Every year, Geological Symposium takes place in Denmark, connecting students of geosciences from Northern European countries. In 2025, it took place in Copenhagen, and we, the University of Bremen students, were there as the only participant from Germany.
What was it?
The annual symposium took place over a whole weekend in Copenhagen/Denmark from 21st to 23rd of February, 2025. The weekend was filled with talks, posters, and parties. It was an excellent opportunity to network with other geologists/geo students from all over northern Europe, and of course, to visit Copenhagen. There were a lot of geology students from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of course there was us from Germany.
Friday
We (the 16 participants from my university) gathered on our Uni Bremen campus in the morning, and hit the road. The university provided us with 2 vans which were perfect. We drove for ca. 6 hours with one pit stop and one swimming break in the ice cold Baltic Sea, and made it to Copenhagen in the afternoon.
As soon as we entered the Geoscience building, we were greeted with our Danish colleagues, and got dragged into a fun gathering with drinks and lots of smiling faces. Soon started the ice breaker games, where we also got the opportunity to meet with the rest of the people.
There is something I love about geoscience students. No matter where you are from, it only takes a matter of seconds to start getting along with them. Everyone has a similar sense of humour, a laid back personality, similar interests, and love to have fun.
Shortly afterwards, there was an introduction talk, and we had the chance to learn about the program for the rest of the weekend.After the introduction, we headed to our accommodation to check in, and then came back for the dinner. Some people brought their posters, and we had a chance to talk to them about their projects. Following the dinner, we had the welcome party until the midnight, where we also had the chance to meet with new people.
Saturday
We had an early morning before the start of a long day ahead, starting with the breakfast at our hostel.
This was the fullest day, starting with talks from students. 2 of our colleagues from Uni Bremen also gave a talk on parts of their MSc theses. It was very cool to see what other students in other universities are up to. After a short lunch break, the talks continued.
In the afternoon, we had 4 hours of free time to explore Copenhagen. We were also given a map of interesting rock formations around. However, we opted to do a more traditional sightseeing tour and visited a few touristic hotspots in the city. It was my first time in many years in Copenhagen, last time I was around was via my EU funded exchange project during high school, where I got to spend some time in a small town on the Fyn island of Denmark. Copenhagen seemed as if it did not change at all.
After our short touristic trip, we came back to find the venue decorated for the big party later that night, until 2am. This year the symposium was marine themed, and therefore the decorations were underwater-inspired. After a buffet style dinner, we put on our costumes. Themed costumes were encouraged and there was a prize for the best costume. I had an inflatable shark costume and as a matter of coincidence, another person from Bremen had the same.
Sunday
After breakfast, we checked out of our accommodation, and visited Freetown Christiania. We spent about an hour there and then started with our drive back. After a scenic ride with a few meal and pit stops, and of course, another cold dip in the Baltic, we reached back to Bremen in the evening.
Overall, it was a very fun weekend, packed with lots and lots of activities, and wonderful encounters with fellow geoscience students from all over Northern Europe. Being the only group from Germany also was extremely eye opening, as it popped my Germany balloon and made me realise that a PhD or job in a different country in the EU was also a possibility for me in the near future.