[SPA] SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER, Volume XXXI, Issue 11

[Newsletter Editor]

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
SPA SECTION NEWSLETTER
Volume XXXI, Issue 11
Feb.15,2024

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Table of Contents

1. Scientist Community Engagement Through Eclipse Outreach

2. NSF's Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI) Solicitation Posted: Deadline May 15, 2024

3. MEETING: 2024 DASH/IHDEA Meeting: 14-18 October 2024 (Call for Session Topics)

4. Cold Plasma Seminar Series

5. JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Position in the Space Physics Group at the University of Helsinki, Finland

6. JOB OPENING: Postdoc and PhD Positions in Leuven (Belgium)

7. Princeton University Visiting Fellows in Space Physics Program

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Announcement Submission Website: http://goo.gl/forms/qjcm4dDr4g


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Scientist Community Engagement Through Eclipse Outreach

From: Lisa Winter (lisa.winter at nasa.gov)

The April 8, 2024 Great American Eclipse is an incredible opportunity to share our science with the public. We anticipate a large opportunity for outreach and engagement with solar and space scientists convening for two meetings along the path of totality at both the Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS) in Dallas and the EclipseSA Joint Solar Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe, and DKIST Meeting in San Antonio. Many of our colleagues in the community are arranging excellent public engagement activities and are looking for volunteers both in the days ahead of the eclipse and on the eclipse day! If you are interested in volunteering during your travel to these meetings and would like to be connected to a planned activity, please fill out this form (https://forms.gle/BSdPoLn7SaB7H4MVA ) by Friday, March 1. We will connect you to the organizers. Early career scientists are especially encouraged and welcome to participate! 

If you are planning to do your own outreach and would like access to already made resources for the public, please fill out this form (https://forms.gle/8Y9182StSiyeaaM9A ) and you will be added to a mailing list that will provide a compilation of resources from NASA and NSF (including K-12 activities, NASA mission handouts, NSF observatory handouts, and easy to use Citizen Science projects). If there is interest, a virtual meeting will be held in March as a training/exchange of outreach information ahead of the eclipse.


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NSF's Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI) Solicitation Posted: Deadline May 15, 2024

From: Roman Makarevich (rmakarev at nsf.gov)

The NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences announces the new iteration of the DASI solicitation.

The Distributed Array of Small Instruments (DASI) solicitation is designed to address the increasing need for high spatial and temporal resolution measurements to determine the local, regional, and global scale processes that are essential for addressing the fundamental questions in solar and space physics. This solicitation will be formally divided into two tracks: 1) development of instrumentation for future deployment in arrays and 2) deployment and operation of existing instruments in distributed arrays.  This DASI solicitation emphasizes both strong scientific merit and a well-developed plan for student training and involvement of a diverse workforce. 

Typical awards from this competition are expected to be $200,000 - $500,000 per year for 3 to 4 years in duration. The total award size over its duration shall not exceed $2,000,000. In FY24, NSF expects to fund 3 to 4 awards contingent on the availability of funds. NSF anticipates funding a mix of project sizes across Track 1 (Instrument Development) and Track 2 (Deployment and Operations).

The full DASI solicitation (NSF 24-538) is at: https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf24538.

Full Proposal Deadline Date:  May 15, 2024.


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MEETING: 2024 DASH/IHDEA Meeting: 14-18 October 2024 (Call for Session Topics)

From: Arnaud Masson, on behalf of the DASH/IHDEA 2024 SOC (Arnaud.Masson at esa.int)

Calling all software developers and scientists who are interested in algorithms, software and data systems related to heliophysics (solar physics, space physics, geospace and related sciences)! Come see what your colleagues are working on!

Mark your calendars! 14-18 October 2024, at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) of ESA, near Madrid, Spain and hybrid: DASH (Data Analysis and Software in Heliophysics) and IHDEA (International Heliophysics Data environment Alliance) annual meetings

More information at https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/ihdea/ihdea-dash-2024 where we invite you to submit session topics for DASH by March 18 at ihdea_dash_2024 at cosmos.esa.int

The European Space Agency (ESA) is pleased to host the venue of the upcoming DASH (Data Analysis and Software in Heliophysics) and IHDEA (International Heliophysics Data Environment Alliance) annual meetings in its premises at ESAC.

Oct. 14-16: DASH serves as a forum for software developers and scientists to present and discuss algorithms, software, and data systems used in the acquisition, reduction, analysis, and dissemination of data for Heliophysics, including space and ground-based measurements as well as models. After the successful inaugural meeting at John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory mid-October 2023, this meeting will further connect practitioners across institutions, agencies and countries to identify common challenges and opportunities in open source software structure and design, including modern data infrastructure, methods and pipelines. International participation is the key to our community’s success, and all ranges of experience are welcome. 

Oct. 17-18: The IHDEA meeting will complement this conversation by focusing on the challenges and opportunities in aligning data and data products with community standards, the FAIR principles and general Open Science practices, and the software necessary for accomplishing those goals. The goal of the International Heliophysics Data Environment Alliance (IHDEA) is to encourage the use of common standards and services by major data providers, including simulation services and science platforms, in order to enable sharing of data and to enhance science. IHDEA also aims at bridging the gap between different communities such as GNSS and Earth observations communities in the context of a global Heliophysics information architecture.

Looking forward to seeing you!!
DASH Science Organising Committee


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Cold Plasma Seminar Series

From: Pedro Resendiz, Los Alamos National Laboratory (resendiz at lanl.gov)

Dear colleagues,

Please join us for our Cold-Plasma Seminar series taking place on February 21th, 2024. This seminar will be held virtually. The Webex link will be made available prior the seminar on our website at:
https://www.lanl.gov/org/ddste/aldsc/theoretical/applied-mathematics-plasma-physics/cold-plasma-seminars.php

You can also join the distribution mailing list by contacting Gian Luca Delzanno (delzanno at lanl.gov).

The speaker is Jeremy Darget from University of Ruhr:

Speaker: Jeremy Dargent, University of the Ruhr.
Title: Impact of cold ions on magnetic reconnection: reconnection rate and energy budget analysis
Date: February 21th, 2024
Time: 12 PM - 1 PM Eastern Time, 4-5 PM Universal Time Coordinated, 6-7 PM Central European Time.
Recorded Seminar: Yes.


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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Position in the Space Physics Group at the University of Helsinki, Finland

From: Lucile Turc (lucile.turc at helsinki.fi)

The Space Physics group at the University of Helsinki is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position, to work in the framework of an ERC-funded project titled "WAVESTORMS - Impact of foreshock transients on near-Earth space" led by Lucile Turc. The main tasks of the successful candidate will be to analyse numerical simulations performed with the Vlasiator model as well as spacecraft measurements to understand the impact of foreshock transients on Earth's bow shock, magnetosheath and magnetopause. They will also be responsible for running new Vlasiator simulations and developing visualisation tools for their analysis.

The applicant should hold a PhD in space plasma physics or a related field by the time they join the team, and have some experience with numerical simulations and/or spacecraft data analysis. Other useful skills include knowledge of shock physics, particle acceleration, and coding in Python.

The initial appointment will be for two years, with an option for an extension up to the entire duration of the ERC project. Funding is available for travel to conferences and research visits, as well as for relocation at the start of the project.

The starting salary is about 3700€/month. The work contract at the University of Helsinki provides access to the Finnish social security, which includes benefits such as healthcare, sick leave and parental leave. The University of Helsinki also provides support for international staff arriving in Finland.

The expected starting date for the position is September 1st, 2024. Applications are open until February 25th, 2024.

Interested candidates should send their informal application (including a short statement about their past research and their research interests), a CV, a list of publications and a maximum of three names to act as references by email to the following address: lucile.turc ‘at’ helsinki.fi

For enquiries about the position, contact Lucile Turc (lucile.turc ‘at’ helsinki.fi).

For more information about the Space Physics group at the University of Helsinki, please visit:
http://blogs.helsinki.fi/spacephysics/
Our university campus has adopted the following Code of Conduct: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-science/faculty/kumpula-campus-code-conduct


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JOB OPENING: Postdoc and PhD Positions in Leuven (Belgium)

From: Tom Van Doorsselaere (tom.vandoorsselaere at kuleuven.be)

The PhD and postdoctoral positions are part of the new Centre of Excellence SOUL (https://fys.kuleuven.be/ster/research-projects/soul/soul) in Leuven (Belgium). The relevant positions for this list are summarised below.

(1)  A 2-year postdoctoral position with the prospect of an extension up to 4 years. This position is aimed at the construction of numerical 3D magnetohydrodynamic models of stellar atmospheres. The first step is to implement a new physics module in an existing numerical code, either MPI-AMRVAC (in Fortran) or COOLFLUID (in C++). Thus, experience in working with HPC codes and supercomputing is desirable. The new physics module incorporates Alfven and kink wave heating of the stellar atmosphere based on a working 1D proof-of-concept. Then, the new numerical code will be applied to construct models for atmospheres and stellar winds in the cool star regime. For this, experience with stellar magnetic fields and their extrapolation is desirable. 

(4)  A 2 + 2-year PhD position. Within this position we will build numerical 3D magnetohydrodynamic models for stellar atmospheres in a binary system. The student will work in close collaboration with the postdoc who implements the numerical model and extend their work to binary systems. The aim is to quantify binary mass exchanges in advanced atmospheric models of star-star and star-planet systems. Previous student projects or internships with supercomputing and programming for MHD are a plus. In-depth knowledge of plasma physics is essential.

(6)   A 2-year software postdoctoral position with the prospect of an extension up to 4 years. This IT-oriented position will optimise and further develop scientific software codes describing the evolution of stellar rotation, magnetism, oscillations, outflows, and tides in close binaries and planetary systems in 3 spatial dimensions. In addition, they will be responsible for interfacing the various software codes where needed and developing machine learning (ML) algorithms to interpret data and reduce computation time. The candidate will streamline the installation of required software. In addition to this they will lead and manage high-performance computing (HPC) time applications to European supercomputers to facilitate, operate, document, and help interpret SOUL simulations. Experience in software development, ML, and HPC is an asset, particularly in C++ and FORTRAN. 

Inquiries: tom.vandoorsselaere at kuleuven.be

The preferred starting date for all positions is between August 1st and October 1st 2024. The application deadline is March 25th 2024

For more information visit https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60305236?lang=en and https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60305230?lang=en


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Princeton University Visiting Fellows in Space Physics Program

From: Dan White (spacephysics at princeton.edu)

Princeton University Visiting Fellows in Space Physics Program

The Space Physics at Princeton Group (https://spacephysics.princeton.edu/) in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences is pleased to offer Visiting Fellow positions. The program supports faculty and equivalent senior researchers to do intensive research in residence at Princeton for periods from one month up to a full year. Visiting Fellows will work closely with Space Physics at Princeton Group members on one or more of several topical areas: 1) Energetic Particles observations from Parker Solar Probe, 2) Energetic Neutral Atom and/or Interstellar Neutral Atom observations from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), and 3) scientific preparations for the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). The environment is scientifically intense, highly collaborative, and extremely rewarding. The goal of the program is to strengthen the Group with new and diverse perspectives while carrying out world-class research and publishing numerous papers in collaboration with the Group. Visiting Fellow positions are suitable for faculty members on sabbatical and other comparable senior researchers on leave from their primary appointments. Financial support (including stipend and/or housing) may be offered. Interested researchers should submit to https://www.princeton.edu/acad-positions/position/30982 the following: 1) a brief cover letter stating the specific reasons you'd like to visit the Space Physics at Princeton Group and the dates you're available to visit and 2) a CV.


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