Geo.X Annual Meeting "Landscapes over Time"
29th September 2026
Henry-Ford-Bau
Freie Universität Berlin
We cordially invite all scientists, students and support and administrative staff in the Geo.X Research Network for Geosciences in Berlin and Potsdam to our Annual Meeting on 29 September 2026. This year, our Annual Meeting will integrate three events revolving around the theme “Landscapes over Time”, starting on 29 September at the Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin.
The first event is a training session focused on conference communication, designed especially for early-career scientists to enhance their professional skills. Later that day, the Annual Meeting will take place, centered around the theme “Landscapes over Time”. This meeting offers an opportunity for the community to come together, share insights, and discuss developments within the field.
To further explore the meeting’s theme, a field trip is planned on 9 October. This event allows participants to engage with the subject matter more hands-on, connecting the meeting discussions to real-world examples.
Annual Meeting
Join us for an evening of inspiration and exchange at the Annual Meeting. Starting with welcome drinks, the event will feature scientific talks on the theme “Landscapes over Time”, followed by lively 3-minute pitches from newly appointed professors. The evening continues with a relaxed Get-Together including food and drinks. Take your time and have a look at the posters of our Early Career Scientists exploring our theme “Landscapes over Time”.
Community Slide Show on “Landscapes over Time”: How do you perceive changes in the landscape around you? Share your photos, drawings, or other visuals reflecting your perspective on landscapes over time by uploading them during registration for the Geo.X Annual Meeting – or at a later date. We welcome both scientific documentation and artistic interpretations! Find more details on our registration webpage.
ECS Event
Communication at Conferences: Are you an early career scientist looking to make the most out of conferences? Join us in the afternoon prior to the Geo.X annual meeting for two workshops focused on communicating your science effectively and building valuable connections! We’ll cover how to identify your core message, network with other scientists, and create your pitch – key skills for making your research engaging and memorable. Following the workshops, we’ll have a poster session – bring your own posters to practice your pitch and get feedback! Your posters will remain on display during the evening’s Geo.X annual meeting - themed “Landscapes over Time” - offering a great opportunity to present your work to a broader audience. Posters related to this theme are welcome, but all research areas are encouraged! The event is aimed at PhD students, but all early career scientists are welcome.
Excursion Müggelberge
Following the Geo.X annual meeting, join us on 9 October for an exciting field trip to the Müggelberge, Berlin’s highest natural hills! This key geological site vividly illustrates the region’s glacial history and landscape evolution throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs.
During this full-day excursion, we’ll investigate small-scale landforms and work together to understand their formation. Our former Geo.X coordinator at Freie Universität Berlin, Jacob Hardt, will share his expertise on the geomorphology of Berlin. A highlight will be a visit to the Müggelturm, offering great panoramic views of the city and surrounding countryside.
Click here to register and for further information.
Programme & Registration ECS Event
This year, we are offering training in conference skills to early career scientists from our network. Two parallel workshops will be held on networking at conferences and poster presentations. Following the workshops, there will be a poster session, which will provide an opportunity to practise these new skills.
12:15
Registration & Pizza
13:00
Welcome & short introduction
13:15
Start of parallel workshops
15:45
End of workshops
Break
16:00
Start poster session
17:30
End poster session
Info on parallel workshops
Many attest to the fact that a stronger grasp of interpersonal relationships opens opportunities that research alone cannot unlock. This session is designed to equip you with practical tools, actionable insights, and hands-on experience to feel more confident navigating professional connections. Through interactive exercises in a confidential, experiential space, you develop greater self-awareness to help you build meaningful relationships and strengthen your face-to-face presence. Our focus lies both on preparing for immediate conference networking - such as making strong first impressions and communicating with confidence - and on longer-term approaches to building, cultivating, and leveraging contacts. You will also leave with an expanded network through the shared experience of the group.
Host: Join me (Claudia-Benassi.com) for a 2.5-hour interactive exploration designed to help you move past hesitation, connect more effectively during the conference, and build relationships beyond the event. I work at the intersection of academia and business school development, with extensive experience turning conversations into opportunities across both sectors. With an international perspective shaped by life in ten countries and working across four languages, I encourage diverse academic personalities to experiment with new ways of engaging that make networking more natural and effective.
Location: Conference Room, Henry Ford Building
Please be aware that places are limited.
Pitching yourself and your research in one minute sounds like the worst idea ever. We know. In this workshop, we’ll embrace the cringe & the awkward & do it anyway. You’ll learn how to talk about yourself, your research and why it matters without feeling like you’re selling yourself. Then: Lots of jumping into the cold water and talking about it before you feel ready: We'll do a fast-paced Pitch-a-thon where you'll speak a lot, get a lot of feedback, fail, feel silly and try again. Come as you are. No preparation needed. Just don't forget what you're researching, why you care, and maybe bring a pen and a piece of paper. By the end, you’ll have told your story so many times that introducing yourself at a poster session will feel surprisingly natural.
Host: Bianca Praetorius is one of Germany’s most experienced pitch and speaking coaches. For more than a decade, she has helped founders, leaders and researchers communicate complex ideas with clarity and confidence. She has prepared speakers for TEDx stages, coached hundreds of tech startups. Website: https://pitch-and-speak.com/
Location: Lobby, Henry Ford Building
Please be aware that places are limited.
Programme & Registration Annual Meeting
Join us for the Geo.X Annual Meeting, an evening dedicated to exploring “Landscapes over Time” through scientific talks and presentations by newly appointed professors. The event also includes a Get-Together and a poster session showcasing the research of our Early Career Scientists. Share your own perspective on landscapes through photos or artwork and contribute to our community slideshow!
17:30
Registration and welcome drinks
18:00
Opening & Welcome round
Representative Freie Universität Berlin
18:10
"Landscape over Time" - Talks
Anne Bernhardt (Freie Universität Berlin) - tbd
Ludwig Luthardt (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin) - "Fossil wood as an archive to investigate deep-time forest dynamics"
Dagmar Haase (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) - tbd
tbd
19:10
3-minute pitches of the newly appointed professors
Ranjini Murali (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin)
Melanie Sieber (TU Berlin)
tbd
19:25
Get-Together with food, drinks, exhibition and lots of networking
Venue
The Henry Ford Building is located at Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin-Dahlem. We strongly recommend to use public transportation to get to the venue. The location will be waymarked.
Please find more information on the location on the website of the Freie Universität Berlin.
In case you have questions regarding our Annual Meeting please send us an e-mail:
geo.x-events@gfz.de