VISESS Summer Schools

Anthroposphere Summer School 2025 - Understanding Climate Mobilities

14-18 July 2025, 09:00-17:00, University of Vienna, Hörsaal 4C, NIG 4.OG C0409; Hörsaal 5A, NIG 5.OG A0518; Seminarraum, NIG 5.OG C0528

Climate change is reshaping human mobility in profound and complex ways. While some populations are displaced or relocated in the context of rapid-onset disasters such as floods, wildfires, or tropical storms, others are migrating as an adaptation, for example to cope with slow-onset changes such as drought, land degradation, sea-level rise or coastal erosion. Understanding these complex human-environment relations and the nexus between climate change and human (im)mobilities is crucial for developing sustainable responses and fostering social resilience of the affected communities.

The Summer School 'Understanding Climate Mobilities in the 21st Century' offers an interdisciplinary and intensive learning experience for PhD students seeking to deepen their knowledge of environmental and climate mobilities. Through lectures, workshops, and interactive discussions, participants will engage with cutting-edge research, theoretical perspective, and innovative methodological approaches in the field of climate mobilities. Additionally, participants will also develop essential academic and communication skills, including scientific writing (structuring research papers, navigating the journal landscape, and the role of AI in scientific writing), as well as training in science communication, third-mission engagement, and podcasting for science communication.

Key topics of this school include:

• Theoretical perspectives on climate (im)mobilities: from climate-induced migration to climate mobilities
• The role of translocality and social resilience in migration dynamics (Sakdapolrak et al., 2016)​
• Case studies on droughts/land degradation, sea-level rise, storms and migration linkages
• Migration as adaptation: opportunities and limitations
• The ethics and challenges of climate mobility research
• Innovative methods on exploring and analysing climate mobilities: between mixed-methods, multi-methods, and mobile methods
• Skill development: scientific writing and science communication

What to Expect:

• Inputs by scholars in climate migration research
• Hands-on exercises in research methodologies, analysis approaches and science communication
• Collaborative group projects addressing real-world climate mobility challenges
• Networking opportunities

This summer school will equip participants with a critical and holistic understanding of climate mobilities, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to academic, public and policy debates.

For further information please visit the course directory.

Anthroposphere Summer School 2022 on Global Change and Sustainability in Physical Geography

26-30th September 2022, 09:00-18:00, Hörsaal 5A, NIG, 5.OG A0518, Vienna

Link to Flyer

The summer school is targeted at PhD students of Physical Geography Studies who are at different stages of writing their PhD / dissertation theses. The summer school will primarily deal with topics related to cumulative (paper based) theses, but will also include aspects relevant for those doing their thesis in form of a monograph (book) publication.

The summer school aims at supporting PhD students in various aspects of their publication activities. 

After taking part in the summer school, 

• the participants have an overview of possible different types of texts and manuscripts that are relevant to them (e.g. empirical article, review article, expose, blog, framing, etc.)
• the participants know the formal requirements for a dissertation (cumulative, monograph) in their respective discipline
• the participants have proceeded with their overall planning of the cumulative or monograph thesis writing project
• the participants have proceeded with the planning or advancement of a specific, own, current writing project; this will consider the different stages, with several time slots during the Summer School scheduled for individually work, accompanied by inputs and feedback
• the participants are familiar with fundamentals of the publishing and review process, including:
  • steps in getting a manuscript published (finding an appropriate journal, tailoring an article for a specific journal, …)
  • the review process and structuring a manuscript revision
  • how to critically but constructively review themselves
  • the participants are aware of their own writing practices and have appropriate strategies to improve their writing, including strategies to overcome a writing blockage, and possibly enjoy writing
  • the participants have an understanding of the relationship between scientific work and writing (e.g. how do theory, epistemology, methodology, and method "work" together? What can I publish where, and in what form?)
  • the participants know different impact indices (e.g. h-factor,) and can assess them critically

There will be a mix of input sessions and presentations by the organizers and by external experts; group work sessions where participants with similar stages or strategies of publishing will share experiences, give and get feedback, and receive additional, more specific inputs; and time-slots for individual work where participants can proceed with their specific writing projects.

Summer school language is English.

For further information please visit the course directory.

Anthroposphere Summer School 2021 on Human Geography and Mobility Studies

5-9th July 2021, 9:00-18:00, Hotel Europahaus, Vienna

The schummer school is targeted at PhD students of Human Geography and Mobility Studies who are at different stages of writing their PhD / dissertation theses. The Summerschool will primarily deal with topics related to cumulative (paper based) theses, but will also include aspects relevant for those doing their thesis in form of a monograph (book) publication.

The summer school aims at supporting PhD students in various aspects of their publication activities. 

After taking part in the Summerschool, 

• the participants have an overview of possible different types of texts and manuscripts that are relevant to them (e.g. empirical article, review article, expose, blog, framing, etc)
• the participants know the formal requirements for a dissertation (cumulative, monograph) in their respective discipline (geography, mobility studies)
• the participants have proceeded with their overall planning of the cumulative or monograph thesis writing project
• the participants have proceeded with the planning or advancement of a specific, own, current writing project; this will consider the different stages, with several time slots during the Summerschool scheduled for individually work, accompanied by inputs and feedback
• the participants are familiar with fundamentals of the publishing and review process, including:
  • steps in getting a manuscript published (finding an appropriate journal, tailoring an article for a specific journal, …)
  • the review process and structuring a manuscript revision
  • how to critically but constructively review themselves
  • the participants are aware of their own writing practices and have appropriate strategies to improve their writing, including strategies to overcome a writing blockage, and possibly enjoy writing
  • the participants have an understanding of the relationship between scientific work and writing (e.g. how do theory, epistemology, methodology, and method "work" together? What can I publish where, and in what form?)
  • the participants know different impact indices (e.g. h-factor,) and can assess them critically

There will be a mix of input sessions and presentations by the organizers and by external experts; group work sessions where participants with similar stages or strategies of publishing will share experiences, give and get feedback, and receive additional, more specific inputs; and time-slots for individual work where participants can proceed with their specific writing projects.

Summer school language is English.

For further information please visit the course directory.