In the context of the current Global Change discussion a better understanding of the processes controlling Earth (paleo-) climate is an inextricable prerequisite to improve projections of future climate. The complexity of the various aspects of the global climate system require a multidisciplinary training of PhD-students working in these fields. To date adequate training programs are either limited in size or accessible only to a certain group of students. In order to establish a truly European teaching platform we propose to implement the new Marie Curie training network PROPER (Proxies in Paleoclimatology: Education and Research) as a teaching network for PhD-students from countries across Europe. Within PROPER we propose to organize five courses around the central goal "improving the understanding of the processes controlling Earth climate". The topics range from a critical assessment of the tools used in paleoclimate research to a comprehensive examination of the processes controlling Earth climate in space and time. In order to guarantee the highest possible teaching level PROPER pools leading scientists from 18 institutions in 9 countries across Europe.
In summary PROPER aims at 6 strategic goals:
to establish a European teaching network on Paleoclimate research at the highest possible level
to offer this training program which forms a platform/carrier to benefit from the most recent advances in paleoclimate research to any PhD-students across Europe; in particular to students from EU-candidate countries
to provide a strong forum to allow interaction of internationally leading researchers and students.
to strengthen the mobility of the students and the teachers by hosting the courses in 6 different countries
to establish of a European pool of highly trained PhD's for future research
to cover research topics which are fully inline with high-priority issues related to the current Global Change and climate variability discussion.
Based on this novel strategy PROPER may function as a pacemaker for future scientific teaching in Europe.