For the third year in a row, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will be hosting artists at its annual General Assembly. We are now opening a call for artists to apply for a residency at the 2020 conference, which is taking place in Vienna, Austria from 3-8 May 2020. The deadline for applications is 1 December.

The largest and most prominent geoscience conference in Europe, the EGU General Assembly brings together over 15,000 researchers from all over the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary and space sciences. Our residency programme provides artists with an opportunity to engage with scientific research in a dynamic setting and be inspired by new scientific discoveries. Researchers, on the other hand, can discover new and creative ways of making their work more accessible to the public through interacting with EGU artists in residence. We are open to a wide range of art forms, created at the conference, that actively build on and interact with the science discussed at the meeting to promote dialogue and collaboration between artists and scientists. We especially encourage applications from artists who are also scientists, as we believe they would benefit the most from the scientific environment at the conference.

Examples of the work produced by the EGU artists in residence in 2018 and 2019 are available on the EGU blog. As was the case in the past two years, all art produced by the 2020 artist(s) in residence should focus on the science presented at the meeting and be produced on-site. In addition, we encourage the EGU artist(s) in residence to organise a short course on how their art form can be used to communicate science. Examples of past courses organised by artists in residence include Rhyme your research and Get creative! Sketching and drawing (your) science.

Interested artists should apply online by 1 December. The application should include a description of the type of work that will be produced during the meeting, how the art will build on and interact with the research presented there, and how it can be showcased to General Assembly participants. The proposal should also include details about potential costs related to the transportation of art materials to Vienna, potential costs of materials for a short course, and any technical and space requirements. A short document detailing experience is also part of the application. We anticipate announcing the results by mid-December, to give the winning artist(s) the opportunity to submit an abstract to present at the conference before early January.

The programme is most attractive for scientist-artists, especially those already familiar with, and interested in, the EGU General Assembly. The residency takes place at the conference centre, the Austria Center Vienna and lasts for the full week of the meeting. Please note that over 15,000 scientists in the building produce reasonable noise levels and that art that requires a quiet environment or that produces a fair amount of noise may not work well. The EGU provides a stipend of €1200 to cover accommodation and contribute towards travel expenses, as well as a free registration to the meeting.

All work produced will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. The EGU reserves the right to use the art, or reproductions of the art (such as photographs), on the EGU blogs, social media and other communication channels, including the screens at the conference centre. Depending on the format of the works, EGU may also use them, non-commercially, on postcards, t-shirts and other merchandise. We will always give appropriate credit to the artist and request that all art produced mentions the EGU.

• Application form
• EGU General Assembly 2020 website
• EGU blog, GeoLog