Last week 18 Early Career Researchers (ECRs, PhD and Post-Doc) from both FFIR programmes (FRANC and SINATRA) met for the first ECR meeting hosted by the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading (20th & 21st January, 2015).

Each ECR gave an 8 minute presentation on their work and how they might interact with other members of the programme. This was the first opportunity for ECRs from both projects to present to one another, and as a result a number of potential collaborations and interactions were discovered. The presentations showcased a number of new datasets being created, either catchment specific data, rainfall data or emergency response/human loss data. This highlighted a number of potential users within the programme, and hence a number of interactions between ECR. The presentations also showed the diverse range of activities being undertaken to answer the problem of Flooding From Intense Rainfall.

On the second day there were breakout sessions to discuss potential further interactions and collaborations, with a strong emphasis on sustaining the collaboration between ECRs. A number of potential joint publications were discussed as well as ideas for the next ECR meeting, forums and progress updates to keep the ECR community working together.