PAGES, the most important international network for research into the climate of the past, brings together 5,000 researchers from 120 countries and is headquartered at the University of Bern. Martin Grosjean, the co-chair, on the underestimated importance of these global research networks, of which the University of Bern is home to several.
By Kaspar Meuli
Read the original uniAKTUELL article here.
Mr Grosjean, a major symposium of PAGES, a network of thousands of climate researchers around the world, is taking place in Bern on 1 June. Why are such research networks important?
A research group usually comprises around ten researchers. This means that only a limited number of projects can be tackled. In international research networks such as PAGES, on the other hand, projects can be launched in which many dozens of research groups worldwide work together on a research question for which there is no other funding. Resources can be pooled and projects realised that would otherwise not be feasible.
Can you give an example?
The PAGES 2K initiative, for example, caused quite a stir, thanks to which we were able to reconstruct the climate of the past 2000 years - on a global level, but also broken down regionally, and for each individual year. The project began in 2004 with a group that carried out a climate reconstruction of the last 500 years for Europe, followed by a group for South America and finally others on all continents. After around seven years of collaboration, the puzzle was finally put together and a global overview was created ...
... which was then also included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Assessment Report.
Exactly, the reconstruction of the average global surface temperature over the last 2000 years is part of the sixth IPCC report. The corresponding graph can be found in the Summary for Policymakersin the summary, where only the most important of the most important things are listed.
How does a PAGES research project come about?
The network is grassroots driven. Researchers can come together and make a proposal for a PAGES Working Group. These working groups have a specific goal, such as the reconstruction of flood events for the Holocene in the Alpine region, in which we in Bern were involved. Bernese researchers are also active in a group researching the consequences of volcanic eruptions on climate and society. All interested researchers can take part in PAGES.
What does PAGES bring to the University of Bern as a host institution?
More than meets the eye - and more than is currently being realised. The more than 5000 members of the network from 125 countries know that PAGES is based at the University of Bern. It is of great importance for the reputation of the University of Bern that this global community knows that Bern is one of the leading centres of paleoclimate research and thus climate research in general.
Why is the PAGES headquarters actually located in Bern?
This goes back to Hans Oeschger, the Bernese climate research pioneer after whom the Oeschger Centre is named. PAGES was founded in 1991 on his initiative. Together with a handful of colleagues, he was able to convince both the Swiss National Science Foundation and the US National Science Foundation to set up such a network and provide long-term funding. The Swiss part of the network is now financially supported by the Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT - or the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.
Recently, PAGES has also been co-financed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences CAS. What do the funders expect?
The answer probably lies in the fact that such networks provide research services that nobody else is capable of. And financial support for PAGES is potentially associated with a high reputation, with leadership. In principle, it is very difficult to secure funding for an international network because nobody feels really responsible. During the Trump era, the USA withdrew from PAGES and European countries did not want to step in. In the end, CAS was persuaded and has been one of the co-chairs since 2019, together with the co-chair from Switzerland. CAS attaches great importance to PAGES: a six-member delegation from China, including Gao Hongjun, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will attend the PAGES Symposium on 1 June.
Martin Grosjean
It is of great importance for the reputation of the University of Bern that this global community knows that Bern is one of the leading centres of paleoclimate research and thus climate research in general.
Has anything changed at PAGES since China became involved?
No. The regulations on the internal organisation of PAGES have remained unchanged and CAS has adopted the SCNAT guidelines one-to-one. For example, with regard to the composition of the Board and how decisions are made.
In addition to PAGES, Bern is also home to other international research networks.
Yes, in the field of environmental research these are the Mountain Research Initiative, the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment and, until the beginning of this year, the Global Land Programme was also based in Bern. These networks operate under the umbrella of the global sustainability programme Future Earth. The fact that several project headquarters of this programme are based at a small university like Bern is very unusual, but makes sense, as "sustainability" is one of the five key topics of the University of Bern's Strategy 2030. Bern is an international leader in sustainability issues.
But what is hardly known ...
... in my opinion, the University of Bern makes far too little of this fact. This is despite the fact that "internationalisation" is part of Strategy 2030. In order to improve our international profile, we should put these research networks much more in the spotlight - and conversely, we should oblige these networks to help the University of Bern gain more visibility. It's a give and take.
TO THE PERSON:
Martin Grosjean is Professor of Palaeolimnology and Director of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bern. Since 2023, he has co-chaired the international research network PAGES (Past Global Changes) together with the Chinese researcher Zhimin Jian.