Steepest Descent is a yearly half-day meeting that gives the European geomorphology community the opportunity to hear keynote talks and to interact with the community in an informal setting. The meeting began in 2013 as the younger, European cousin of the Gilbert Club meeting that is traditionally held after the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting.

Since its inception, Steepest Descent has been held each year in Vienna alongside the European Geoscience Union (EGU) meeting. The meeting is organized by an ever-evolving team of Early Career Scientists (ECS) and is fully independent from other organizations.