Overview of researcher training within the network

Network researchers will, in addition to their own research, participate in a range of training events and courses as part of the network’s activities. Training components will include formal academic and transferable skills courses, summer schools, workshops and field trips, annual network meetings, end-of-network conference, placements with associated partners in industry, and exchange visits to other partners and associated partners throughout the network.

Network-wide training events

1) Generic skills training workshop- organized by Leeds University

• Scientific writing course led by Susan Mitchell aims to develops skills for producing scientific reports and papers for scientific journals, gives a high level of individual feedback, aims to demonstrate the techniques and pitfalls of using written language, introduces editorial techniques to improve writing style.
• Stand and deliver! Presentation Skills course led by Kate Byers explores practical ways to: analyse and develop personal presentation style, engage and hold audience; develop vocal and physical presence.
• Personal Impact and Effective Networking course by Vox Consultants (Emma Cater) explores practical ways to develop personal confidence, prepare for informal networking opportunities, and communicate more effectively.
• Career planning workshop led by Becky Clark and Jane Conway, University of Leeds Careers Service provides an opportunity to reflect on the factors that affect personal career choice.

2) Flow and transport in porous and fractured media (coordinated by CNRS)

This summer school was held at the Institut d’Etudes Scientifiques de Cargese in Corsica and was coordinated by the CNRS partner. The focus of the summer school was state-of-the-art research in flow and transport in fractured and porous media, which forms the building blocks to understanding groundwater vulnerability. The event was open to participants from outside the network and will be delivered by a panel of 23 lecturers from outside the network and 9 members of the IMVUL network including team members from partners CNRS, Weizmann and Barcelona. This summer school, was first organized by the FAST Laboratory in Orsay (emphasis on Engineering Sciences) and the Géosciences Rennes Laboratory in CNRS (emphasis on Earth Sciences) in 2006, has been very successful in the past. Topics covered by the summer school include:

• fundamentals of flow and transport in the saturated and unsaturated aquifer zones,
• geostatistical and stochastic modelling – characterization of heterogeneity, forward and inverse problems,
• upscaling techniques for flow and transport problems,
• fundamentals of percolation and application of fractal/multi-fractal concepts in hydrogeology,
• modelling contaminant transport in the subsurface including non-Fickian approaches for anomalous transport,
• multiphase (2 and 3 phase) and density-driven flows and relation to groundwater contamination problems,
• experimental techniques in flow and transport including imaging and monitoring techniques,
• measuring physical properties of rocks and borehole geophysics in aquifer characterization,
• field studies of solute and reactive contaminants, tracer testing, gammametry and acoustical detection techniques,
• groundwater resource management and nuclear waste disposal.

3) Groundwater modelling workshop (organized by Polimi, Weizmann, UPMC and Leeds)

This workshop was the third IMVUL training event and was held in Milan, Italy. The lectures were taught by network team members from UPMC, Leeds, Weizmann and Polimi with the associated partner from Leeds (Rolf Farrell of the Environment Agency) also contributing. This modelling course complemented the more theoretical course on ‘Flow and transport in porous and fractured media’ by providing researchers with practical experience in applying theory. In this workshop, network researchers were exposed to the theory and practice of groundwater flow and transport modelling techniques ranging from those used in industry to more research-oriented modelling techniques. Emphasis was placed on the practical use of modelling techniques and software.

4) Groundwater biogeochemistry summer school/workshop (organized by Edinburgh)

The summer school “Groundwater Biogeochemistry” was the fourth from series of training events and summer schools which form part of the ‘IMVUL’ Network training programme. It was hosted by the School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh and was held at the Grant Institute, King’s Buildings, Edinburgh, over the period 25th to 29th July, 2011. The programme comprised four days of lectures and a one day field course. The aim of the summer school was to provide a background to low temperature microbial and geochemical processes which are important in groundwaters. Recent years have seen considerable advances in techniques to investigate low temperature aqueous geochemistry, mineralogy and microbiology coupled to a new understanding of the role of microbial metabolism, nanomaterials and aqueous chemistry in natural waters. The event was open to participants from outside the network and was delivered by a panel of 6 from outside the network and 3 from the IMVUL network, including the British Geological Survey (associated partner). The summer school was attended by the IMVUL network fellows and one participant from outside the network. The summer school programme included a practical session to introduce geomicrobiological methods and a one day field trip. After the field course the summer school participants visited the Glenkinchie distillery to see first hand the most famous use of Scotland’s groundwater resources and then went on to the summer school dinner.
The lectures covered a spectrum of topics related to microbial metabolism, microbially mediated geochemistry, aqueous geochemistry and mineralogy and analytical or modelling techniques all applied to groundwater, contamination of groundwaters and treatment of contaminated waters. The lecture material as handouts is available on the Secured IMVUL webpages (access with a login and password given to the participants).

5) Field trip - unconsolidated and fractured aquifers (organized by NGU)

The last training event in the IMVUL Network training program was a one week field trip in Norway. It was hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) from 22nd August to 28th August 2011. The aim of the course was to give an introduction to applied field hydrogeology in unconsolidated and fractured aquifers in a glacial dominated terrain. During the week the participants had a combination of lectures and field experience with focus on the latter. Topics included geological description of the visited areas, the IMVUL research site at Gardermoen, groundwater exploration methods and vulnerability of groundwater. The trip started in the Oslo area and ended in Bergen at the western coast of Norway. In all 9 IMVUL network fellows attended, together with 1 associated partner and 2 participants from outside the network.
Some of the lecture material as handouts is available on the Secured IMVUL webpages (access with a login and password given to the participants).

6) End-of-network conference (hosted by UPMC- Sisyphe, Paris)

The final network meeting in the form of End-of-network conference entitled:

Groundwater Vulnerability – Emerging Issues and New Approaches was held from 9-12 July, 2012 at Les Cordeliers, Rue de l'École de Médecine, 5th Arrondissement, Paris, France. The conference was divided into three sessions:

1. Field measurement of key parameters for groundwater vulnerability assessment;
2. Laboratory approaches to furthering understanding of vulnerability issues in aquifers;
3. Improved modelling techniques for prediction of flow and contaminant transport.

This conference was a show case for the IMVUL network fellows and researchers and was open to scientists outside the network. Presentations by the network researchers were complemented by 7 invited keynote talks given by invited speakers. Invited speakers included Mary Hill (USGS, USA), John Bloomfield (BGS, UK), Tim Atkinson (University College London, UK), Jon Lloyd (University of Manchester, UK), Steve Banwart (University of Sheffield, UK), Peter Lichtner (Los Alamos National Lab, USA), Gedeon Dagan (Tel Aviv University, Israel).