Science of climate change

ENV-410

Important to know

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Description

Pre-class survey:
Please fill in the survey in the first exercise session: https://forms.gle/VvpZP42rYERh5Xh6A
Results from this form will be used to enhance your learning experience. We will adapt the content of the class according to everyone's background knowledge.

Rooms:
- Lectures: SG 0213
- Exercises: AAC 137

Exam information:
Final written exam: 50 %, 180 minutes, includes multiple choice questions and open questions (we will post an example exam at the end of the semester), 1 Din A4 page of notes (back and front, can be computer generated) and calculator are allowed, no phones, tablets or computers allowedLocation and Timing: tbd

Important: We will hold a poster conference on 12 December, a Thursday, after 15 h, instead of the exercise hours. The poster presentation is part of your grade. The exercise hours are normally between 13 and 15 h, but we would like to start this conference later to finish with an aperitif ;-)
If you cannot make it at all, please notify julia.schmale@epfl.ch.

Working groups:
Teams will be formed at the beginning of the semester and you will work within these teams throughout the semester.You will do your assignment and the poster presentation in working groups of four. You may form groups yourselves with one condition:
- At least 2 different educational backgrounds need to be represented (e.g., engineering and life sciences; mechanical engineering and environmental engineering).
Please enter your group details here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12ciRsNRLwzOoqhVXWVJ32Xbm4dC3B1oPta-1aHIde0I/edit?usp=sharing
Deadline: 25 September 2024
If your group does not correspond to the rules, we will re-assign you. Please make sure to form groups of four. If your group is too small, we also re-assign you.

Lectures: Thursdays 10:15 - 12:00, zoom:

https://epfl.zoom.us/j/64431279226?pwd=SWJyOHFEQkl2bXRua3F5ZUdsM0hnQT09 (only recommended if you are unable to come to campus, we expect in person attendance)

Exercises: Thursdays 13:15 - 15:00

Structure of the course:
Lectures give you the general introduction to the topic. There will be polls and interactive sequences using Turning Technologies. You can participate by going to responseware.eu. Do NOT enter a name or contact details. This is not necessary and ensures that your participation remains anonymous. More details will be given in class.
Exercises will discuss content more in detail, you have time to ask questions and work on small problems in teams.

Grading:
The final grade is composed of 6 elements, which are listed below with their weight-percentage.
  • Assignment: 25 %
  • Poster proposal submission: 5 %
  • Poster: 15 %
  • Poster presentation: 5 %
  • Final exam: 50 %
Note, to derive the final grade, your score per above elements will be weighted by the weight-percentage of each element. For example, the assignment had maximum points of 100. If you received 90 points, you achieved a score of 90%. These will be multiplied by 12.5 %, the weight of this assignment for the total grade.
To obtain a grade of 4 you need a 60 % score total.

Request from the teaching team: Do not submit scans of handwritten documents, please digitize your work. This ensures that we can read your submission without guessing due to challenging handwriting styles.

Important deadlines:
Pre-class survey: 12 September during exercises
Assignment: 28 November 23:59
Poster project proposal: 01 November 23:59
Poster draft submission: 21 November 23:59
Print poster at Repro: 09 December at 10 am latest submission, the SMT master program will pay for the print of 1 poster
Poster presentation: 12 December, 15:00 - 17:30, location CO hall

Detailed poster project timeline:
Registration is mandatory: https://enterprise4society.typeform.com/to/femGBtlg

3.10.2024: Launch of poster topics - students pick a topic with their semester groups
10.10.2024: fill in your names in the spread sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Ycty0QhmH7vtfcqgtsub4hHtBCt5K9pOlQ1LTfPc_8/edit?usp=sharing) to indicate which topic you will choose, only one group per topic
01.11.2024: Poster proposal submission, which includes: the title, 3 references, key messages (400 words maximum)
21.11.2024: Poster draft submission
09.12.2024: 10 am latest!: Submit poster for printing to Repro, printing is paid by E4S. You will get instructions in class.
12.12.2024: 3-5 pm conference, CO hall  You must be present to present your poster during 15-20 minutes. 5 % of your overall grade depend on this. 

§14:45 – 15:15 Registration and hanging up posters
§15:15 Welcome and introduction to the conference
§15:20 – 15:45: Student 1 on duty to explain poster
§15:45 – 16:10: Student 2 on duty to explain poster
§16:10 – 16:35: Student 3 on duty to explain poster
§16:35 – 17:00: Student 4 on duty to explain poster
§17:00 Poster awards and aperitif.

At the poster conference, each team will present their poster. There will be 4 x 15 minutes slots, where each group member will present the poster. The other group members will visit the other posters to learn about the other topics. The teaching team will visit you at your posters to engage in conversations with you to see whether you are familiar with your poster content. The exercises from 1-3 pm will be swapped to 3-5 pm and it is expected that you attend the conference. If you cannot attend, or only attend parts of the conference, it is your obligation to let Julia Schmale know that this is the case.

Students who cannot attend the poster conference need to present the poster at another occasion during lecture or exercises. No exceptions!

Link to previous posters where authors and teachers are comfortable for sharing: https://drive.switch.ch/index.php/s/M9AsrrjjhCs10p3

Resources:

Slides from the lectures and exercises will be made available to the students via Moodle. Course content builds on the following bibliography available at the EPFL library or open access online:

-          Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change

-          Atmospheric science: an introductory survey

-          Physics of climate

Assessment reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

-          6th assessment report, working group 1 on the scientific basis

-          5th assessment report  

-          Special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C

-          Special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

-          Special report on Climate Change and Land

Further links will be posted here when available.

Your climate change news resources:

BBC World Service podcast: The Climate Question
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvb6
The Guardian Climate Crisis section
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-crisis

Online Forum Ed Discussions:
You can use Ed Discussions to communicate among yourselves. The quicker you begin asking questions on Ed Discussions (rather than via emails), the quicker you'll benefit from the collective knowledge of your classmates. We encourage you to ask questions when you're struggling to understand a concept—you can even do so anonymously.
Please note that the instructors are not 24/7 on Ed Discussions, we reserve time to answer questions in the lecture or exercises.
So this tool is set up for you to communicate among yourselves.
Find our class signup link just below (Ed Discussions Icon).