*** Registration closes on Friday 3rd February 2023. ***

EuroSDR Educational Service (EduServ) annually offers four two-week e-learning courses in the field of GeoInformation (GI). It is designed for knowledge transfer from the research to the production domain. Thus, it is mainly focused on participants from NMCAs and industry, but also PhD students and researchers find the courses interesting as they always reflect the latest developments in GI.

The  21^st series of e-learning courses from EuroSDR will begin with a pre-course seminar, hosted by the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 13 to 14 February 2023. During the seminar, background material of four e-learning courses will be presented by the tutors, the participants will meet the tutors and fellow participants, get familiar with the software used during the training, and the learning platform Moodle will be demonstrated. 

The four two-week e-learning courses are scheduled from March to June 2023. They can be followed over the internet from any location, thereby allowing participants to update their knowledge with minimum disruption. Each course requires about thirty hours of online study.

You can download the flyer here.

Integration of 3D City Models and BIM: GeoBIM (pdf)
Tutors: Francesca Noardo (Open Geospatial Consortium Europe, Belgium), Ken Arroyo Ohori (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands)

A lot has been discussed about the integration of geoinformation (i.e. 3D city models) with BIM in the last years. The topic is wide, complex and technically demanding. According to the progress made in the last few years, both on the technical and on the theoretical side, this course will teach the basic knowledge on GeoBIM integration based on the needs of use cases and will show two examples of conversions procedures that support those use cases. After introducing the basics on 3D city models and Building Information Models, students will learn a method to compare two datasets (a 3D city model and a BIM) in order to analyse their integration possibilities and define the actions necessary to get to an integrated dataset, useful for a use case. The students will then practice with two conversion procedures, one Geo to BIM and one BIM to Geo in order to produce suitable data for two specific use cases.

Dates: March 6-17, 2023

3D Point Cloud Classification for Mapping Purposes (pdf)
Tutors: Michael Koelle, Norbert Haala (University of Stuttgart, Germany), Eleonora Grilli and Fabio Remondino (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Italy)

In recent years, point cloud processing techniques have been extensively investigated in the research community for various applications, and some commercial solutions start to be frequently used in daily practices. In particular, geospatial point cloud classification methods hold an important place, as assigning semantic information to 3D geodata allows for widespread use of such geospatial data. The course will present the latest developments and solutions for 3D point cloud classification, with particular emphasis on mapping needs, activities and purposes. Starting from traditional yet functional Machine Learning solutions, the course will then focus on more recent Deep Learning methods. Theoretical aspects and practical work will be coupled in order to provide a comprehensive and complete overview of the topic, from the classification of 2.5D DSM to 3D aerial point clouds.

Dates: April 17-28, 2023

Remote Sensing and Change Detection with Sentinel Time Series Data (pdf)
Tutors: Krištof Oštir, Bujar Fetai, Matej Racic (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Copernicus, the European Union's earth observation programme, is served by a set of dedicated satellites (the Sentinel families) and contributing missions. Since the launch of Sentinel-1A in 2014, the European Union set in motion a process to place a constellation of almost 20 more satellites in orbit before 2030. The course covers several aspects of processing dense time series data provided by the Sentinel satellites. The focus will be on high-resolution radar (Sentinel-1) and optical (Sentinel-2) data. The first step is to get data, both via classic download via Copernicus Open Access Hub and via Sentinel Hub. The basic processing is done with the open-source programme SNAP and the individual Sentinel Toolboxes. Afterwards, participants will learn how to process time series using Jupyter Notebooks and the Sentinel Hub Statistical API. They query the data, get and store time series as images and data frames (tables), and perform simple machine learning classification.

Dates: May 8-19, 2023

Sustainable Business Models for Open Geospatial Data (pdf)
Tutors: Joep Crompvoets (KU Leuven, Belgium), Frédéric Cantat (Institut National de l'Information Géographique et Forestière, IGN, France)

In the EU Open data directive geospatial and earth observation data are labelled as High Value. As National Mapping and Cadastre Agencies (NMCAs) in Europe are key providers of these types of data and as there is no such thing as a free lunch, NMCAs are enforced to provide geospatial for free but at a cost for themselves. The course on sustainable business models for open geospatial data will identify and analyse relevant business models that provide open (geospatial) data in a sustainable way. It is the intention that course participants build a sustainable open (geospatial/earth observation) data business model for their organization or an imaginary one.

Dates: June 5-16, 2023

Fees

€ 400 for pre-course seminar + 1 or 2 courses
€ 500 for pre-course seminar + 3 or 4 courses
€ 100 for pre-course seminar only


Scholarships

Five scholarships will be available to fully cover the course fee. The scholarships are intended to Ph.D./Master students and other applicants with no or very limited financial support from their university or public institution. Successful completion of at least two courses is expected from successful applicants.

In order to proceed with the application:

• Register to EduServ.
• Fill in the application form that includes a motivation letter and information about professional experience. It is recommended to support the application with a reference letter. Both documents shall be submitted to eurosdr@kuleuven.be not later than on 20^th January 2023.

Applicants will be informed about the acceptance/rejection of their application latest on 27^th January 2023. Successful applicants from previous years will be automatically excluded from the evaluation.


Registration

You can register >>> here <<< until 3rd February 2023.


Preliminary program of the physical pre-course seminar (*)

February 13, 2023 (time zone: CET)

February 14, 2023 (time zone: CET)

(*)

- Each session includes a coffee break.
- The presentations of the pre-course seminar will be published on the Moodle platform afterwards.

Testimonials

“The whole course was really well done in both terms of form and content. Everything was thought through, communication was top notch. I believe I gained valuable knowledge in most of the topics. I can highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in spatial research.” (Jan Dolezal, Charles University)

“Both [courses] were very enlightening and supported me during several steps of my PhD research.” (Marco Palma, Università Politecnica delle Marche)


FAQ

Registration

·        I haven't received a confirmation email yet. Did something go wrong?

No. An official confirmation email will be sent to you within 10 working days. If you haven't received an email, please contact the secretariat at eurosdr@kuleuven.be.

·        I would like to enroll to the e-learning course(s), but I am not able to attend the pre-course seminar. Is that a problem?

No. It is not obligatory to attend the pre-course seminar. Please note that the fee for attending the pre-course seminar is always included in the total price.


Fees & payment methods

·        What does the course fee include?

The course fee includes all course materials, two-weeks of e-learning (incl. tutor support), participation at a two-day seminar, lunch on both days and a joint dinner on Monday evening. Please note that the course fee does not include accommodation and travel costs.

·        Can I pay by credit card?

Unfortunately we are unable to accept payment by credit card. However, payments can be made by bank transfer or by invoice.

·        Is it possible to request an invoice?

Yes. If you would like to receive an invoice, please contact the secretariat as soon as possible at eurosdr@kuleuven.be. Please note that EuroSDR does not have a VAT number.


Scholarships

·        Who can apply for a scholarship?

The scholarships are intended to Ph.D./Master students and other applicants with no or very limited financial support from their university or public institution. You can only apply for a scholarship if you take active part in all 4 EduServ courses (but we accept if at least two of them are successfully completed). Please note that successful applicants from previous years will be automatically excluded from the evaluation.


E-learning platform

·        When will I receive the login details of Moodle?

You will receive an email with instructions to access Moodle a couple of days prior to the pre-course seminar/the e-learning course you registered for. If you haven't received any email by then, please contact the secretariat at eurosdr@kuleuven.be.  

·        How do I log in on Moodle? 

Once you have created an account on Moodle (you will receive the instructions by email), you should be able to log in with the username (your email address) and password your entered during registration. If you need any technical assistance, please contact matej.racic@fgg.uni-lj.si or anka.lisec@fgg.uni-lj.si. Important: you have to create a new account on Moodle first even though you already participated in EduServ in the past (before 2022) as the e-learning platform is now hosted by the University of Ljubljana.

·        How long and when will I have access to the study materials?

Once the course has started, you will have access to the study materials 24/7 during four weeks (thus the course materials are accessible until two weeks after the course has ended), in order to allow participants to follow the course with minimum disruption. 


Certificates

·        Will I receive a certificate?

Yes, you will receive a digital certificate of completion after successfully completing the e-learning course(s). This certificate will be sent to you by email latest at the beginning of July. If you haven't received your certificate by then, please contact the secretariat at eurosdr@kuleuven.be.

In case you did not pass the course(s) and actively participated in the course, it is possible to obtain a certificate of attendance. You can request this certificate by sending an email to eurosdr@kuleuven.be. 

For more information, please contact Ms. Tatjana Van Huyck at eurosdr@kuleuven.be.