The 8th International NCCR Climate Summer School was held in collaboration with PAGES and brought together 74 PhD and post-doctoral students from 16 different countries, mainly from Europe but also Japan, Australia, Chile, Russia, Canada and the USA, as well as18 keynote speakers and workshop leaders. The meeting was held in Grindelwald, a small alpine village located in the Jungfrau region of the Swiss Alps. Participants gathered together to learn about various aspects of paleoclimate science, including proxy reconstructions and modeling, to understand the nature of feedbacks, forcings and their impact on the climate system. The agenda of the meeting, included keynote lectures that were followed by lively discussions, poster sessions, workshops, excursions and group presentations by the participants.