The programme for the 2015 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) is now online. The meeting, which attracts over 12,000 scientists, provides an opportunity for journalists to hear about the latest research in the Earth and space sciences and to talk to scientists from all over the world. This year's conference features debates on water security and on negotiating climate policy. Press conferences include presentations on the latest results from ESA's Rosetta mission and on Iceland's Bárðarbunga volcanic eruption, among other topics. The meeting is taking place on 12–17 April in Vienna, Austria, at the Austria Center Vienna.

Contents

• Meeting programme online
• Provisional press conference topics
• Union-wide sessions of interest
• Media registration

Meeting programme online

All sessions (over 800) and abstracts (over 14,500) are now available online and fully searchable. You can access the programme on the EGU 2015 website.

The programme is searchable by name of a scientist, keywords (e.g.: Greenland, duck), session topic (e.g.: Natural Hazards, Atmospheric Sciences), and other parameters. Further, you can select single contributions or complete sessions from the meeting programme to generate your personal programme. 

Reporters may also find the list of papers of media interest, selected by session conveners, useful. Closer to the time of the conference, the media officer will also highlight sessions and abstracts that could be of interest to reporters.

Provisional press conference topics

We are planning 8–10 press conferences at the EGU General Assembly, which will take place at the Press Centre located on the Yellow Level (Ground Floor) of the Austria Center Vienna. Provisional topics to be presented to journalists include:

• Latest results from ESA's Rosetta mission
• Impacts of geoengineering on land, oceans and the atmosphere
• Droughts and floods in a warming climate
• Iceland's Bárðarbunga-Holuhraun: a remarkable volcanic eruption
• New images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft at Ceres
• Greatest hits – water in social media, smartphones, GPS and popular music
• Reducing emissions: renewable energies and carbon capture and storage
• Recent and future changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet

Please note that the list above is subject to change. A subsequent media advisory, to be release about a month before the Assembly, will include a full schedule of press conferences with a list of speakers and short summary of the topics covered in each media briefing.

Union-wide sessions of interest

The EGU 2015 General Assembly programme features a variety of Union-wide sessions that may be of interested to media participants. These include debates on 'The thirsty 10 billion: Are we managing?' and on 'Negotiating climate policy – resigning to resiliance?', and Union sessions on 'What is inside? Planetary interiors as viewed from space' and the 'International Year of Soil – Soil Science within an interdisciplinary framework', to name a few. There will also be a session on 'Geocomplexity and scales' dedicated to the theme of this year's Assembly, A Voyage through Scales.

Media registration

Members of the media and public information officers are now invited to register for the meeting online, free of charge. Media registration gives access to the Press Centre, interview rooms and other meeting rooms, and includes a public transportation ticket for Vienna and the programme book. At the Press Centre, media participants have access to high-speed Internet (LAN and wireless LAN), as well as breakfast, lunch, coffee and refreshments, all available free of charge. Food options will be more varied this year, including salads, fresh fruit, sweets and savoury snacks.

The online list of journalist and public information officers who have registered already is available online.

Online pre-registration is open until 13 March. The advance registration assures that your badge will be waiting for you on your arrival to the conference venue, the Austria Center Vienna. You may also register on-site during the meeting.

Further information about media services at the General Assembly is available at http://media.egu.eu. Closer to the date, this website will feature a full programme of press conferences, which will also be announced in later media advisories. For information on accommodation and travel, please refer to the appropriate sections of the EGU 2015 General Assembly website.

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. It is a non-profit interdisciplinary learned association of scientists founded in 2002. The EGU has a current portfolio of 16 diverse scientific journals, which use an innovative open access format, and organises a number of topical meetings, and education and outreach activities. Its annual General Assembly is the largest and most prominent European geosciences event, attracting over 12,000 scientists from all over the world. The meeting’s sessions cover a wide range of topics, including volcanology, planetary exploration, the Earth’s internal structure and atmosphere, climate, energy, and resources. The EGU 2015 General Assembly is taking place in Vienna, Austria, from 12 to 17 April 2015. For information regarding the press centre at the meeting and media registration, please check http://media.egu.eu.

If you wish to receive our press releases via email, please use the press release subscription form at http://www.egu.eu/news/subscribe/. Subscribed journalists and other members of the media receive EGU press releases under embargo (if applicable) 24 hours in advance of public dissemination.

• Media services at the General Assembly
• EGU 2015 General Assembly website