Baton Handover: A strong Faculty and a clear mission - orientation in times of change

03.10.2022

On September 30, 2022 the „baton“ of the Faculty was officially handed over to the new FGGA-management team. About 70 Faculty members followed the invitation and attended the retrospective of the departing Dean Petra Heinz, followed by an outlook of the new Dean’s team, the directors of studies and of selected FGGA representatives.


Petra Heinz presented milestones of the last two years. Like the new Dean, Rainer Abart, she emphasised the achievements and good position of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy with particular reference to third-party funding and infrastructure.

Petra Heinz handing over the

Petra Heinz handing over the "baton" of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy. Photo: Roman Schett

She also underlined the success of the new doctoral school VISESS and the development of new curricula.

Windmills and walls to cope with the wind of change

In his outlook, Dean Rainer Abart made clear, that "the Faculty is in very good shape – and it is well prepared for the challenges we are facing". He referred to a Chinese proverb: "When the winds of change blow, some people build walls, others build windmills”, and elaborated on it saying “We wouldn't be the Faculty for Exploration, if we didn’t do both, build windmills and walls and find many more ways to cope with the challenges ahead".

Welcome to Bethan Davies

About 70 Faculty members followed the "baton handover" and welcomed Bethan Davies,  the new Ida Pfeiffer Professor in the winter term 2022/23. Bethan presented her research on glaciers and glaciation in a well balanced talk addressing specialists as well as the wider scientific public. Afterwards, the participants met for discussion, networking and apéro.

Links & FGGA-news

In 2021 members of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy reached a new third-party funding record with revenues in the amount of 6,0 Million Euro. Also concerning expenditures, which is the less volatile number, the FGGA reached a record. Besides the many support measures and the citizen science initiative, the Faculty also initiated an Applied Sciences Initiative. More


Sowohl im Bereich der digitalen Forschungsinfrastruktur – insbesondere der Supercomputer – als auch im Bereich der Großgeräte wurde an der Fakultät in den letzten Jahren viel erreicht. In den nächsten Jahren gilt es, dies abzusichern und insbesondere in den Bereich Massenspeicher und high-performance-clouds zu investieren. Mehr


Programm

Staffelholz-Übergabe: Retrospektive und Ausblick

30. September 2022, 14:00 Uhr, UZA II, Hörsaal 2

Kristallmodell von Robert Krickl. Foto: © Manfred Wildner

Die Fakultät für Geowissenschaften, Geographie und Astronomie lud alle interessierten Mitarbeiter*innen herzlich zur "Staffelholz-Übergabe" ein – mit einem Rückblick des bisherigen Dekaneteams, Ausblicken des neuen Dekaneteams, der Studienprogrammleiter und ausgewählter Fakultätsvertreter*innen, einem Kurzvortrag von Ida Pfeiffer-Professorin Bethan Davis - und anschließend einem gemütlichen Get-Together mit Apéro.

14:00 - Retrospektive und Ausblick Dekaneteams

  • Retrospektive aktuelles Dekaneteam
    Petra Heinz, João Alves, Stephan Glatzel, Leopold Haimberger
  • Ausblick neues Dekaneteam
    Rainer Abart, Leopold Haimberger, Franz Kerschbaum, Michaela Trippl

14:30 - Studienprogrammleiter (SPL) – Ausblick und neue Teams

  • SPL 28 (Erdwissenschaften, Meteorologie-Geophysik und Astronomie)
    Manfred Dorninger
  • SPL 29 (Geographie)
    Robert Peticzka
  • DSPL 45 (Doktorat Geowissenschaften, Geographie und Astronomie) / VISESS
    Glenn van de Ven

14:45- Präsentationen ausgewählter FGGA-Vertreter*innen

  • UNIVIE Senat
    Bodo Ziegler, Astrid Heusmann
  • FGGA Professor*innen
    Michael Wagreich
  • FGGA “Mittelbau”
    Christian L. Lengauer
  • FGGA allgemeines Universitätspersonal (AUP)
    Markus Rockenbauer
  • Arbeitskreis für Gleichbehandlungsfragen
    Roland Ottensamer

15:00 - Vortrag von Ida Pfeiffer Professor Bethan Davies

  • Talk: "Non-linear glacier response to climate change"
    Bethan Davies, Ida Pfeiffer Professorin im Wintersemester 2022/23

15:15 - Staffelholz-Übergabe und Apéro

  • Schlussworte von Petra Heinz und Rainer Abart
  • Apéro und Get-together