14.10.2023

Joint Japanese-German Workshop held in Tübingen

A bilateral workshop on "Understanding and large-scale mapping of soil erosion and soil carbon accumulation in forest ecosystems using machine learning" funded by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) was successfully hosted at the Institute of Geography in Tübingen. The purpose of this joint exchange format is to promote scientific cooperation between partner institutions in both countries.

20 scientists from Japan and Germany met over four days and discussed current issues in applied soil erosion research, ecohydrology and pedometrics. Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Thomas Scholten introduced the aims and possibilities of the Cluster of Excellence in Machine Learning in a keynote talk and affiliated scientists presented their soil-related research work with state-of-the-art techniques using artificial intelligence.

The scientific programme was accompanied by excursions to the biodiversity exploratories Swabian Alb, the Schönbuch Nature Park and the botanical garden of the University of Tübingen, as well as a visit to Hohentübingen Castle with its museum (MUT). The two initiators, Dr. Kazuki Nanko (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba) and Dr. Steffen Seitz (Department of Geosciences, Tübingen) drew a very positive conclusion of the joint exchange after the final discussion round and are looking forward to future cooperation formats.