Newsletter items: 1. Update from the Secretariat: Seeking a New Communications Officer; 2. Upcoming 2027 Excursion: Jämtland, Sweden; 3. NORDQUA at INQUA; 4. Report from the 2026 Excursion: NW Jutland, Denmark; 5. Winner of the Jan Bergströms Award; 6. Recent PhD Graduates; 7. Upcoming events and deadlines.
Dear NORDQUA colleagues,
The new semester is in full swing and many deadlines are coming up. See details below.
1. Update from the Secretariat: Help us Communicate!
The mission of NORDQUA is to encourage cooperation and communication among Quaternary scientists in the Nordic countries. A key and crucial part of that is our Communications Officer. Henry Patton has been doing this important job since 2021 and after so many years of service, we are seeking a replacement – so get in touch and get involved in your community. Please email secretariat@nordqua.org if you are interested. We also now have a Bluesky account which you can follow to find out more news (https://bsky.app/profile/nordqua.org).
2. Announcing the NORDQUA 2027 Excursion: Jämtland, Sweden!
The 2027 NORDQUA Excursion is planned for August 16-19, 2027. The excursion will look at, among other things, the glacial treasures of Jämtland stretching from Storlien to Östersund. We plan to start after the arrival of the night train to Åre on Monday morning and end in Östersund in the early afternoon on Thursday so people can travel home. We are planning to offer this as a 2 ECT credit course for PhD students. Details to come, but save the dates for now.
3. NORDQUA at INQUA
None of the NORDQUA secretariat will be in attendance at XXII INQUA 2027 in Lucknow, India, but if you would like to organise a meeting (social or business) please get in touch with us at secretariat@nordqua.org and we can broadcast your event to the community.
4. Report from NORDQUA 2026 Excursion: NW Jutland, Denmark
The 2026 NORDQUA Field Excursion took place directly following the first International ARCPaC Conference in Aarhus Denmark, on May 30, 2026. The excursion focused on some of the key geomorphological, sedimentological, and geological sites in NW Jutland, with evidence of Elsterian, Saalian, and Weichselian glaciations. The group of c. 21 participants was guided by Prof. Jan Piotrowski and Asst. Prof. Timothy Lane from Aarhus University. The field excursion bus was kindly paid for by NORPALL – The Nordic Palaeo Alliance. The full excursion report with photos can be found on the NORDQUA webpage in the coming week.
5. Award to Carl Regnéll
Congratulations to Carl Regnéll who received the Jan Bergströms prize for young researchers 2026 for his innovative work in Quaternary geology—specifically the dating of the “zero varve” in De Geer’s varve chronology—which has resolved a geological question that had persisted for more than a century. The prize will be awarded November 12 in Uppsala.
6. Recent PhD Graduates
Are you a recent PhD graduate? Tell us about yourself! Please register on our webpage https://nordqua.org/phds/ so that your future colleagues can find you.
7. Upcoming Events and Deadlines
- QRA Annual Discussion Meeting 2027. January 6-8, 2027 at Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK. Abstract submission deadline is November 13 and registration is open until December 11, 2026. https://sites.google.com/my.shu.ac.uk/qraadmsheffieldhallam2027/home?authuser=0&pli=1
- NORRN Open Science Award, open to Norwegian ERCs. Nomination deadline is November 15, 2026. https://norrn.substack.com/p/norrn-october-newsletter-83f
- One-week advanced course on Arctic marine biology, ecology and biogeochemistry in a changing world for postgraduate students, postdocs and professionals on Arctic marine and coastal environments. In-person course. February 15-20, 2027 at Norrbyn, near Umeå, Sweden. Application deadline is November 15, 2026. https://umfcourses.github.io/courses/Arcticcourse/
- Winter Conference 2027 Geology Conference presented by the Geological Society of Norway. January 6-8, 2027 at the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Abstract submission is closed, but registration is open until November 30. https://geologi.no/konferanser/vinterkonferanser/item/1267-registrationvk27
- GFF 2027 Geology Conference presented by the Geological Society of Sweden. January 12-13, 2027 at Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Abstract submission is closed, but registration is open until November 30. https://geologiskaforeningen.se/en/gff-registration-payment/
- Roland Schlich Travel Support for early career scientists attending EGU in 2027 must submit an abstract by December 1, 2026, 13:00 CET. Further details and eligibility: https://www.egu27.eu/attendance/financial_support_and_waivers.html
- IASC Network on Arctic Glaciology Workshop. February 8-10, 2027 in Hafjell, Norway. Abstract deadline is December 1, 2026. https://nag.iasc.info/workshop
- Submissions are open for a Special Issue of the international journal Boreas – Arctic Climate Change: From Past Records to Future Trajectories. Submission deadline is February 28, 2027. Boreas Call for Papers Arctic Climate Change: From Past Records to Future Trajectories
- QRA field meeting May 20-23, 2027 at Aviemore, Scotland. https://www.qra.org.uk/event/aviemore-scotland/
- The Second Annual ARCPaC Conference. June 1-4, 2027 at the University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia. Details to come. https://www.arcpac.net/
- NORPALL – the Nordic Palaeo Alliance, will host its first field school in Iceland from May 25-31, 2027. The 3-ECT equivalent field course will focus on dating Iceland´s last deglaciation through a combination of different geochronological techniques. PhD and MSc. candidates interested in participating should apply by December 15, 2026. https://english.hi.is/research/norpall
- The 2027 NORDQUA Excursion in northern Sweden is planned for August 16-19, 2027. Details to follow.
Please visit our events webpage https://nordqua.org/events/ for further meetings and specialist workshops and let us know if you have an event that we should include by emailing secretariat@nordqua.org or posting in our NORDQUA Facebook group.
Wishing you the very best,
Your NORDQUA Secretariat: Malin, Wes, Henry, Daniel, and Aloïs