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Thread: Davos, switzerland knowledge please

  1. #1
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    Davos, switzerland knowledge please

    Since I am having a hard time finding a jobby job, I might head back to school to pursue a 'higher' degree of education. At least that has been a little voice speaking in the back of my mind. And then I recieve an email from a Prof. that thought of me when he heard about a Ph. D. position to study palnt and soils in an alpine environment....in Switzerland!

    So what the ehll, all of the candidate requirements they describe, I FIT!

    Now, I just need to think a cool project to coerce them into chosing me! And one to keep me somehwat 'busy' for 3 years.

    1) anybody know anyhting about Davos?
    2) Anybody think of a project involving plant and soil biodiversity and their relationships with snowpack, or avalanches?
    3) anyone?

    Our group is part of the research division Alpine Environment at the
    Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL (close to Zurich) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
    in Davos. Davos is a city in the heart of the Swiss Alps (above 1500 m a.s.l.)
    with fantastic skiing and outdoor facilities as well as easy access to the
    city of Zurich
    There's a world out there full of color, dreams, and imagination. What are you waiting for?

  2. #2
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    The Snowboard Journal just had an article about Davos

    basically, they said:

    1) awesome terrain
    2) fantastic snow
    3) sick all night party town
    4) fun with world politicos

    sounded way fun

  3. #3
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    prominent in Free Radicals movies. Do it.... dooooo it!!! Figure out something.
    Putting the "core" in corporate, one turn at a time.

    Metalmücil 2010 - 2013 "Go Home" album is now a free download

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  4. #4
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    Let me think about that.
    Where I work is related to what you will study.
    I might be able to find a colleague to help you out.
    I teach Math, so don't expect much from me.
    Hit me with a PM and an email address.

    As for Davos, it would be a nice backyard.
    But there is other stuff nearby offering a bit more.
    Ski, Bike, Climb.
    Resistence is futile.

  5. #5
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    davos was great fun when i was there

    until i got a concussion on my second day there (not fun) and broke a helmet

  6. #6
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    I'll let you know in 6 weeks how Davos is. Nice Stoy!
    "In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair." -Emerson

  7. #7
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    apparently there are some sick possibilites according to some locals /guys who ride there. 2nd hand knowledge here, but there are pretty good (and pretty easily tracked) non hiking lines. if you hike 15min( according to my sources), there are lines which are hardly skied at all. (you may have to get on a train to get out of the valley you just went down though)
    plus: it is a real city, not just an alpine village. so actually "living" there won't be that bad.
    Last edited by subtle plague; 01-17-2006 at 03:15 PM.
    It's a war of the mind and we're armed to the teeth.

  8. #8
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    Think along the lines of how different types of trees protect against avies/ rockfall/ debris flows.

    The alps might soon be facing a problem where we have the wrong type of tress that "took over" from the native trees (from logging areas) but are now reaching the end of their lifespan... i.e. we might have some very empty slopes inside a few decades.

    Check out the Boku (Wien uni) for other current projects. (I expect you have checked the SLF site as well as the ETH sites?

  9. #9
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    Everything you could ever need to know right here.

  10. #10
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    My wife and I are going to Davos for 6 months. It's a Christian thing starting up there actually. Check it out. www.ywamdavos.org. All snowboarding and Jesus. Jesus is cool. I can't wait. Never been to the Alps to board. Is it heavier pow like Oregon or is it light like Utah?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tap View Post
    The Snowboard Journal just had an article about Davos

    basically, they said:

    1) awesome terrain
    2) fantastic snow
    3) sick all night party town
    4) fun with world politicos

    sounded way fun
    basically, the terrain is nice, but i wouldnt call it awesome
    snow, hm. imho davos doesnt get the real big amounts of snow like angel or the arlberg...
    but the town should be nice...

    and, the wsl is a quite well-known institute (at least in yurp), it would definitely not suck to get a phd position there! people there are cool guys also (at least the two or three i met)

    regarding the project: how about something like how the snow pack/general avy situation is affected by the change of biodiversity due to climate change?

    freak~[&]

  12. #12
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    So how did you get a Phd position with no idea for a project? When I went to MSU and took the snow science class there was a post doc who had gotten his phd there in snow science. He had great things to say about it. I have always thought of going there although now I have the perfect ski bum job so I won't be quitting that. Anyway, how about recruitment and growth rates of five needle pines at timber line.

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