The conference, which is entirely organized by graduate students, is now being held for the second time after last year’s inauguration in Potsdam, Germany.
About 70 participants from all over Europe are expected to come for the meeting to learn about geothermal research and strengthen bonds between different fields of geothermal studies. Guests at the conference include Fausto Batini, Coordinator of EERA Joint Program on Geothermal Energy and Jan-Diedrik van Wees from TNO in the Netherlands, and Icelandic geothermal specialists such as Einar Gunnlaugsson, Manager of Geothermal Research at Reykjavik Energy, Ólafur G. Flóvenz, General Director of Iceland Geosurvey, Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, Dean of School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, and Guðrún Arnbjörg Sævarsdóttir, Assistant Professor and Department Head, School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavík University.
The conference will be kicked off with an icebreaker at Orkugarður on the evening of March 1 where Guðni A. Jóhannesson, Director General of the National Energy Authority, will open the conference and historian Stefán Pálsson will educate the audience about the story of geothermal exploitation in Iceland. In addition, Ingvar Birgir Friðleifsson, Director of the UNU-GTP, will discuss the Geothermal Training Programme and other institutions and companies that support the event will introduce their activities.
The geothermal research conference for European graduate students will take place in Reykjavík on March 2nd.