Global Change is a course aimed at imparting students with a quantitative scientific understanding of global change (especially climate, resources, pollution), how to measure and model global-change variables in time and in sub-systems, and of technological options for countermeasures. The students learn about the current state of research to enable them to present and communicate the underlying concepts in presentations and discussions.
A course interesting for those who would like to learn how complex climate models work, and how experiments can be conducted and analyzed.
Statistics are everywhere around you. You will go through an introduction to the fundamentals, including data input, processing, visualization, statistical testing and statistical inference, with a focus on you working with real-life data.
Joining the SPACY group for thesis projects
You got excited about one of our research areas and want to contribute to our group’s work on sustainable pathways under climate variability (SPACY)? That is amazing, we are happy to discuss any project ideas with you! Just contact us (Prof. Kira Rehfeld and the SPACY group). Please include a brief statement on what topic(s)/research area(s) you are interested in, your subject(s) of study and the rough timing you envisage. You might want to include a CV or further documents, but this is not at all a prerequisite.
Some of our thesis ideas involve a lot of modeling/programming whereas others are more oriented towards lab work. Courses which prepare you well cover, for example, climate dynamics, time series analysis, or programming (check out the courses offered by the SPACY group here). However, you can also always contact us if you want to develop skills in your thesis work that you don’t already have – research is about learning new exciting things and skills. We are keen on finding a thesis topic that interests you, provides a decent learning potential for you and suits your skills well.
From time to time we also offer an info session on our research and on thesis opportunities. Check out if one will happen soon here. No matter if there is an info session happening or not, you can always contact us as described above.
Teaching over the last semesters
SS 22
Climate Dynamics : Lectures introduce fundamental concepts of climatology, physical processes governing the climate system on different space and time scales, and ways to describe, detect and model climate change. In exercises, students deepen their understanding of these processes and models of the Earth system. No prior knowledge on programming or statistics is required.
Data Analysis and Modeling Methods (Advanced Time Series Analysis) : time series, power spectra, correlation and causality, extreme event analysis