Author: Dagmara Bożek

Hi, I am Nicole Hanselmann from Zurich Switzerland and since September I am a PhD student at the department of Hydrology. I did a MSc in Physical Geography at the University of Zurich, during my studies my main interests were always on water in a frozen and unfrozen state and I discovered my passion for modeling the environment. However, due to the Covid Pandemic restrictions, I decided to use hyperspectral and thermal imagery for my master’s thesis instead of modeling to analyze the surface structures of Gorner Gletscher.

Before my start at the IGF I did an internship at MeteoSwiss where I was part of the Climate Monitoring Group. This work taught me a lot about how to process data and prepare scientific communications for the general public.

For the last 12 years, I was a semi-professional road cyclist, competing in the best international races. This time allowed me to meet and work with great people from all around the world. Travel mainly around Europe and see beautiful places. But it also taught me to work hard to reach goals, handle good and bad times, and get out stronger. Still, I believe that combining sport and study is a tough but also a good solution. Having a second passion is extremely helpful when handling a difficult situation and helps to stay grounded as well.

Since I am here in Warsaw I turned into a nice-weather cyclist and I would be happy if you can show me some hidden hills and beautiful cycling routes in Poland.

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Od 2016 roku IGF posługuje się akredytacją Logo HR Excellence in Research. W grudniu 2022 r. w ramach fazy odnowienia gościliśmy asesorów z Komisji Europejskiej, którzy oceniali stopień wdrożenia zasad Europejskiej Karty Naukowca. 12 stycznia 2023r. otrzymaliśmy pozytywny raport z Komisji Europejskiej i zostało odnowione wyróżnienie „HR Excellence in Research” na najbliższe trzy lata.

Komisja Europejska przyznaje je instytucjom, które spełniają wysokie standardy w zakresie tworzenia dobrych warunków pracy naukowej i badawczo-rozwojowej, przeciwdziałania dyskryminacji czy prowadzenia przejrzystych procesów rekrutacji, opisanych w Europejskiej Karcie Naukowca i Kodeksie Postępowania przy rekrutacji pracowników naukowych.

Główne rekomendacje wynikające z raportu są następujące.:

• weryfikacja Action Planu
• włączenie zasad Strategii HR w powstającą Strategię IGF PAN
• zaplanowanie nowych działań uwzględniających gender balance
• zorganizowanie wsparcia prawnego dla pracowników/doktorantów spoza UE w aplikowaniu o kartę pobytu
• wykorzystanie unikalnej infrastruktury badawczej IGF PAN do pozyskiwania pracowników/doktorantów z UE
• przeprowadzenie treningów dla poszczególnych grup pracowników, w szczególności asystentów i doktorantów
• wdrożenie narzędzi IT w procesach rekrutacyjnych

Komisja ds. Logo HR i Gender Equality Plan przygotuje działania uwzględniające powyższe rekomendacje.

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Hi, I am Yaseen Mahmood and I joined the department of seismology as a research assistant couple of months ago, in the beginning of August. 

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I am from Pakistan and I received my MSc degree in earthquake engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar. I opted this field because I have seen massive earthquakes across the world, especially in my country. These earthquakes not only destroyed multiple cities but also many causalities took place. I started figuring out why these events occur? Then I realized I have a knack for science related to earthquakes and seismology. So, I started my research journey. 

Talking about the research work, my master’s thesis focused on using a different methodology for assessing the seismic resilience of a region. It also includes the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, development of analytical models which evaluate seismic losses (socioeconomic losses), functional recovery paths, and seismic resilience of distinct types of buildings. Besides my master’s thesis, I have worked on the recovery models of transportation systems that were affected by multiple disasters including earthquakes. These models will help in the decision-making process for the restoration of the transportation system within a specific region. 

Before joining the Institute of Geophysics – Polish Acadamy of Sciences, I was serving as a lecturer in a university in Pakistan. In addition to that, I had an opportunity to work as a project engineer in an international project funded by USAID. 

Joining IGF is like a dream come true. People in this institute are very professional and helpful. Here we work like a team, and everyone tries to hoist the team member with full zest. Furthermore, the institute is equipped with modern instruments, and the research activities are on the top. 

Apart from research, I love to do painting and sketching in my free time, and Krakow is the best place to do arts because of its richness in history. Different historical sites are worth seeing, and the architecture of medieval buildings is astonishing. I will explore more about this city in the future.  

To sum up, I want to express that “Believe in your dreams. So that they can choose you.” 

On July 14 this year, a contract was signed with Simple SA for the supply and implementation of the Integrated Information System. The supplier has extensive experience in implementations in scientific units, which guarantees us a smooth and effective implementation. The planned modules to be implemented, in addition to those replacing Symfonia, include a module for Project Management from the financial and reporting side, a module for Electronic Document Workflow, an e-Employee module, a BI Portal for reports and analysis, and a module for Planning and Budgeting. The modules for Finance and Accounting, Fixed Assets, HR and Payroll, and Purchasing and Sales alone have a huge number of functions and automations that we could only dream of before. This will allow us to optimize and automate many processes, which will ultimately result in cost reduction in addition to streamlining work and improving its quality. The funds for the purchase were blocked in 2019, i.e. during the period of the change in funding, and could not be used for any other purpose than that planned at that time.

The need to purchase an advanced IT system in an era of ever-increasing number of projects and increasing complexity of settlements has been for a long time and has been growing every year. Work on the preparation of a requirements description and the search for funding sources began as early as 2014. Several times applications were submitted to the Ministry, twice we submitted applications under POPC. However, despite a positive evaluation at the level of the Committee acting under the Prime Minister and a positive recommendation, these applications did not receive funding. The opportunity arising in 2019 was the best solution to this situation. We immediately started bidding procedures. Several times, however, we had to modify our POZ and reduce modules and functionalities, as prices for services at that time began to rise sharply. We were able to finalize the purchase almost at the last moment, as the legal requirements facing us in the years to come are impossible to implement on the current system, which, as a reminder, was implemented at the Institute 22 years ago. In addition to the cost of purchase and implementation, the price includes a two-year warranty period and an eight-year support and upgrade period. This approach was dictated by justifiable caution – we know of cases when, after implementation, the annual support period was priced at a level equal to the cost of purchase and implementation. Thus, we are assured of working on this system for at least the next 10 years.

The Pre-Implementation Analysis is currently in progress. The first modules should take off from January 2023, i.e. accounting and HR and payroll modules. In the following months, we will implement the others. The contract provides for training for all users.

14 lipca br. podpisano umowę z firmą Simple SA na dostawę i wdrożenie Zintegrowanego Systemu Informatycznego. Dostawca posiada duże doświadczenie we wdrożeniach w jednostkach naukowych, co gwarantuje nam sprawne i efektywne wdrożenie. Zaplanowane moduły do wdrożenia poza modułami zastępującymi Symfonię obejmują moduł do Zarządzania Projektami od strony finansowej i raportowania, moduł do Elektronicznego Obiegu Dokumentów, moduł e-Pracownik, Portal BI do raportów i analiz oraz moduł do Planowania i Budżetowania. Same moduły do Finansów i Księgowości, Majątku Trwałego, Kadr i Płac oraz Zakupów i Sprzedaży posiadają ogromną ilość funkcji i automatów, o których wcześniej mogliśmy tylko pomarzyć. Pozwoli nam to na optymalizację i automatyzację wielu procesów, co w efekcie końcowym poza usprawnieniem pracy i poprawy jej jakości przyniesie obniżenie kosztów. Środki na zakup zostały zablokowane w roku 2019, tj. w okresie zmiany finansowania z dotacji podmiotowej na subwencję i nie mogły zostać wykorzystane na inny cel niż przewidziany w tamtym czasie.

Potrzeba zakupu zaawansowanego systemu informatycznego w dobie stale przybywającej liczby projektów oraz zwiększania stopnia skomplikowania rozliczeń była od dawna i z roku na rok coraz większa. Prace nad przygotowaniem opisu wymagań oraz nad poszukiwaniem źródeł finansowania rozpoczęto już w 2014 roku. Kilkukrotnie składano wnioski do ministerstwa, dwukrotnie składaliśmy wnioski w ramach POPC. Jednak pomimo pozytywnej oceny na poziomie Komitetu działającego przy Prezesie Rady Ministrów i pozytywnej rekomendacji wnioski te nie uzyskały finansowania. Możliwość pojawiająca się w 2019 roku była najlepszym rozwiązaniem w tej sytuacji. Niezwłocznie rozpoczęliśmy procedury przetargowe. Kilkukrotnie jednak musieliśmy modyfikować nasz OPZ i ograniczać moduły i funkcjonalności, gdyż ceny usług w tym czasie zaczęły gwałtownie rosnąć. Zakup udało się sfinalizować niemal w ostatnim momencie, gdyż wymogi prawne stawiane przed nami w latach kolejnych są nie do zrealizowania na obecnym systemie, który, dla przypomnienia, został wdrożony w Instytucie 22 lata temu. Poza kosztem zakupu i wdrożenia cena obejmuje dwuletni okres gwarancyjny oraz 8-letni okres wsparcia i aktualizacji. Takie podejście podyktowane było uzasadnioną ostrożnością – znane są nam przypadki, gdy po wdrożeniu roczny okres wsparcia wyceniany był na poziomie równym kosztom zakupu i wdrożenia. Tym samym zapewniamy sobie pracę na tym systemie przez okres co najmniej 10 najbliższych lat.

Obecnie trwają prace związane z Analizą Przedwdrożeniową. Pierwsze moduły powinny wystartować od stycznia 2023, czyli moduły księgowe i kadrowo-płacowe. W kolejnych miesiącach będziemy wdrażać pozostałe. Umowa przewiduje szkolenia dla wszystkich użytkowników.

Algal blooms enrich seawater with gel-like exopolymers modifying the local structure and physio-chemical properties of water column.

Continue reading ““Effect of exopolymer gels on the viscoelasticity of mucus-rich saltwater and settling dynamics of particles” [ABSTRACT]”

Hello! I’m Abhishek Bamby Alphonse (aka Beluga) from the lovely south Indian city of Chennai. I am a PhD student at the Institute of Geophysics under the guidance of prof. Marzena Osuch and Dr Tomasz Wawrzyniak.

Before joining my PhD,I was a GIS Analyst at Trimble Maps for 4 years and I completed my Masters in Pondicherry University in India. My masters thesis is about the Environmental Impact Analysis of the proposed Dibang Multipurpose project in the Eastern Himalayas. My PhD project involves the use of drones and Ground penetrating radar (GPR) to determine the spatial variability of cryo-hydro-meteorological variables in two catchments in Svalbard.

On June, I had the opportunity to visit these catchments and the Polish Polar Station at Hornsund. I entered the building as a stranger and left the building with a dozen life long friends and priceless memories and enjoyed the cruises without throwing up. The field work in these catchments were unique for an equatorial dwelling person, since I never experienced temperatures below 35° during June. Looking forward to go there again and enjoying the research

A short description about myself …a chunky, cat person with a sense of humor and a mapping nerd. My other quirks are quizzing ,gaming and plane spotting and I’m a fan of Manchester United , Chennaiyin FC and Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team.

Hi, my name is Vineet and I started as an Adiunkt in the “RAW” project of the Department of Polar and Marine Research from June.

I have a PhD in Physical Oceanography from CSIR- National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), India. My thesis had two main components – tracking high-salinity watermasses in the North Indian Ocean, and studying the effect of salinity and Rossby waves on the mixed layer processes in the Bay of Bengal. I used Modular Ocean Model (MOM) simulations for studying the mixed layer.

After PhD, I worked as a Project Associate for the COSINE (Current Observations and Simulations in the Indian EEZ) and ECO-IOD (Equatorial Current Observations for Indian Ocean Dynamics) projects in the Physical Oceanography Division of CSIR-NIO. The work included processing and analyses of the data from moored ADCPs. I have participated in 3 scientific cruises in the coastal and equatorial Indian Ocean.                                                

I am excited about the field work in the Arctic, and keen to learn more about the fjord hydrography using in-situ data and modeling. Apart from work, I am looking forward to enjoying the local food and sights while the summer lasts.

Hi, I’m Meri Korhonen and I started as a research assistant in the group of Polar and marine research couple months ago, in the beginning of April.

I grew up in Helsinki, Finland and I also studied and received my MSc in hydrospheric geophysics from the University of Helsinki. After my studies I worked in the Finnish Meteorological Institute focusing on the oceanography of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans. My tasks included also hydrological monitoring of the Baltic Sea. During my time in FMI, I participated in three expeditions to the Arctic, one expedition to the North Atlantic and several short research cruises to the Baltic Sea.

I’m particularly interested in mixing and modification of water masses and my research on the stratification of the upper ocean has led to collaboration in several studies concentrating on biogeochemical properties of the ocean. I have enjoyed the interdisciplinary approach as I believe looking at the systems as a whole is a more natural way for me to think than concentrating only on one aspect. After all, it is fascinating to know how the physical processes influence everything! 

More recently I was employed by the University of Hamburg to develop quality control methods for hydrological observations. It was a pleasure to work on a task with such a clear and practical aim, but as I was missing the Arctic and craving to return to field work, this position as research assistant at IGF sounded like a perfect opportunity for me.

In addition to taking care of oceanographic measurements in Hornsund, I will be responsible of processing the hydrological observations and storing them to the database. I believe the projects I am involved in at IGF, RAW (Glaciers Retreat and fjords Wither) and ReLoad with focus on heavy metal discharge into the fjords, offer great opportunities for continuing and developing interdisciplinary research. Furthermore, after concentrating on large scale physical properties of the Arctic, I am keen to learn about the more limited fjord system and the processes relating to, for example, ocean-glacier interaction.

Right now I’m getting excited and looking forward to my stay in Hornsund this summer!