With 8 ESRs and 3 ERs from several US universities, EFIRE (ExTerra Field Institute and Research Endeavor) is a training and research project on subduction-zone processes, which was inspired by ZIP aims and granted by the NSF in 2015. Establishing long-lasting intensive exchanges between EU and USA training and research systems on this theme is in itself a great result of the ZIP dissemination.

Itinerary of the first EFIRE field institute around the Western Alps… led by ZIP scientists.

Joint EFIRE-ZIP activities were and will be organized to gather scientists and fellows:

• ZIP scientists and fellows took part to the EFIRE kick-off meeting just before the AGU 2016 Fall meeting (this was also one of the reasons why ZIP WP7.4 Annual meeting was scheduled then and there). During this meeting, ZIP and E-FIRE teams discussed the state of the art on subduction processes, refined ideas and plans for future activities (such as the Alpine excursion of summer 2017 below), and ZIP and EFIRE fellows interacted and presented posters.
• The EFIRE “Field Institute” in the Alps was led by three ZIP scientists and 2 ZIP fellows and gathered ~30 scientists in the field in the Western Alps (including 7 to 10 ZIP scientists) to collect field data and rock samples, discuss research questions, and develop new approaches to answering these questions together. Sharing their work and expertise was a great moment for the 2 ZIP fellows!