***2025 SUMMER SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT ***

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

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Warm greetings!

We are pleased to announce the second installment of the “Summer School in Coastal Field Methods.” Applications are now being accepted to join us for a summer school to be held at the School of Oceanography – Shanghai Jiao Tong University Xuhui Campus, from August 31 – September 12, 2025.

Introduction

Coastal geology aims to study the characteristics, structure, and origin of the geological materials that constitute the coastal transition zone – an area spanning the coastline to the continental shelf – and places special emphasis on the active processes that occur in this dynamic environment. Today, the foundations of coastal geology as a science are firmly established, with clear links to other related fields like marine geology, coastal engineering and coastal ecology. This discipline is becoming increasingly important for informing coastal managers and policy makers to develop best practice strategies for balancing expanding human activities with coastal protection measures  worldwide. The current trend is that many of the problems raised by “natural coast–human interaction” must be resolved by using an integrated coastal zone management approach that connects a number of Earth science, engineering, and social science disciplines where coastal geology plays an important role. The purpose of this summer school is therefore to introduce undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the basic principles of coastal geology and is organized around the central theme of “linking extreme storms to coastal climate change” that will provide students with an up-to-date view of this multidisciplinary science. During this two-week course, students will learn theory, methods and interpretation techniques to understand modern coastal processes and their connections to the geologic history of the coastal transition zone through an outcome based education approach. An important goal of this course is to understand how to solve real world problems and to improve communication skills. Students will design a field experiment that they will study giving them an opportunity to become as leading expert through a series of in-class group discussions and activities working with their peers and the instructors to gain feedback that will culminate in a final presentation and short project paper.

Goal

The theme of this twelve day course is to learn about the coastal evolution of the coastline of Shanghai, and specifically how climate change has affected the coastal communities of this coastal mega-city over time. A diverse group of expert coastal geoscientists will bring together new concepts and frontier research areas with the goal of training the next generation of coastal scientists.

Course objectives

After successful completion of this summer school students will be able to:

1. Understand the basic concepts and methods for studying coastal geology 

2. Understand how to interpret coastal evolution on various space and timescales 

3. Design and complete a simple field-oriented study using the scientific method

Course credit

All students will receive 2 credit hours of course credit that can be transferred to their respective Universities.

How to apply

*This course is only open for full-time students. Registration is free for all students. Participants will need to cover the expenses of their travel to and from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and any costs for official travel documents including visas, passports, etc. Please note that a limited number of travel grants of up to RMB￥1000 is available.

Application: To apply please prepare the following and send your application materials to

 qcmt823@sjtu.edu.cn. All application must be submitted in English.

1. A motivation letter explaining why you would like to attend our school. The letter should be no more than 1 page. We encourage any undergraduate, or first-year graduate student to apply especially those who are interested in coastal geology, environmental science, geophysics, and engineering.

2. A short 1-page letter of support from your supervisor, or mentor.

3. Copy of current transcripts from your University/Institution.

Travel grant application: In addition to the above-mentioned application documents, please also send a budget justification if you wish to apply for travel support.

Important dates

The closing date for applications is 20 July, 2025

Letters of acceptance will be announced by early - August, 2025

Further information

Please direct all enquiries to Bradley Weymer bradley.weymer@sjtu.edu.cn.