ICYG - International Conference of Young Geologists

05/06/2026

Prof. Simon M. Jowitt | SGA Keynote Lecture at ICYG 2026

🎥 If you would like to revisit one of the highlights of ICYG 2026, you can now watch the recording of the SGA keynote lecture by Prof. Simon M. Jowitt on the YouTube channel of the Faculty of Science, Charles University.

Talk title:
Who needs mining, and who does mining need? The role of the minerals industry in modern society and climate change mitigation and opportunities for young geologists.

Prof. Simon M. Jowitt is Director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Nevada State Geologist, and Arthur Brant Chair in Exploration Geology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

This keynote lecture was supported by the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) through the SGA Keynote Speaker Program. SSGA Network

Recording of the SGA keynote lecture delivered by Prof. Simon M. Jo...

29/05/2026

Thank you once again for being part of ICYG 2026. It was a pleasure to welcome you all to Kostelec nad Černými lesy for the first ICYG ever held in the Czech Republic.

Here we share a few final memories from the conference. ✨

For the abstract book please check: https://zenodo.org/records/20137350

And now, we can already look forward to ICYG 2027, which will be organised by Comenius University in Bratislava and the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

We hope to see many of you again next year! 🌍🎓

25/05/2026

🪨🏞️ The final day of ICYG 2026 was dedicated to the post-conference excursion, which took participants to several geological and historical localities in the wider Kutná Hora region.

During the one-day field trip, participants visited sites connected with the geology of the Bohemian Massif, the occurrence of Bohemian garnet, the mining history of Kutná Hora, and the relationship between geological heritage and the cultural landscape of central Bohemia. The excursion also introduced participants to Cretaceous Basin sediments, including localities with fossils of oyster shells and shark teeth. 🦪🦈

Thank you to everyone who joined the excursion and helped create such a pleasant conclusion to ICYG 2026.

The attached photos capture a few moments from the excursion. 🌍

20/05/2026

🤝 As ICYG 2026 has come to a close, we would like to express our sincere thanks to all **partners and sponsors** whose support contributed to this year’s conference in so many ways.

Thanks to their generous contributions, ICYG 2026 became a welcoming international meeting for young geoscientists, with a strong scientific programme, student awards, useful materials, and additional activities that enriched the conference atmosphere.

Our sincere thanks go to:
• Charles University (Univerzita Karlova)
• Prirodovedci.cz.
• SGA - Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA Network)
• Czech Geological Survey (Svět geologie)
• SG Geotechnika (https://www.geotechnika.cz/en/)
• 4C Minerals
• Journal of GEOsciences (https://www.jgeosci.org/)
• Czech Geological Society (Česká geologická společnost)
• Petrolab - Laboratory of Thin Sections (Alessandro Zara)
• BeGeo Scientists (BeGeo Scientists)

We are very grateful for your trust, support, and cooperation.

We also encourage everyone to visit the websites and social media pages of our partners and sponsors to learn more about their activities, projects, and opportunities for students and young researchers.

We would also like to express our special thanks to Lesy ČZU for making it possible to organise the conference at the beautiful castle in Kostelec nad Černými lesy, and for their excellent cooperation and organisation throughout the event.

Thank you all for helping make ICYG 2026 a memorable conference. 🌍🎓

18/05/2026

🏆 We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Rudolf Mock Award at ICYG 2026.

This year, awards were presented for the three best student oral presentations and the three best student poster presentations.

Best student oral presentations:
🥇 Iván Mateo Espinel Pachón (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
“A porphyry ore deposit in the making: unique insights into magmatic processes leading to ore fertility through the Taapaca volcano”

🥈 Dávid Szabó (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
“Gas-phase formation of ammonium heavy-metal iodides in a coal-fire environment: Szarlota coal mine (Rydułtowy, Poland)”

🥉 Bojana Nikolić (Charles University & Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic)
“Variability and Petrogenesis of the Blatná Composite Pluton (Central Bohemian Plutonic Complex)”

Best student poster presentations:
🥇 Adam Vrbenský (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
“Plagioclase growth rate from silicate melts: towards a general kinetic model”

🥈 Aleksander Błasiak (AGH University of Krakow, Poland)
“One LCT family, two metallogenic pathways: Nb-Ta-Fe-Mn fractionation in amblygonite-type (Viitaniemi) and lepidolite-type (Alvarrões) pegmatites”

🥉 Botond G. Gereczi (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary)
“Comparison of fluid inclusion thermometry and mineral geothermometry methods applied on sphalerite from the Ostra ore deposit, Romania”

Congratulations to all awardees on their excellent contributions and well-deserved recognition! 👏

We would also like to sincerely thank our sponsors, whose generous support made these awards possible and provided the prizes received by the awardees: Czech Geological Survey (Svět geologie), SGA - Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA Network), and 4C Minerals.

More information about the RMA award here: https://www.icyg.eu/RMA

The attached photos capture moments from the award ceremony and the conference. 🌍🎓

15/05/2026

The conference has just started❗✨

Stay tuned for more photos.

Lesy ČZU in the castle Kostelec nad Černými lesy

10/05/2026

📣 ICYG 2026 updates

As the conference is getting closer, we would like to share a few important updates with all participants and followers of ICYG 2026.

✅ The conference programme has now been updated on our website: https://www.icyg.eu/program There you can find the schedule of sessions, presentations, and accompanying events. We encourage all participants to check the programme in advance and become familiar with the timing of their contribution as well as the overall structure of the meeting.

🗺️ In addition, we are sharing a new orientation map of the venue, which we hope will help you navigate the conference spaces more easily and make your arrival and participation as smooth as possible.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to ICYG 2026 and to sharing a few inspiring days of presentations, discussions, and informal meetings with all of you.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

See you soon in Kostelec nad Černými lesy!

09/05/2026

🌐 We are happy to introduce the last partner of ICYG 2026, BeGeo Scientists.

BeGeo Scientists is a non-profit association dedicated to building a national and international network for the new generation of geoscientists. Based in Italy, its mission is to bridge the gap between academia, research, and the professional world, promoting the circulation of knowledge and career development for students and early-career researchers. The association believes in an interdisciplinary approach to the Earth System and seeks to represent the voice of young scientists in addressing the global challenges of our territory and environment.

For ICYG 2026, BeGeo Scientists will support the conference with merchandise for participants and with two special activities:

GeoTrajectories
An interactive mapping activity designed to visualise the academic and scientific mobility of young geoscientists. Participants will place coloured markers on a world map to show their place of origin, their main place of academic training, and the areas where they have carried out research. The aim is to create a collective and dynamic picture of the Italian and international geoscientific community.

GeoVoices
A short video-interview activity in which young geoscientists will be invited to share what geosciences mean to them. These one-minute testimonies will help create an archive of voices from the geoscientific community, highlighting the diversity of experiences, motivations, and perspectives of younger generations.

We are very glad to welcome BeGeo Scientists among the partners of ICYG 2026. Their contribution brings an inspiring international dimension to the conference and helps strengthen connections among young geoscientists across borders.

The attached photos come from their latest National Congress.

Learn more at: https://begeos.it

29/04/2026

✨ Another valued partner of ICYG 2026 is Petrolab - Laboratory Thin Sections (Alessandro Zara).

Based in Sardinia, Italy, Petrolab is a specialised technical laboratory focused on the preparation of thin sections and specimens for microscopic and geotechnical analyses. Since 2015, the laboratory has provided services for a wide range of applications, including petrography, mineralogy, palaeontology, archaeology, architecture, art, and special sample preparations.

Closely connected to Petrolab is Thin Jewelry, a creative project that transforms the beauty of rocks into unique jewellery pieces and brings geoscience closer to the public in an original and inspiring way.💎

We are very grateful to Petrolab for supporting ICYG 2026 by providing merchandise for all conference participants.

Learn more at: https://thinsections.uk/ and https://thinjewelry.com/

Stay tuned for more partner introductions! 🌍🎓

28/04/2026

📚 Another important part of ICYG 2026 is the support of the Journal of GEOsciences and the Czech Geological Society.

The Journal of GEOsciences is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access Earth science journal published by the Czech Geological Society, with support from the Czech Geological Survey. It provides a respected platform for high-quality research in the geosciences and is closely connected with the Czech and international geological community.

For ICYG 2026, this partnership is especially valuable because the conference is linked with the Journal Special Issue (https://www.icyg.eu/jog), giving selected contributions an opportunity to develop beyond the conference format. Journal of Geosciences is a researcher-friendly outlet offering for the conference participants free open access, fast peer review by international experts, and strong visibility in global databases.

The Czech Geological Society is a non-profit scientific society dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences and to supporting the professional growth of Earth scientists across academic, governmental and industry sectors. Its long-standing activities include scientific meetings, excursions, publications and wider community building within the geological sciences.

We are very grateful to the Journal of GEOsciences and the Czech Geological Society for their support of ICYG 2026 and for helping strengthen the scientific dimension of the conference.

Learn more here about the journal: https://www.jgeosci.org/
And society (in Czech): https://www.geologickaspolecnost.cz/

Stay tuned for more partner introductions! 🌍🎓