Report - Ocean Sciences 2026 in Glasgow by Michael Cox

At the end of February, TRR181 went on tour to Ocean Sciences 2026, the first big conference of the year. Where better to talk marine science than the thriving port city of Glasgow?

Our journey started in the wee hours in Hamburg. We numbered four – Pablo, Belal, Moritz and me. As we travelled, our numbers grew, and we soon had a gaggle of oceanographers in Amsterdam. We resisted the debauchery frequently embraced by my fellow Brits in the Dutch capital, opting instead for a stroll along the canals. Our ferry left in the early evening and we arrived in Newcastle the following morning.

There were blue skies over the cliffs of North-East England as we approached land. This is the closest I have ever come to a research cruise and I was delighted to see a grey seal in the harbour. My Nature paper on the sighting will be available shortly.

At Newcastle, we boarded the train for a picturesque journey along the Northumberland coastline up to Edinburgh. Upon arrival, I introduced our quartet to the Scottish breakfast roll, with haggis, black pudding and tattie scones. Later, Belal paid £8 to kiss an owl. The weather turned as we made our way to Glasgow but despite the rain, our spirits remained high. Belal looked wistfully out of the train window, yearning for his avian companion.

The opening reception for the conference was held in the Glasgow Science Centre which contained interactive exhibitions for Pablo and the other children in attendance. The grown-up science started the following day.

Project members Manita Chouksey, Han Wang, Friederike Pollmann and Pablo Sebastia Saez together convened four sessions on internal and surface gravity waves. There were two oral sessions, a poster session and an eLightning (digital poster) session. All were well attended and the science was riveting. A resounding success! Elsewhere, Nils Brueggemann chaired oral and poster sessions on energy transfers in turbulence, and Knut Klingbeil chaired sessions on the numerical challenges in ocean model development.

The programme ran from 8.30 am to 6 pm every day. In the evenings, we sampled the finest food and drink Glasgow has to offer. For example, we ate at a curry house with a gallery of famous guests on their walls including royalty and presidents. The waiter took an unexpected photograph of us and returned with a framed copy to commemorate our visit.

Somehow, Pablo and I found time in our busy schedule to visit the University of Glasgow alongside friend-of-the-TRR Gaspard Geoffroy. The buildings would have looked quite at home in a certain popular wizardry franchise. The campus houses the Hunterian museum, with an impressive collection of scientific equipment including a tide gauge and Lord Kelvin’s harmonic analyser. As tidal researchers, Gaspard and I found this thrilling.

On Thursday evening, we headed to a party hosted by Scripps oceanographers and watched senior professors get plastered to the tune of Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club. Afterwards our group split. Some people went into a basement bar to watch topless men play heavy metal, whilst Yang, Belal and I went to a corner shop and purchased a pint of milk.

After the previous night’s indulgences, it was impressive that we made it to the conference for 8.30 am the following day. As the talks drew to a close, we reflected on a successful week. We all felt enthusiastic to get back to Hamburg and start working on new ideas! For Pablo, Han and I, the fun wasn’t over. We would spend the following week hosted in Edinburgh by TRR181 Mercator fellow, Jacques Vanneste.

The highlights of our second week included visits to the National Museum of Scotland, walks up Arthur’s seat and Blackford Hill, and Pablo’s sensational talk in the Waves & Flows seminar series at the University of Edinburgh. Jacques hosted us for a delicious meal on our final night together. This generous hospitality was a fitting end to our time in the UK – an enjoyable and productive trip for everyone involved.