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Results of the 21st General Assembly of GFZ Friends 

On 17 October 2024, the 21st General Assembly of GFZ Friends took place in Potsdam at the GFZ.  Here is a short summary of the meeting.

Activities 2023/2024

Acting Managing Director Ludwig Stroink mentions that the association is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 
The association currently has 78 members. Six new members have joined since the last general meeting. The Board welcomes all new members and the new members present have the opportunity to briefly introduce themselves.
This year, the GFZ Friends awarded the Friedrich-Robert-Helmert Prize 2024 for outstanding dissertations to Artem Smirnov, who very successfully completed his dissertation in Section 2.7 ‘Space Physics and Space Weather’ in October 2023. Further details on the laudation and the award-winning doctoral thesis can be found here.
The GFZ Friends supported the GFZ Summer Festival this year. The association was able to make good use of the event to show its presence and the added value of membership. This success can well be continued in the coming years, i.e. active support of the GFZ Friends for the GFZ Summer Festivals.

Individual association members present ideas for possible excursions that could be offered to members in the coming years.

GFZ Friends gets a new board of directors

A new board was elected at the meeting. Individual members of the current board stood for re-election, while other members did not stand for re-election. The candidates for the new board positions introduced themselves and presented their visions and goals. 
The new Board was elected in four separate rounds of voting. The members elected:

  • Dr Klaus Freytag (1st Chairman)
  • Dr Ulrike Sylla (2nd Chairwoman)
  • Claas Schippmann (Treasurer)
  • Dr Monika Korte (Assessor)

The Board of Directors is always elected for 2 years. The Chairman of the Board of Directors thanks the election management and the trust of the members of the association. He warmly thanks the founding member Jörg Erzinger and the retiring Managing Director, Mr Stroink, for their many years of service on the Board. He is delighted to welcome the two new Board members and looks forward to a successful collaboration. Many thanks also go to Mrs Schollän for her constant support of the Board. On behalf of the members, Alexander Rudloff thanked the departing Board members for their work over the past few years.

The new Board thanked the members for the trust they had placed in the organisation and promised to continue the positive work of the old Board and provide new impetus.

The meeting ended with an outlook on future projects and events planned for the coming months.

Following the general meeting, the Rolf Emmermann Medal award ceremony took place, to which all association members were cordially invited. 

The members of the Executive Board are available to answer any questions at any time.

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former Board of the Association: Karina Schollän, Klaus Freytag, Ludwig Stroink, Claas Schippmann, Jörg Erzinger (from left to right)
New Board of the Association: Karina Schollän, Klaus Freytag, Ulrike Sylla, Monika Korte, Claas Schippmann (from left to right)
former and new Board of the Association: Karina Schollän, Ludwig Stroink, Klaus Freytag, Ulrike Sylla, Jörg Erzinger, Monika Korte, Claas Schippmann (from left to right)