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www.sea-technology.com July 2015 / st 19 T his spring, almost 12,000 attendants gath- ered for the 2015 European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly (GA) in Vien- na, Austria, as part of the largest annual Euro- pean geosciences event. The meeting brought together scientists, engineers, students and in- dustry leaders from 108 countries, originating an international mix of participants that shared the latest results on various subjects relevant to the geosciences feld, including ocean sciences, a divi- sion chaired at the event by Dr. Peter Brandt of GEOMAR, and ocean technology. All in all, as usual, it was a week of exciting and intensive meetings, including social gatherings and informal meetings along the Danube River. Scientifc Program The theme of EGU 2015 was "A Voyage Through Scales," representing "an invitation to contemplate the Earth's extraordinary variabil- ity extending from milliseconds to billions of years, from microns to the size of the universe." The range of scales in space, in time—in space- time—is truly mindboggling. The complexity challenges our ability to measure, model and comprehend. The technical program was extensive, fea- turing about 5,000 oral and 8,500 poster pre- sentations, grouped in more than 570 unique sessions. Interestingly, about 700 presentations were given via the PICO format (Presenting Interactive Content), an in- novation that brings together the advantages of the oral and poster formats via interactive video. Featured topics on ocean sciences were wide-ranging, subdivided into fve sessions—ocean general circulation and climate, coastal oceans and semi-enclosed seas, ocean biogeochemistry, ocean modeling, and theory and dynami- cal processes—with a total of more than 900 contributions. Large, dedicated poster sessions were held every after- noon, with good visitor turnout. PICO sessions allowed pre- senters to convey a dynamic message. EGU organized a series of tutorials, with the aim of reaching a broad audience of nonspecialists with general overviews. These tutorials were especially useful to a new generation of scientists, with sessions punctuated by Ph.D. or Young Scientists talks. There was also a short course on how to write and publish research and improve presentation skills. A series of "Great Debates" were or- ganized in collaboration with American Geophysical Union (AGU), touching rel- evant scientifc and social themes (the huge challenge of global freshwater use), climate change-related strategic choices (solving global warming versus focusing on adaptation and resil- ience), and research dissemination (pro and cons of Open Access publishing). Lectures were given daily by award-winning scientists recognized for their exemplary contributions to their re- spective felds. In short, EGU represented another step to- wards a nonsectorial, integrated and multidis- ciplinary study of the oceans. Exhibit Hall Conference break periods allowed attend- ees to visit the exhibit hall, which featured about 80 stands that included representatives from private companies, scientifc institutions and media outlets. Booths were constantly vis- ited throughout the week by a continuous fow of interested and curious visitors, happy to have experts at hand to engage in technical discus- sion. Among the ocean technology devices on display, there was great interest in recent advances in the ca- pabilities of instrumentation that can allow state-of-the-art synoptic acquisitions, such as in coastal observatories, and self-profling probes to measure physical and biogeochemi- cal parameters. Strong emphasis was also put on acquiring standardized measurements, a strategy that can improve rapid exchange of big data and minimize barriers between data providers and data users. The meeting refected the efforts being made by the Eu- ropean Union to cluster ocean research via international projects; e.g., the proposal of joint initiatives to leverage research efforts. The next EGU GA will take place again in Vienna, April 17 to 22, 2016. ST Sandro Carniel is a contributing writer to Sea Technology. He can be reached at sandro.carniel@cnr.it. European Geosciences Union General Assembly A view of the main route to the Austria Center in Vienna, which hosted EGU 2015.