Intellectual merit: The goals of the Physical Oceanography Dissertations Symposiums (PODS) are to provide an extended forum for presentation of the thesis dissertations of 25 physical oceanography doctoral candidates in a setting that encourages scientific discussions and interactions among the speakers. The symposium will be a week-long combination of formal and informal sessions to encourage the development of professional relationships that facilitate future national and international interdisciplinary and inter-institutional investigations.
Broader Impacts: An important goal is to provide the young Ph.D. with information about the sponsoring agencies' programs in physical oceanography, and some practical instructions on securing research support from those programs. A final goal with far-reaching impact is to delineate emerging frontiers in physical oceanography as well as the current state of the art by the nature of the doctoral theses presented. The dissertation abstracts will be published. A web site will be developed to include attendee contact information, published abstracts, history of the PODS, research opportunities, news, photos, and any additional information as requested by the supporting agencies representatives.
The symposia will continue a successful series of two symposia previously supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), with new contributions from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
