Kingdom and India were unable to join in person. Many of those who could not travel therefore took part online via Zoom.
As in 2024, the summer school focused on different aspects of the ESA Earth Explorer mission BIOMASS, introducing participants to the mission objectives, technical background (including SAR, tomography, interferometry, and polarimetry), and related research topics such as above-ground biomass and the carbon cycle. We were pleased to welcome Klaus Scipal (ESA) as an external guest speaker, who presented an overview of the BIOMASS mission. In addition to lectures and hands-on exercises, participants had the opportunity to present their own research through poster sessions and discuss their work with experts on site.
📌 Teaching materials, including lecture slides, Jupyter notebooks, and exercise guidelines, were available online.
Overall feedback on the summer school was very positive. Participants particularly appreciated the hands-on exercises, scientific exchange and discussions, talks delivered by leading experts, detailed insights into the inner workings of SAR, and the diverse group of participants ranging from Master’s students to advanced postdocs. Poster discussions also sparked new ideas and, in some cases, led to new collaborations.
Program
