}Exchange:WorkshopGermany – Brazil

}Media:Geological research attractive

}Design:The first impression counts

}Outlook:Open Access in science

Insight Issue 01/11

Geotechmarket –A successful funding measure of the BMBF

For the first time, special funds have been made available by theBMBF for adjusting outstanding monitoring and early warning sy-stems to the requirements and demands of the end user and forproduct presentations at specialized trade fairs. In the course ofthe three-year funding period in the key research area »Early war-ning systems against natural hazards“, several projects designedpromising technologies and received additional funds from theBMBF in order to be able to develop marketable prototypes to-gether with industry partners. Good results and fieldwork with thedifferent technologies on the Philippines, in Istanbul and in theAlps demonstrate the efficiency and integration capacity of thesesystems in practice.

SLEWS, a sensor system for landslides of the Technical Universityof Aachen, has improved energy supply to the sensor nodesagainst external physical influences (temperature, moisture). Theaim was to provide an inexpensive, certified, wireless sensor sy-stem, which can be quickly and easily installed, for monitoringslope movements and rockfalls with a simple data output. An easy-to-use system is now available, and was presented to interestedcompanies, environmental agencies and associations for the firsttime at the terratec 01/2001 environmental fair.

The SOSEWIN system (GFZ, HU Berlin), has aimed at the develop-ment of cheaper, more efficient and more intelligent sensor nodes(more compact design, special architecture) with a new industrypartner (DResearch, Berlin) in order to improve the measurementof seismic activities and seismic early warning. A prototype sensornetwork with more than 40 sensor nodes will soon be available;a smaller network has already been successfully tested in Istanbul.The system will mainly be used to monitor critical infrastructuressuch as bridges and high-rise buildings so as to warn the popula-tion at an early stage with real-time capable data transmission andalarms.

The alpEWAS system (Technical University of Munich) has togetherwith new partners from the environmental sector (Hess & Partner,Dr. Plinninger Geotechnik) implemented the joint technology de-velopment in the form of a marketable measuring system for con-tinuous 3D monitoring of unstable slopes using the Time DomainReflectrometry (TDR) system, Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) and geotechnical standard sensors. With the aid of thefunding, resistance to environmental impacts under extreme we-ather conditions (snowfall, driving rain) has been considerably im-proved. ¢

Bilateral scientific exchange with Brazil

In May last year, agreement was reached between Brazil and Ger-many on strengthening scientific and technological cooperation.In the course of the German-Brazilian Year of Science, Technologyand Innovation 2010/11 it is therefore intended that future-ori-ented topics should be discussed and new cooperations begun.

A number of joint geoscientific research projects and exchangeprogrammes involving both countries are indeed already in pro-gress, but in view of the great challenges faced by Brazil in thearea of raw materials research and recovery there is great intereston both sides in jointly addressing geoscientific topics and techni-cal developments even more intensively in future.

A workshop will first be held in Santos, Brazil, from February 13to 17, 2011 so that new research and project ideas can be deve-loped together with Brazilian colleagues. Invited speakers fromboth countries will discuss topics on »Marine Geosciences andTechnologies«, »Geophysics«, »Geodesy« and »Scientific Drilling«with the aim of establishing the future need for research and thepossibility of cooperation.

A second workshop will be held in the course of the Latin Ame-rica Colloquium, which will be conducted at the end of March2011 in, among other places, Heidelberg in order to deepen spe-cific project ideas. Visits to a number of German marine researchinstitutes are also planned.

The International Office of the BMBF will be lending financial sup-port to the workshops. An application for this has been preparedby Prof. Glasmacher from the University of Heidelberg in coope-ration with the German Science and Innovation Centre, GEO-TECHNOLOGIEN and the UNESP, Brazil.

www.geotechnologien.de/portal/cms/Geotechnologien/Oeffent-lichkeit/Special+Events ¢

Publisher credits:GEOTECHNOLOGIEN Coordination Office, Telegrafenberg,14473 Potsdam, Germany, Tel.: +49 (0)331 288 1071,www.geotechnologien.de, Dr. Ute Münch (responsible)

The GEOTECHNOLOGIEN research and development programmeis funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung(German Federal Ministry for Education and Research - BMBF)and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation - DFG).

The newsletter is published twice a year. If you do not wish to receive the newsletter, please send us an e-mail at:info@geotechnologien.de

Picture credits, header (left to right):MARUM, GEOTECHNOLOGIEN, GEOTECHNOLOGIEN, Heather MorrisonIssue: 1/2011

Dear GEOTECHNOLOGIENprogramme partners,

The joint geoscientific programme of the Federal Mi-

nistry for Education and Research and the German

Research Foundation has been funding both basic

and applied geological research for more than ten

years. For this reason the programme and the scien-

tific findings achieved were reviewed by an interna-

tional expert commission in Autumn 2010 and re-

ceived a very positive overall assessment. The inter-

action between both funding organizations and the

long-term design of the programme was particularly

appreciated. Through GEOTECHNOLOGIEN all im-

portant geological topics relevant to society have

been and are addressed; at the same time, however,

niche topics are also covered.

Besides this, the large number of diploma theses and

doctorates originating from within GEOTECHNOLO-

GIEN has been impressive. It is therefore intended

that special attention should continue to be paid to

promoting young researchers. Also, international

and in particular European cooperation should be in-

tensified in the future and exchange between the re-

spective key areas improved.

Sincerely, Ute Münch

Dr. Daria Morozova

Dr. Daria Morozova studied biology, specializing in microbiology,biochemistry and ecology, at the State University of St. Petersburg,Russia, and the Carl von-Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. In 2007she obtained her doctor’s degree at the University of Potsdam andthe Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, a majorpart of her dissertation being devoted to the analysis of microbial lifein extreme habitats.She has been working at the GFZ Potsdam and the University ofPotsdam as a PostDoc since 2007 and is participating in several na-tional and international projects (CO2SINK, GRASP, GeoEn I and II,CLEAN, CO2 MAN). Her research is concentrated on the characteri-zation and quantification of microbial communities of the deepbiosphere and their influence on CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage)and ERG (Enhanced Gas Recovery). Dr. Morozova’s particular area ofinterest is the complex interactions between CO2, biocenosis, fluidsand rocks and their effects on mineral formation and mineral dis-solution in the deep biosphere. ¢

The Embassy Lecture panel (right to left): Wolfgang Rolland (Vat-tenfall Europe), Frank Schilling (Karlsruher Institut für Tech¬nologie),Dale Medearis (moderator), Juerg Matter (Columbia University), Her-bert Wheary (Dominion Resources

Who is Who –Women in research In this issue we would like to introduce a young scientist who very successfully lives the motto of interdisciplinary research in her work!

Bilateral scientific exchangebetween Germany and the USA

Creating international visibility

NACCHO

Colin Schultz, A

GU

The ›Embassy Lecture‹ on the subject of »Carbon Capture and Sto-rage in the Subsoil« was an ideal opportunity to present one ofthe key technologies against climate change to a wide internatio-nal public, decision-makers and journalists. The event was organi-zed by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the GEO-TECHNOLOGIEN Coordination Office together with the GermanEmbassy in Washington, the BMBF and the scientific departmentof the EU delegation in Washington. Representatives of politics,embassy advisers, delegates of various ministries and research as-sociations together with scientists and industry representativesfrom several countries took part. All the guests were convinced bythe idea of holding short keynote addresses with a subsequentpanel discussion and were very interested in establishing a scien-

tific exchange of this kind and repeating it at regular intervals. As representatives of the National Science Foundation (NSF) – thecounterpart to the German Research Foundation – were also pre-sent, further or new possibilities of cooperation between Germanyand the USA were discussed during the subsequent reception. Notonly projects dealing with the subject of carbon dioxide storagewere mentioned, but also general geoscientific and energy policyissues as well as climate protection projects.

Furthermore, the representatives of African embassies indicatedtheir interest in the storage of carbon dioxide. European CO2 cer-tificate trade and the economic aspects of carbon dioxide storagewere also discussed. ¢

To futher publicize the findings of German geoscientific researchon an international scale and thus also strengthen internationalcooperation is an important task of the GEOTECHNOLOGIEN R&Dprogramme. Information stands at national and international con-ferences and fairs, own conference sessions and close coopera-tion with international professional associations and organizati-ons, for example with the American Geophysical Union (AGU), are

carried out for this purpose by the Coordination Office and arecontinuously extended. Particular focus is alsoput the on a closernetworking of geosciences within Europe. A GEOTECHNOLOGIENKeynote Lecture was held for the first time in April 2010 in thecourse of the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union(EGU) – a concept which will be continued at this year’s EGU mee-tings (see Diary). ¢

Diary

} February 10 - August 28, 2011Exhibition »Die Erde im Visier« (Sightson the Earth) at the Naturkundemu-seum in Karlsruhe

} February 13-17German-Brazilian Workshop Santos-SP, Brazil

} February 21-24Annual meeting of the Deutsche Geo-physikalische Gesellschaft in CologneGEOTECHNOLOGIEN information stand

} March 27- 31German-Brazilian Workshop in Heidelberg, Germany

} April 4-8 Annual meeting of the EGU in Vienna,Keynote Lecture on April 5, Prof. J. Gutzmer, GEOTECHNOLOGIEN information stand

} May 2Kick-Off Meeting »Tomographies«, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam

} June 8 and 9Status seminar »Mineral Surfaces«, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

The first impression counts –The business card of scientific resultsGuest contribution by Grit Schwalbe, graphic designer at the GFZ Potsdam

Today it is part of everyday life of every active scientist to present his or her research fin-dings: not only at meetings and conferences in the form of posters and presentations,but also as contributions in journals and books.

One frequently asked question is why illustrations are shown in good quality on posters,but only in poor quality in journals and books. The designer must realise that a resolu-tion of 150-200 dpi (dots per inch) is sufficient for an illustration for a poster, but thesame illustration should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi when printed in a journalor a book. On the other hand, 72 dpi already suffices for use in the Internet or on charts(PowerPoint).

Basically, the following applies: the higher the resolution of the printing system, themore details can be displayed. With high-quality offset or digital printing, a high-reso-lution print file has real quality advantages. The colours are also important: the colourmode is determined by the use to which the illustration is put.

As a general rule: data viewed on the screen should be in RGB mode, but printed datamust always be in CMYK mode. This is due to the fact that the printer has a CMYK co-lour cartridge, and therefore the printer software converts the RGB colours accordin-gly. Considerable colour deviations can result during printing. In everyday use colour de-viations of this kind are usually unimportant, but in the printer’s shop they can lead todifficulties or considerable quality losses. Before professional printing, the colour modeof the images should be switched to CMYK in the graphics program, for example inPhotoshop under: »Edit/Convert to Profile/CMYK Workspace«.

You will find more tippsfor designing posters in the download area of the GEOTECHNOLOGIEN website www.geotechnologien.de ¢

New in the team

Stefanie Lenzwas born in Potsdam and, after ob-taining her school-leaving certificatein 2007, began her apprenticeshipas an administrative assistant at theGFZ, which she completed in June2010. She has been working with us as a clerk and secretary in the GEO-TECHNOLOGIEN Coordination Of-fice since January 1st, 2011. She is looks forward to the inter-esting work and amongst the col-leagues in the department and theproject partners. ¢

Corinna Kallichhas been working with us since Ja-nuary as a graphic designer. She hastwenty years of experience in screenand print design, as among otherthings Art Director for FX Factory,SAT.1, the ZDF graphics studio andvarious publishing houses. Her studyof Visual Communication at the Ber-lin University of Arts and Animationat the »Konrad Wolf« Film and Tele-vision Academy brought her to mul-timedia work in the areas of printand screen design. She will be ableto make excellent use of her experi-ence at GEOTECHNOLOGIEN. ¢

The senior Government official Karl Wollinis a graduate electrical engineer speciali-zing in energy and control technology andstudied at the Technical University ofBraunschweig. He then worked as an elec-tronics engineer for scientific and nauticalequipment at the ReedereigemeinschaftForschungsschifffahrt (shipping companyassociation for research vessels) in Bremenand a test engineer for electrical equip-ment in the area of offshore and marinetechnology at Germanischer Lloyd in Ham-burg. In 1984 he transferred to the Federal Mi-nistry of Education and Research in Bonn,where his wide range of activities encom-passed »Marine Raw Materials and MarineTechnology «, »Renewable Energies« and»Sustainability in Production and Service«. As section head he was responsible for»Basic Energy Research« from 2006 to 2010before taking over the leadership of the »Sy-stem Earth« section in October last year.

GEOTECH: Mr. Wollin, you transferredfrom the energy sector to geosciences?The sustainable use of georesourcesand geoenergy will become more andmore important in future. Where doyou see the role of geosciences?

Wollin: Secure energy supply and the at-taining of climate protection targets will remain important topics for politics, eco-nomics and science in the coming decades.For this reason the Federal Governmentadopted an energy concept in September

2010 which specifies the guidelines for anenvironmentally friendly, reliable and af-fordable energy supply in the decades tocome. The tasks of the new energy re-search programme can be derived fromthis. Also the expertise of the geoscienceswill be in demand. The BMBF has onlybeen funding the Brandenburg research al-liance GeoEn in the second phase as of January 1, 2011. I am expecting from thisproject innovative contributions from theareas of geothermal energy, shale gas andCCS for an eco-friendly and climate-friendly energy supply.

GEOTECH: Which geoscientific topicsdo you see as being particularly rele-vant for the future not only for Ger-many, but also for Europe and in theglobal environment? And which ofthese topics can be handled withinthe framework of the GEOTECHNO-LOGIEN R&D programme?Wollin: The new framework programme ofthe BMBF is entitled »Research for Sustai-nable Developments«. Due to theirknowledge of the Earth system the geosci-ences have a central task of making con-tributions here. An improved understan-ding of the Earth system is urgently requi-red in order to be able to control sustaina-ble developments. The competence whichwe are acquiring in Germany is in my viewalso relevant for European and global de-velopments. For the perspective on theEarth system is required a global view atthe same time. With »Safeguarding the Fu-ture for People and the Earth«, science haspresented to the BMBF a concept for furt-her development of the geoscientific R&Dprogramme GEOTECHNOLOGIEN, whichtackles important topics for this area.

GEOTECH: The GEOTECHNOLOGIENR&D programme was evaluated inAutumn 2010 by an international ex-pert committee. Will there be anychanges in the variety of tasks in orthe weighting of the programme as aresult of the experts’ remarks?Wollin: The overall result of the assessmentwas very positive. In particular, the groupof experts emphasized the excellence ofthe research and development work in thevarious geoscientific topic areas. The re-search findings and technology develop-

ments are rated as very innovative. The selection of topics has initiated central re-search fields of international interest. Inparticular, those recommendations shouldbe taken up which relate to the internatio-nal exchange of the research groups withother EU countries. I would very much liketo put up further recommendations for discussion within the Coordination Com-mittee. In my view, more attention shouldbe brought to bear on the weighting oftechnological aspects in the individual research fields in future.

GEOTECH: Does the BMBF have anynew strategies or possibilities to con-tinue to push ahead with technologytransfer in geosciences?Wollin: Technology transfer is a task whichvarious research institutions in Germanyare actively pursuing. A close networkingshould also take place with GEOTECHNO-LOGIEN.

GEOTECH: Although geoscientific to-pics are also present in everyday life,only little attention is given to the va-riety of topics in schools. Is the Mini-stry interested in introducing such topics into school curricula in Ger-many in future?Wollin: You are right that geosciences donot always play the important role inschool education which is their due in viewof their responsibility for safeguarding thefuture for people and the Earth. However,the design of curricula is a classical task ofthe individual Federal States, not the Fede-ral Government. For this reason I suggestthat the research institutions carry out anexchange with schools, as is already donein many places by way of student labora-tories, for example that of the HelmholtzAssociation. ¢

GEOTECHNOLOGIEN talks … to Karl Wollin (BMBF)

Geological research attractive –GEOTECHNOLOGIEN in the media

Access for everyone – publishing with Open Access as a real alternativeGuest contribution by Roland Bertelmann, Director of the Library of the Albert Einstein Science Park, Potsdam

The GEOTECHNOLOGIEN R&D programmeor individual programme projects havebeen covered in more than 500 reports inthe media, including such respectednewspapers as »Die Zeit«, the »FrankfurterAllgemeine Zeitung« or the »SüddeutscheZeitung«. Research carried out by Germangeoscentists in the R&D programme hasalso been a topic abroad, for example inthe finnish »Tiede« or the dutch »Refor-matorisch Dagblad«. The total circulationof these articles and reports is in excess of80 million. Besides daily newspapers, re-ports on GEOTECHNOLOGIEN have ap-

peared in magazines such as National Geo-graphic Deutschland or Der Spiegel, andon the radio on »D-Radio«, »Westdeut-scher Rundfunk« and »Hessischer Rund-funk« amongst others. Television has alsobeen present at some research projects -»ARD« reported on gas hydrate researchand earthquake early warning systems.

The Coordination Office will in the comingyears continue its successful press workand further refine the network betweenscience and the media. So that we cancontinue to be an agenda setter and con-

tact partner for the press, we rely on yourassistance. Please get in touch with us ifyou need our support with press releasesor media contacts. In order not to competewith the press offices of your institution,we always harmonize press releases andmedia contacts with the appropriate de-partments.

Your contact in the Coordination Office is Simon Schneider Tel.: (+49) (0)331 288 1073 E-mail: schneider@geotechnologien.de. ¢

Developments in scientific publishing havein the past increasingly resulted in a »clo-sed access « situation. Published articleswere and are accessible to ever fewerscientists, which calls into question the verymeaning of scientific communication andpublication. Fortunately, however, a new»Open Access« publication concept hasnow beendeveloped, so that scientific fin-dings are once again available to everyone. »The beauty of Open Access is that it is notagainst anybody. It is for the free move-ment of knowledge… »Open Access« is alegal and technical reality today.« - accor-ding to Neelie Kroes, the Vice-President ofthe European Commission responsible forthe Digital Agenda.

Open Access embraces a variety of activi-ties, all of which aim to disseminate scien-tific information and knowledge withoutfinancial, legal and technical barriers as wi-dely as possible in the Internet and thus tomake them accessible and usable on thebasis of trustworthy infrastructures. Twoimplementation strategies have developedin recent years. The »Green Road« of OpenAccess enables the second publication ofarticles from subscription-based journals inso-called institutional repositories. Thesefull text databases, supported by the re-search institution or university at which the

author is working, open up free access tothe publications. Effectively, this means:first publication in a selected journal, butwith the possibility of second publicationin a further medium. About eighty per centof the publishers relevant from the geos-cientific point of view allow -under certainconditions- this openly accessible publica-tion of such a postprint as a moratorium, inother words at a later stage.

The »Golden Road« of Open Access is de-dicated to the first publication of scientificworks in a freely accessible specialist jour-nal. In recent years various business modelshave become established which enable ac-cess to scientific information regardless ofthe financial possibilities of the reader. Theprinting costs are no longer recouped fromthe purchaser of the journal, but from theauthor of the respective article.

The publishing house Copernicus Publis-hers, which works closely with the EGU, isconsidered worldwide to be a good exam-ple with respect this development. Howe-ver, other publishers previously oriented to-wards the subscription model are now alsoexperimenting in this area. One of the twomarket-dominating scientific publishers,Springer, has adapted this business modeland established the SpringerOpen business

unit in summer 2010. A current investiga-tion has shown for the journals listed in theJournal Citation Report that 20 per cent ofthe articles which appeared therein in2009 are already openly accessible. Some25 million freely accessible documents arecurrently reachable worldwide via a searchengine such as the Bielefeld Academic Se-arch Engine (BASE). In the meantime there is a stronger focuson (more) open access to research data asa counterpart to scientific publication. TheAlliance of German Science Organizationsis taking this into account with the »Prin-ciples for the Handling of Research Data«adopted in 2010 (more on www.allianzin-itiative.de).

Presenty the Alliance is backing the de-mand for an unconditional second publi-cation right (within the meaning of theGreen Road) as part of the upcomingamendment to copyright law. As to whatextent science and research will be takeninto consideration in the amended versionthis time will certainly also depend onwhether science is perceived as a voice inthe legislative process scheduled for thespring. You will find detailed, comprehen-sive information on Open Access at the»Open Access Information Platform« www.open-access.net. ¢