Nearly two years ago, in the autumn of 2022, ECMWF and the Center for Earth System Observation and Computational Analysis (CESOC – https://cesoc.net/) signed a memorandum of understanding after ECMWF established a branch in Bonn, Germany. This marked a significant milestone in our collaboration with universities and research institutes around our new site. Since then, there has been substantial activity between the two Centres, showcasing the close alliances formed in Earth system science.
CESOC is a research partnership between the University of Bonn, the University of Cologne, and Forschungszentrum Jülich. Established in October 2020, its primary aim was to support Bonn's bid to host the new premises of ECMWF. The trio of partners brings to the table a wealth of collective experience, with years of scientific cooperation and involvement in various pioneering research endeavours. The scientific alliance between ECMWF and CESOC serves as a component within the broader framework of academic partnerships currently taking shape in Germany.
Significant milestones
During the summer of 2023, CESOC held its inaugural Members' Assembly in Bonn and invited several ECMWF staff members to join the occasion. In addition to the 49 CESOC members present, 14 ECMWF guests participated. Jean-Noël Thépaut, Florian Pappenberger, and Irina Sandu from ECMWF shared research and development highlights, igniting discussions on potential collaborations and exchanges with CESOC members. The official part was kept short to enable further networking opportunities at the CESOC summer party later that day.
Following two previous visits to the University of Bonn and Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2022, in November 2023 the University of Cologne hosted ECMWF staff. These visits aimed to showcase the diverse spectrum of research undertaken by the CESOC institutions.
At the half-time event at the end of January, our inaugural group of STEP UP! Fellows – Florentine Weber, Luise Schulte, Katerina Anesiadou, and Paolo Andreozzi – wrapped up their debut year at ECMWF in Bonn. STEP UP! is a two-year fellowship programme organised by the German Meteorological Service (DWD) with close cooperation between ECMWF and CESOC. ECMWF executives, the Fellows’ supervisors, and speakers and guests from CESOC, DWD, and the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) supported the Fellows, showcasing their ECMWF journey. They also delved deeper into discussions on the role of machine learning in the digital transformation of Earth system modelling and on the DWD Hans Ertel Centre for Weather Research. A special guest was Insa Thiele‑Eich, the first German female astronaut, who addressed diversity in space and sustainability. With a duration of two to three years, preparations are under way for the next Fellowship cohort, scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
In the same month, an intergovernmental agreement was signed, deepening meteorological and climatological collaboration between Germany and Italy. This pact, endorsed in Berlin by officials from both nations, aims to strengthen research and bilateral cooperation in weather and Earth observation. Stefan Schnorr, State Secretary at the BMDV, which oversees the DWD, emphasised the necessity of transcending national borders to address weather phenomena and climate change challenges. The agreement facilitates various initiatives, including the establishment of a joint master's programme between CESOC and the University of Bologna. The master’s programme is part of the ‘Italia – Deutschland science-4-services network in weather and climate (IDEA-S4S)’, a joint research and education network with four-year funding periods, which currently focuses on high-impact events such as droughts and flooding. This programme will cooperate with and strengthen the scientific environment for the ECMWF sites in Bonn and Bologna.
In February 2024, the ECMWF–CESOC Reanalyses Working Group embarked on a major collaborative initiative, uniting 70 experts from both organisations on current atmospheric reanalysis and data fusion techniques' strengths and limitations. As ECMWF develops the reanalysis product ERA6 to serve diverse sectors, it has integrated user feedback from CESOC as well as many other partners across our Member and Co-operating States.
Over the last few years, several colloquia, workshops, and lectures have been presented by researchers from both ECMWF and CESOC. During the university summer term 2024, the successfully established CESOC seminar series ‘My Research’ was held fortnightly and was being hosted by ECMWF in Bonn.
To ensure that the next generation benefits from the collaboration between ECMWF and CESOC, 16 students from various master's programmes within CESOC visited ECMWF in Bonn in June 2024 and listened to talks on ECMWF's broad project portfolio.
After the 2022 Machine Learning Crash Course held by Peter Düben, the head of ECMWF’s Earth System Modelling section, a jointly organised workshop on ‘Large-Scale Deep Learning for the Earth System’ is scheduled for 29 and 30 August 2024. For more information, please visit https://cesoc.net/workshop-on-large-scale-deep-learning-for-the-earth-system/.
Honorary professorship
The recent appointment of Peter Düben as Honorary Professor at the University of Cologne in May 2024 serves as a remarkable testament to the enduring and fruitful collaboration between ECMWF and CESOC. This prestigious recognition not only honours Peter’s contributions but also reinforces the strong bonds that drive innovation and excellence in our shared scientific endeavours.