SESAME’s 2nd Summer School on ‘Coupled Ecological Modelling’ will take place at the Sundown Courts in Kappara, Malta, from 8 – 13 June 2009.

The course will be hosted by the Physical Oceanography Unit of the IOI-Malta Operational Centre at the University of Malta. The event is co-organised with the Black Sea Commission and CIESM.

The school will offer participants theoretical and practical background on numerical models simulating the dynamics of the marine ecosystem, and the physical-biological interactions. It will provide the theoretical concepts leading to the parameterisation of marine ecological/biogeochemical processes (primary, microbial, secondary production, predation/grazing, nutrient cycling) and to their translation into algorithms suitable for numerical simulations in a coupled physical/ecological framework. The summer school will consist of an intensive series of lectures, laboratory and discussion sessions. Thus, theoretical background will be translated in practical information through the description of state-of-the-art numerical marine ecosystem models, and through hand-on sessions that will give participants the opportunity to start practising the use of such models, using simple test cases.

The Summer School is open to young researchers and PhD students, with a biological and/or physical oceanography background, willing to expand their field of interest. The course is limited to 20 participants.

To apply, please fill in the application form and send it electronically, together with any other necessary documents, to Dr. Aldo Drago or Mr. Adam Gauci by no later than 3 April 2009.

To find out more information about the Summer School and details on how to apply, please download the relevant document and the application form.