16 Sept 2012: The 1st International Biochar Summer School finished. 23 young scientists from around the world and 20 international speakers will look back with satisfaction on a successful week. 

The 1st International Summer School Biochar “bio:char crossroads” took place in Potsdam, Germany on September 9-16, 2012. Organized by the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering in the framework of COST Action TD1107 “Biochar as option for sustainable resource management”, it was also supported by the regional research network "Klimaplattform", PEARLS - Potsdam Research Network and Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. 

The goal of this summer school was to enhance the biochar research worldwide and to contribute to the sustainable development of this research field. This intensive September week offered twenty-three young scientists and young researchers from all over the world a unique platform for training, information sharing and networking. The participants – PhD Students came from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cameroon, Spain, Denmark, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, China, India and Malaysia. 

Over twenty international and local experts presented the latest results of different research fields and discussed the future research needs, among them Bruno Glaser from the Department of Soil Biogeochemistry of the University of Halle, Germany, Claudia Kammann from the Institute for Plant Ecology, University of Giessen, Germany , Hermann Lotze-Campen from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany, David Wayne, Board member of the International Biochar Initiative, UK, Heike Knicker from the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Sevilla, Spain, Ellen Graber from the Volcani Center of the Agricultural Research Organization, Israel and many others.