Graduate Old Members’ Trust Travel Grant Report – Chia-Hsin Tsai
INQUA summer school in Prague and western Czech Republic
September, 2019

This summer school was held by International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) and focused on the active tectonics and tectonic geomorphology. Around 60 participants, both postgraduate students and faculties, joining in the summer school from all over the world. This summer school had two main parts-indoor lectures for the first two days and a fieldtrip for the last three days. There are experts who gave 2-hour lectures on their corresponding topics in trenching, paleoseismology, geomorphology, geochronology, remote sensing, seismic hazard assessment, etc. Furthermore, the fieldtrip was led by Dr. Kofronova from the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to explore the tectonic of the Cenozoic Eger rift system and Cheb Basin in the west of the country. From the lectures, I’ve learnt more about how to interpret the trench for paleoseismic study and also understood more about the application of the remote sensing tools such as InSAR. I also have more insights into the related dating methods such as carbon-14 and thermochronology. Moreover, it’s my first time to know about seismites and periglacial features, the subjects that I’ve never been involved before. From the fieldtrip, I realized that even the stable continental region could have certain seismicity. Besides learning the unique tectonic setting in the Czech Republic, we also had the chances to know and to visit various devices for monitoring surface deformation and gas emission in the field. What’s more, from interacting with other students and researchers’, I’ve built more connections with scholars who study the similar subjects as I do. We not only become friends but also become the potential collaborators in the future. To sum up, this summer school is absolutely a great experience for learning new things, techniques and for knowing more new people from my field of study.

Find out more about the range of travel grants and scholarships available to assist Univ students on our Travel Grants page or read further travel reports.

Published: 3 December 2019

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