Climate Modelling Summer School

Applications will open in March 2025.

We encourage UK-based and international post-doctoral researchers and PhD students to apply to attend the summer school. Places are limited and are awarded on a competitive basis. All places will be awarded on merit and applications scored on each student’s suitability for the course and how they stand to benefit from it.

We look for students who have a strong interest in:

Learning about the mathematical and numerical foundations of climate models;

Becoming experts in climate modelling;

Gaining hands-on experience with climate modelling and learning the latest developments in modern climate models.

Subscribe to our Reach for the Skies mailing list to be kept in the loop about upcoming courses.

Applicants must be familiar with the following to be able to take part:

Python programming, including matplotlib and NumPy

Mathematical pre-requisites in this worksheet

Familiarity with Julia is beneficial but not required, as support will be provided throughout the practical sessions.

We aim for students to:

Understand the fundamental principles of the science in climate models;

Learn about the connections between different areas of climate science;

Gain practical experience running and analysing simulations of atmospheric dynamics using a Julia-based model;

Understand how climate models are designed, implemented, and run on different computational platforms;

Assess the quality of model results and perform high-level analysis;

Recognise the ways that climate science is used for policy making.

This course is delivered jointly by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the University of Reading.

Our curriculum is led by Professor Pier Luigi Vidale, a climate system specialist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and University of Reading, Dr Hilary Weller, Associate Professor of Computational Atmospheric Dynamics at the University of Reading, and Dr. Anna Sommer, NCAS research scientist in ocean model development.

The teaching team will include UK and international researchers who are leaders in their field.

The school is an intensive twelve-day programme, running Monday to Friday, between 8th and 19th September 2025, and 09:00-20:00 BST on most days. Arrival is on Sunday September 7th, with departure on Friday September 19th 2025.

The tentative course program for this year provides applicants with an idea of what to expect.

The school includes advanced theoretical lectures and seminars, complemented by hands-on workshops to put learning into practice.

Students are expected to attend all aspects of the programme.

There is a charge to attend the Climate Modelling Summer School. This charge contributes to the cost of teaching, facilities, refreshments and all activities. You will be asked to pay for your place on the course via the University of Leeds online store once you have been offered a place. The course fee includes all tuition, activities and materials, and full board accommodation at Fitzwilliam College in single en suite rooms.

Full academic price: £TBC

Educational discounted price: £TBC

This may be available to students or post-doctoral researchers not eligible for the subsidised rate.

NCAS subsidised price: £TBC

This subsidy is for UK & EU students attending UK universities or students that are supervised by NCAS staff.

A partial sponsorship may be available for those not eligible for a subsidised rate. Those candidates must declare, upon applying, how much they expect to be able to contribute to the course costs.

The NCAS subsidised price is the lowest rate that will be offered to any student.

Attendees from commercial organisations should contact training@ncas.ac.uk to discuss the course fee.

Students are responsible for arranging and paying for their own transport to and from Cambridge. Students are expected to be in Cambridge from 16:00 Sunday September 7 to 18:00 Friday September 19 2025.

Full board accommodation in single, en suite rooms will be provided for all students at Fitzwilliam College and this is covered by the course fee.

Fees

Attendees are required to pay in full by credit/debit card or provide a valid purchase order from their home organisation by the confirmation deadline. All payments and refunds are processed by the University of Leeds.

Cancellations/ refunds

Attendee cancellations are subject to a £50 administration fee, plus any accommodation cancellation costs incurred by us, where the cancellation is made more than six weeks (twelve weeks for the Atmospheric Measurement and Modelling Summer School) before the date of the training course. The remaining balance of the course fee will be refunded.

No refund is payable for a cancellation made within six weeks (twelve weeks for the Atmospheric Measurement Summer School) immediately prior to the training course – in this event the full course fee will remain payable. In the event that a place can be filled by another student then the full fee (less the £50 administration fee) will be refunded once the replacement student has paid in full.

All cancellations must be sent in writing to training@ncas.ac.uk.

Amendments and cancellations

It may be necessary for us to change the content and timing of a course, the staff, the date or the venue. In the unlikely event of the course being cancelled, we will provide a full refund. For all bookings, the liability of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science/University of Leeds shall be limited to the amount of the fee paid to the National Centre for Atmospheric Science/University of Leeds by the delegate.

Access to Systems and Software

By applying for and accepting a place on the course you are confirming that you are aware of the technical requirements and that it is your responsibility to ensure you can fully engage with all aspects of the training. If you have any questions, please email training@ncas.ac.uk.