Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology 2025

The summer school of the USSP consortium focuses on past climate dynamics with special emphasis on the analysis of long-term carbon cycling and its implications in the understanding of present and future climates. USSP integrates lectures, symposia, field trips, and exercises on the many different areas of paleoclimatology including biogeochemical cycling, paleoceanography, continental systems, and all aspects of deep-time climate modelling. These techniques and systems are explored through interactive discussions of Cretaceous OAEs, P/E hyperthermals, the Greenhouse-Icehouse transition, Neogene and Quaternary climate dynamics.

The goal of USSP is to provide participants with an advanced working knowledge on the paleobiological and geochemical proxy data and their use in reconstructing and modelling of past climates.

USSP is taught by ~15-25 leading scientists from around the world, with teacher rotations between years, and can accommodate 50-60 students (end-MSc or early career Graduate and post-Graduate) based on their submitted CVs.

In July 2022, following a 2-year break in the summer school, we experimented with a 13-day format, as opposed to the traditional 3-week format. Based on feedback, in summer 2023 we came back to a longer 16-day format, with more free days! For 2024, we have adapted the course in response to student and instructor feedback on both content, length, and organisation; one result of this is that the “careers and community” sessions are now fully integrated into the daytime programme. We have also added a “USSP Conference” full day, which mixes participant and instructor presentations and poster sessions.