INQUA‑CODE 2026

Programming and modelling skills workshop for early‑career researchers in quaternary science
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INQUA‑CODE 2026

Programming and modelling skills workshop for early‑career researchers in quaternary science
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    Smeaton Building, Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, United Kingdom, PL4 8AA

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The Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction at the Â鶹Æƽâ°æ is delighted to host INQUA-CODE 2026, a fully hands on, 5-day residential workshop designed for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers working in tectonics, Quaternary geomorphology, natural hazards, and Earth surface process modelling. 
This intensive training event introduces essential computational and numerical skills for modern surface-process research. Participants will move from core programming and reproducible workflows into high-performance computing, numerical methods, and landscape evolution modelling, supported by expert instructors from across the UK and Europe. All practical sessions will take place in the University’s high-specification laboratories, with additional access to the new Lovelace high-performance computing facility.
With a cohort of approximately 20 participants, the workshop provides an immersive, collaborative environment with dedicated time for peer discussions, networking, and skill-building across disciplines and career stages.
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Workshop themes
  • Python programming for Earth and environmental data
  • Version control and reproducible research practices
  • Working with geoscientific datasets
  • High‑performance and parallel computing
  • Numerical methods for Earth surface processes
  • Landscape evolution modelling
  • Integrating field, remote‑sensing, and computational approaches
Funded and self-funded places
Approximately 9–10 funded places are available.
Funded places cover:
  • Workshop registration
  • Accommodation for the duration of the workshop
  • Reasonable travel costs to and from Â鶹Æƽâ°æ
  • Additional self‑funded places may be offered (up to the workshop capacity of ~20).
Self‑funded participants will be responsible for:
  • Accommodation (with guidance and support provided)
  • Travel to Â鶹Æƽâ°æ
  • A £50 registration fee (further details to follow)
How to apply
Applications will be evaluated based on a Motivation Statement, Diversity Statement, and a very short half‑page CV focusing only on relevant experience.
Please apply through the link below:
.
Why attend?
INQUA‑CODE 2026 offers a rare opportunity to:
  • Gain practical modelling and programming skills in a supportive environment
  • Engage deeply with computational methods central to modern Quaternary and tectonic science
  • Build professional networks with peers and specialists from across the UK and Europe
  • Access high-performance computing resources and real-world datasets‑performance computing resources and real‑world datasets
  • Strengthen your research foundations and confidence in quantitative approaches
Further information
For enquiries, contact inquacode2026@plymouth.ac.uk

Speaker Biographies

 

Prof Sarah Boulton, Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction, SOGEES, Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, UK

I am an international expert in geohazards and tectonic geomorphology, interested in landslides, tsunamis and earthquakes and how these processes shape the landscape over short and long timescales.  My PhD research, undertaken at Edinburgh University, focused on unravelling the tectono-stratigraphic development of the Hatay Graben in southern Turkey, an actively deforming plate boundary zone between the Arabian, African and Anatolian Plates, working in collaboration with Turkish colleagues and my PhD supervisor Prof Alastair Robertson.  This multi-disciplinary approach lead to significant contributions including the first models for the tectono-sedimentary evolution of a Neogene Graben in southern Turkey (Boulton et al., 2006; 2007; Boulton & Robertson, 2008) with implications for present day regional plate tectonic configurations as well as the closure of the Neotethys during the Oligocene (Boulton & Robertson, 2007; Boulton, 2009) and paved the way for my current work, which uses a range of geological and geomorphological techniques to constrain rates and patterns of landscape change including remote sensing, GIS, geospatial analysis and increasingly landscape evolution modelling. I joined the team at the Â鶹Æƽâ°æ in January 2006, an Associate Professor in 2018 and subsequently Professor of Geohazards in 2024.  
In addition, I am a passionate advocate for increasing diversity within STEM subjects and co-founded the successful and award winning (Geological Society RH Worth Award) Girls into Geoscience programme.  An annual 2-day workshop for female A-level students which aims to increase participation from this underrepresented group in Earth Sciences.

Dr Vincent Drach, Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction, SECAM, Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, UK
Lecturer in Theoretical Physics
Academic lead for High Performance Computing.
Teaching
My courses:
MATH2607: Mathematical Programming - (Introduction to parallel programming) 
PHYS051: A foundation year course in basic physics 
MATH3611 : Electrodynamics and Relativity   
MATH3606: Quantum mechanics
Supervision
BSc final year project on Path Integral formalism in classical and quantum physics, and on General Relativity.
MSc in Data Science : Time series forecasting using artificial neural networks (FF,LSTM)

Dr Matt Westoby, Centre for Research in Natural Hazards and Risk Reduction, SOGEES, Â鶹Æƽâ°æ, UK
I am a geomorphologist who is fascinated by the way in which landscapes respond to extreme, often sudden-onset perturbations, such as natural dam-break floods. To study these phenomena, I use a range of field- and remote sensing-based methods, such as change detection applied to highly detailed digital elevation data, and numerical hydrodynamic models. 

Prior to taking up a position as Associate Professor of Physical Geography in SoGEES in June 2023, I was based in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, where I was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant on NERC- and Environment Agency-funded projects (2014-2016), a Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow in Extreme Environments (2017-2020), and Assistant (2020-2022) and Associate Professor of Physical Geography (2022-2023). I was employed in industry as a hydrologist (Land and Water Resource Consultants (Mannvit), Cambridge) from 2013-2014.

Dr Benjamin Campforts, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science, Earth and Climate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
I am an earth scientist specialized in the development of numerical models and model-data assimilation strategies.
I am involved in projects focusing on the human – land – atmosphere nexus addressing scientific challenges including:
  • Understanding, quantifying and predicting pathways of sediment in a source-to-sink framework
  • Evolution of Earth’s surface during the Anthropocene (soil formation, transport and deposition) and its implications for environmental sustainability
  • Evolution of Earth's surface over geological timescales (tectonic mountain ranges and volcanoes)
  • The impact of mass movements on landscape evolution and sediment pathways
  • Learning from past landscape evolution to predict future hazard risk (landslides under a changing climate)
  • Transport mechanisms and mass movements in the arctic under a changing climate

Prof Greg Tucker, Professor of Geological Sciences, Executive Director for the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS), University of Colorado

Dr. Tucker's work focuses on geomorphology and landscape evolution. He uses numerical modeling, field observations, in-situ field monitoring, digital elevation data analysis, and other techniques to improve our understanding of processes that shape the earth. He also works in designing, developing, and testing software for computer simulation and coupled modeling of earth-surface processes, including hydrology, sediment transport, and landscape evolution. His research includes work on present-day geological hazards such as debris flows, floods, and gully network growth, as well as research into the long-term formation of landscapes and sedimentary basins.

Matthew Morris, Postdoctoral Researcher, Imperial College London

I am a PhD student interested in how earth topography is generated, in particular by mantle processes. My research involves reconstructing the uplift and erosional histories of landscapes over geologic timescales through numerical modelling and inverse methods, including Optimal Transport theory.
Find out more about me on my personal webpage: sites.google.com/view/matthew--morris.
Supervised by Dr. Gareth Roberts, Dr. Fred Richards, and Dr. Alex Lipp.
Education & Experience
2022 - Present: PhD Candidate, Imperial College London
2019 - 2022: Professional Work, Insurance Industry
2015 - 2019: MSci Geology, Imperial College London
Teaching
I enjoy teaching both in class-based and field-based environments, and have been a teaching assistant on a number of undergraduate courses across geology and geophysics.

Dr Stuart Grieve, Reader in Physical Geography, Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Queen Mary University of London

Stuart is a geomorphologist who uses computational and modelling techniques to develop understanding of the processes, driven by environmental change, which shape planetary surfaces. Recent research has included analysis of global river morphology and climate data, work on shallow landslide recurrence interval modelling, and the use of integrated channel hillslope metrics to understand the evolution of complex tectonic environments. In his previous post at UCL, Stuart was also developing geo-spatial modelling software.

Constanza Rodriguez Piceda, Postdoctoral Researcher in Geocomputing and Earthquake Hazard, University of Roma

 

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