The European School on Ostracoda (ESO) is a compact course that provides a good overview of taxonomy, (palaeo)ecology, biodiversity, geological history and applied biostratigraphy of ostracods. ESO is on facebook!

It is aimed at young scientists and industry professionals interested in micropaleontology, paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, biology, and environmental applications. The focus is on methods and concepts of ostracodology, including systematics, biostratigraphic applications, ecology, and life history, covering fossil finds from the Paleozoic to the Holocene and today’s fauna.

On the initiative of Dr. Lea Rausch, Prof. Peter Frenzel, Dr. habil. Renate Matzke-Karasz, and Dr. habil. Finn Viehberg, this summer school was held for the first time in 2016, initially at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. Since 2022, ESO has been held at the universities of Vienna, Rome, Patras, and Bucharest. The organizers are Prof. Peter Frenzel (Jena) and Dr. Renate Matzke-Karasz (Munich), supported by Dr. Olga Schmitz and Ella Quante (both Jena) and – if traveling – the local hosts. Teaching is provided on a voluntary basis by numerous, changing experts. The low participation fees go to SF*IRGO as the operating organization and are used to support early-career researchers from the IRGO community. These funds have already made numerous travel grants and conference prizes possible.

Over the years, ESO received support from The Micropalaeontological Society, PAGES, Kreativika and PeerJ.