PhD course in Benthic Research at Sea 2014: Sedimentary biology, geochemistry and geology
The research vessel DANA will transit from Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, to Hirtshals on 24 April to 5 May 2014. The Danish Center for Marine Research (Dansk Center for Havforskning) offers this transit for teaching and training and a consortium of Danish researchers led by the Center for Geomicrobiology at Aarhus University will organize an onboard Ph.D. course on sedimentary biology, geochemistry and geology.
The course is aimed at Ph.D. students and post docs from Danish universities with little or no seagoing experience. Applications from Master students will be considered if there is excess space. We wish to provide an interdisciplinary introduction to research on marine sediments through lectures and shipboard research projects. The projects will demonstrate how ship-based research is performed, coordinated and organized, and thus prepare students for future research cruises. The topics cover benthic research broadly from collection and interpretation of seismic data, via sedimentology and geomicrobiology to benthos zoology. Students who work on projects that are compatible with the aim of the course can use time on board to generate data for their own research. The cruise report from the previous cruise is available on this website and illustrates the activities during the course well.
The cruise will have combined research and training objectives, but with strong emphasis on the PhD course. There will be coordinated sediment sampling by gravity-corer, box-corer and multi-corer. Site surveys will be performed with sub-bottom profiler. We will supplement the benthic sampling program with CTD profiling of the water column. The ship will accommodate 12 students and ca 6 teachers on board.
The day before boarding in Sao Miguel there will be an all-day pre cruise meeting. The post cruise meeting will be held in Aarhus within 3 months of the cruise. Both meetings are mandatory for completion of the course.
Students must cover their own expenses for transport to Sao Miguel and for accommodation in Sao Miguel before boarding (two nights). Transport from Hirtshals to Aarhus will be arranged and covered by the course. Food and accommodation on board is free. The course fee is dkk 1000 per student.
The course is offered within the framework of the Graduate School of Science and Technology (GSST) at Aarhus University and is awarded 5 ECTS.