'Lange Nacht der Geoinformatik' 2018

A successful Researchers' Night introduced the field of Geoinformatics to hundreds of visitors, including lots of kids. They joined the Department of Geoinformatics (Z_GIS) presentations and activities, for many a first contact with ‚Geoinformatics‘ at the iDEAS:lab on Friday 13, 2018 (https://zgis.at/lndf2018).

The evening started with a visit by the Salzburg governor Dr Wilfried Haslauer and councillor Martina Berthold, both impressed by the wide range of applied research topics on display. This event was organized jointly and with the support of Salzburg Research  and took place in Z_GIS' iDEAS:lab in the Science City Itzling, being operated in cooperation and with sponsorship from Bildungspreis Privatstiftung, eoVision, and wissen.stadt salzburg.

Minister explores analog-digital sandbox

Photo: ITG - Innovation Service for Salzburg

Heinz Faßmann, Federal Minister for Education, Science and Research visited the iDEAS:lab established by the Department of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS at the Science City Itzling. 

During his working visit to Salzburg, including meetings with the Governor of Salzburg and the Rectorate of the University of Salzburg, Minister Faßmann used the opportunity for a short visit bringing him back to his academic roots – the discipline of Geography. The 'virtual sandbox' is an attraction within the iDEAS:lab combining learning and fun. Changes in the sand surface are digitally scanned in real time and translated into a Digital Elevation Model. Elevation visualisations or analysis and modeling results, then are projected onto the sand, making this an  interactive 'playground'.

Z_GIS' iDEAS:lab has been opened in 2016, aiming at bridging education, research and the general public. Hundreds of pupils already had the opportunity to learn about geospatial technologies like remote sensing, interactive cartography, 3D printing and smart environments - sensor webs, applied across domains like community planning, humanitarian action, soft mobility and environmental issues.

'Young Researcher Award in GIScience': 2018 Winners

The Austrian Academy of Sciences' Commission for GIScience annually selects the winner of a 'Young Researcher Award' competition, based on an outstanding publication submitted by applicants. This year we had received a record number of submissions, the review-and-selection process identified two winners tied for first place.

We are glad to extend our congratulations to:

Min Chen from the Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment (Ministry of Education of PRC), Nanjing Normal University with the paper:

Min Chen, Hui Lin, Mingyuan Hu, Li He, Chunxiao Zhang. (2013): Real geographic scenario based virtual social environment: integrate geography with social research. Environment and Planning B - Planning & Design, 40(6): 1103-1121. doi:10.1068/b38160

Pablo Cabrera-Barona from Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales and Universidad San Francisco de Quito with the paper:

Cabrera Barona P., Blaschke T. and Gaona G. (2017): Deprivation, Healthcare Accessibility and Satisfaction: Geographical Context and Scale Implications. In: Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy.

Congratulations again - and we will soon be announcing details for the 2019 'Young Researcher Award in GIScience'!

Helena Mitasova awarded 2018 Waldo-Tobler GIScience Prize

The Austrian Academy of Sciences through its Commission for GIScience is awarding the GIScience Prize named after Prof Waldo Tobler to a scientist having demonstrated outstanding and sustained contributions to the discipline worthy of inspiring young scientists in Geoinformatics and Geographic Information Science, and having accomplished significant advances in research and education.

The received nominations were reviewed and assessed by an external panel of peers, who unanimously recommended to award the 2018 prize to Prof Helena Mitasova (North Carolina State University).

Congratulations to this recognition of innovation, leadership and excellence!

Prof Mitasova has made significant contributions to the methods and tools of Geographic Information Science over several decades documented by an excellent publication record. Geovisualisation, geostatistical and geospatial analyses, eg in the field of spatial interpolation and topographic methods today implemented in the GRASS open source environment are freely available for practitioners worldwide. She is an active member of the OSGeo Foundation, recognized by the 2010 Sol Katz award for exceptional Open source geospatial community service. 

Helena Mitasova is a graduate of the Slovak Technical University in Geodetic Cartography and serves as a professor at the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (MEAS), and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University (NCSU), Raleigh, NC. She has received numerous awards and actively contributes to the 'geospatial' community, as an editor, reviewer and most importantantly as a supervisor directing young scientists.

Prof Mitasova is an outstanding role model for next generation leaders in the geospatial sciences, and we are honoured to highlight her contributions in particular in the spirit of Open Science!

GeoS4S-ISS-2 and Dissemination Conference-1 concluded successfully in China!

The GeoServices-4-Sustainability (GeoS4S) project consortium consisting of 10 universities from Europe, China and Thailand conducted International Summer School-2 (ISS-2) at the School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University (NJNU), Nanjing, China from March 5 to 16, 2018. It also included a Dissemination Conference on 10-11 March.

GeoS4S Dissemination Conference Participants pausing after the inaugural session.

The GeoS4S-ISS-2 was designed to enhance geospatial competences of postgraduate students and junior faculty from all the project partners. It attracted 49 participants from 17 different nationalities studying / working at the partner universities in Europe, China and Thailand. The consortium taught 10 modules during these 2 weeks, with about 10 participants attending each module. The teachers from the consortium universities taught the concepts and methods of the modules they had developed and trained the participants in implementing those concepts and methods using geospatial data and GIS software.

The GeoS4S Dissemination Conference-1 was held on 10-11 March which attracted more than 100 participants. Several special guests adorned the conference who include Prof. Guoxiang Chen (President, NJNU), Prof. Guoan Tang (Director, Education and Dissemination Committee of China Association for Geographic Information Society), Professor Lv Guonian (Director, Key Laboratory of Virtual Geography) and Prof. Josef Strobl (Head, Z_GIS).

Dr. Shahnawaz (Coordinator, GeoS4S) convened the ISS-2 and the conference, Prof. A-Xing Zhu hosted the opening ceremony of the conference and Prof. Tao Wang (Dean, School of Geography, NJNU) presided the closing ceremony of GeoS4S-ISS-2.

The consortium had conducted GeoS4S-ISS-1 at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand in May-June 2017 and GeoS4S-ISS-3 will be organised at University of Sustainable Development, Eberswalde, Germany in July 2018. The GeoS4S project will conclude with Dissemination Conference-2 to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in September, 2018. 

The Interfaculty Department of Geoinformatics-Z_GIS of the University ofSalzburg, Austria serves as project coordinator assisted by co-funding from the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Key Action 2 CBHE (Capacity Building in Higher Education) from October 2015 to October 2018.