Program management and scientific networking

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The South Atlantic is the type locality of a passive margin system. Advancing our understanding of this system - from its inception in the Mid-Mesozoic to the present day - is the aim of the German Priority Research Program (SPP) 1375. Success of the program requires an intensive collaborative effort from a diverse group of scientists coming from a wide range of fields including geodynamics, seismology, sedimentology, petrology, oceanography and others. Effective scientific management of this effort is crucial. To this end a number of administrative tools are foreseen: The research projects will still be organized into thematic domains. As already implemented in the first phase of the SPP, regular topical workshops will be the main tool to advance cooperation within domains. . Exchange across domains will be also ensured by yearly general program science meetings. In addition the program will maintain its broad international visibility through special sessions in the Geodynamics and Union sessions of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), as well as the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The networking among junior scientists to enable them to work effectively beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries will still represent a particularly important management focus. Training of the young scientists will be supported by an array of measures, in particular by summer schools. The management activities will still be supported by a committed scientific manager who will work closely with the coordinators and the steering committee. The administrator will keep responsibility for the SPP 1375 internet platform http://www.sample-spp.de for internal and external communication, exchange of data sets, model results, documentation and publications. The platform is currently in use and is based on a content management system, allowing autonomous user access and input according to rules for metadata structure. The site is maintained at the program coordination bureau.