UK Solar Physics Newsletter Lyndsay Fletcher & Duncan Mackay, Editors 15th July 2008 o News, Views and Gossip o Statement from Editors regarding RAS medals. o RAS medals and awards o Hinode to Restart Guest Observer Program for the Hinode Science Working Group. o Final outcome of Programmatic Review. o Registration Deadline - 2nd Hinode Science Meeting. o UK-China collaborations o Meetings, Conferences and Workshops o Employment Opportunities o Lectureship in Astrophysics, Trinity College Dublin o Two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Helio- and Astero-seismology o Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position o STFC PhD Full Studentship, University of Salford. Dear Colleague, Here are a few items which have come to our attention since the last Newsletter. You can find this newsletter also at the UKSP website: http://www.uksolphys.org Lyndsay (lyndsay@astro.gla.ac.uk) Duncan (duncan@mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk) ********************************************************************* * * * News, Views and Gossip * * * ********************************************************************* From : Editors RAS Medals. Nominations are presently being accepted for the 2009 RAS Medals (deadline 1st August, see item below). The awards relevant for Solar Physics are, Gold Medal ('G') Fowler Award ('G') RAS Awards for Service to Astronomy or to Geophysics Harold Jeffreys Lectureship Honorary Fellowships ('G') We would like to stress the importance in putting forward outstanding individuals for each of these categories and strongly encourage members of the community to do this. ***************************************** From: Ronald Wiltshire The Society's medals and awards, for nearly 200 years, have singled out scientists of outstanding achievement or promise. Take this opportunity to add to the roll call of honour! The AWARDS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR PRESENTATION IN 2009 (for which nominations are sought NOW) comprise: The Gold Medal ('A'), the RAS's highest award, for outstanding personal research or leadership in astronomy and astrophysics - often for a lifetime's work. The Gold Medal ('G'), the RAS's highest award, for outstanding personal research or leadership in geophysics, solar physics, solar-terrestrial physics, planetary sciences, and related fields - often for a lifetime's work. The Eddington Medal for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics; The Jackson-Gwilt Medal for the invention, improvement, or development of astronomical instrumentation or techniques; for achievement in observational astronomy; or for achievement in research into the history of astronomy. The Price Medal for investigations of outstanding merit in solid-earth geophysics, oceanography, or planetary sciences . The Fowler Award ('A') for a particularly noteworthy contribution to astronomy and astrophysics, made in the first decade or so following the start of PhD work, and recognized soon afterwards in order to give the career impetus. The Fowler Award ('G') for a particularly noteworthy contribution to geophysics, solar physics, solar-terrestrial physics, or planetary sciences, made in the first decade or so following the start of PhD work, and recognized soon afterwards in order to give the career impetus. The RAS Awards for Service to Astronomy or to Geophysics to honour individuals who, through outstanding or exceptional work, have promoted, facilitated or encouraged astronomy and astrophysics, solar-system sciences, or geophysics and have developed their role in the life of the nation, but whose achievement does not fall within the criteria of the Society's other awards. The RAS Group Achievement Award to recognize outstanding achievement by large consortia in any branch of astronomy, solar-system sciences, or geophysics where it is not appropriate to present, jointly, one of the other awards of the Society. The Award, in the form of an inscribed certificate presented to each member of the consortium, will be made from time to time, although nominations will be sought annually. The Harold Jeffreys Lectureship awarded to a distinguished and eloquent speaker in a field of geophysics or solar-system science. The George Darwin Lectureship awarded to a distinguished and eloquent speaker in a field of astronomy or astrophysics. Honorary Fellowships ('A') (up to three awarded annually) to honour any person, eminent in the field of astronomy, by election as an Honorary Fellow of the Society. Honorary Fellowships ('G') (up to three awarded annually) to honour any person, eminent in the field of geophysics or solar-system sciences, by election as an Honorary Fellow of the Society. (Honorary Fellowships are typically awarded for distinguished leadership of a school, observatory, or laboratory; outstanding services to national or international scientific organizations; exceptionally important work in editing scientific publications; influential work in education and public outreach; or outstanding work in the history of these sciences. Election to Honorary Fellowship recognizes contributions distinct from those for which the Society's medals are awarded or for which appointments to Named Lectureships are made). FULL DETAILS AND ( optional) NOMINATION FORMS CAN BE FOUND ON THE RAS WEB SITE AT http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=271 Details of past winners are at http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=241 To facilitate full consideration of nominations by the two Awards Committees, nominations should be made to the Executive Secretary in writing, by post or e-mail, by 2008 August 1 (but inform the Executive Secretary if, for some reason, this will not be possible and you intend to submit a late nomination). David Elliott Executive Secretary ********************************* From: Louise Harra Hinode to Restart Guest Observer Program for the Hinode Science Working Group 27 Jun 2008 At the beginning of March we reported to the Solar Physics community on the difficulties that Hinode was experiencing with the data downlink. As a result we announced that requests for HOPs or Hinode Operation Plans, from the external community would be suspended. We expressed hope that this situation would last for a relatively short period. We have now developed sufficient confidence in operating the spacecraft and the three instruments in this new mode that we are ready once again to accept HOPs. Hinode data are now transmitted through a back-up transmitter that has a considerably lower transmission rate. To compensate for the lower rate we have, over the last four months, increased the level of data compression without significantly affecting the quality of the data and improved our operational efficiency. JAXA has also provided additional funding to increase the number of ground stations and downlinks. Unfortunately there are technical, scheduling and diplomatic issues that have to be resolved before a new ground station can be brought on line. Our Japanese and international colleagues are working hard to resolve these problems and, as they do, the amount of data returned form Hinode will continue to increase from the current level of order 35% to perhaps 60% or more of the original capability by the start of 2009. Because the planning process that achieves the increases in operational efficiency is more complicated than before, it is necessary to impose new restrictions on HOPs. First the HOP proposal must reflect the reduced data allocation and the recognition that planning is governed by the total data collected in an observation rather than by the rate at which data is acquired. Plans should state clearly which instruments are required and which are optional. Achieving the scientific objectives should not depend on continuous observations over a period of several days. In the future we expect to accept only focused science programs of relatively short duration separated by gaps for data downloading. Currently it is not possible to run high cadence observations continuously for 24 hours per day as was done for the SUMER coordinated campaigns of 2007. Because of these restrictions it is essential that a proposer works closely with an SSC (Science Schedule Coordinator) to develop an observing plan that will fit within the current telemetry limitations. We look forward to the renewed participation of the international scientific community in the Hinode program and ask for your cooperation and understanding as we continue to recover the original performance of Hinode. A more detailed set of instructions for preparing HOPs can be found on the - Hinode Monthly Events - link of the Hinode operation page under the banner - Guidance for Hinode Operations at\ufffdhttp://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/solar/hinode_op ************************************ From: Gary Abel Final outcome of Programmatic Review Message from the MIST mailing list. Dear All, STFC have now published the final outcome of Programmatic Review See STFC News item http://www.scitech.ac.uk/PMC/PRel/STFC/FinalProgRev.aspx Full report http://www.scitech.ac.uk/resources/pdf/FinalProgRevOutcome.pdf BBC breaking news article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7487861.stm Gary. ************************************* From: Louise Harra Registration Deadline The deadline for registration and abstract submission for the 2nd Hinode Science Meeting is 31 July 2008. Please encourage your colleagues to begin submitting abstracts to the meeting, registering, and arranging for accommodations. The meeting website http://www.hao.ucar.edu/partnerships/hinode/conference-2008/index.html has the relevant information. ************************************* From: Dunlop, MW (Malcolm) Dear Collegues, Further to the message below this meeting will be held from 2-5 pm on Monday 4th August in Conference room CR12 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Please could you let me know if you will attend and whether you would like to make a short presentation as part of the discussion. Malcolm Dunlop. Dear Collegues, There has been a suggestion to hold a meeting in the UK to asses potential UK-Chinese partnerships,including the possible involvement in various Chinese programmes; notably the Kuafu space mission and (Chinese supported) ground instrumentation. To assist this discussion, initial reports on existing collaborations could be made: one focus would be the theme of conjugate measurements in the context of ground based support for space missions such as Kuafu. The status of the Kuafu mission is under review in China at the moment, but there remains an opportunity to contribute UK instruments to the payload, should the mission proceed. A key event will be the coming Kuafu symposium in September (2nd announcement attached), during which science aims and support to the mission from ground based instrumentation will be explored. The background to UK-China involvement (for STP) began with a community meeting held in September 2005, when we set priorities for new mission activities and endorsed potential involvement in Kuafu (a number of developments since then may have influenced our community view). A joint UK-China science meeting on conjugate coordinated measurements was then held at Cosners house in August 2006 (a brief report on that meeting, made at the time, is attached). This message is to propose that we hold a half day community discussion at RAL during the afternoon on the 4th August (TBC) to explore present and future UK-China science collaborations and develop a view on future activities. Please could you indicate your interest in attending such a meeting by replying to M Dunlop? Agenda to follow. Malcolm Dunlop. _____________________________________________________________ Prof Malcolm W Dunlop Space Sciences Division, SSTD, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Chilton, DIDCOT *********************************************************************** * * * Positions Vacant * * * *********************************************************************** From: Peter Gallagher Lectureship in Astrophysics Trinity College Dublin The School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin wishes to appoint a Lecturer in Astrophysics (equivalent to an assistant professor in the US) with a proven research track record. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and at least two years' postdoctoral experience in either solar or stellar physics. Ideally the successful candidate will develop a research activity which strengthens existing themes in the group. The candidate's publication and funding record must be commensurate with experience. Currently there are 2 lecturers, 4 postdoctoral staff, and 8 postgraduate students working in the astrophysics group. Current research involves both ground- and space-based observations, and also utilises high performance computing facilities available both locally and nationally. Information on these themes and the group in general is available at http://www.tcd.ie/Physics/Astrophysics/research.php The successful candidate will join the two existing academic staff members in handling an expanding undergraduate astrophysics programme, as well as participate in postgraduate supervision within the School. As a result, the candidates should have some previous experience in teaching to undergraduate and/or postgraduate students. Previous success in obtaining research funding will be advantageous. The appointment will be offered on the Lecturer salary scale 37,343 -75,365 /77,875 -85,599 per annum. The closing date for applicants is 12 noon on Friday, 1st August, 2008 (Please not new closing date). Further information on the opening can be found at http://www.tcd.ie/vacancies/js_aca_lecturer_astrophysics_june08.php ******************************************** From : Rafael A. Garcia Two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Helio- and Astero-seismology Two postdoctoral positions are available in the Service Astrophysique (SAp), which is part of a large fundamental research institute of CEA called IRFU in France. The first post-doc, in helioseismology and starting on the 1st October 2008, will be funded by the CNES for an initial period of 1 year, with two possible renewals, that would extend the fellowship to three years. The second post-doc, in asteroseismology starting on the 1st November, will be funded by the CEA for an initial period of 1 year with an extension for a second one. Applicants should have completed a PhD in Physics, Astronomy or Mathematics and, preferably, have some experience in astronomical data analysis. Applicants are invited to join the helio- and astero-seismology group at the Sap/CEA-Saclay, an experienced team dedicated to the study of the interior of the Sun and Stars covering theory, numerical simulations, observations, data analysis and instrumentation. The research fellow will have the opportunity to play an important role in international collaborations, and to work on a variety of instruments. To apply for one or both fellowships, candidates should send to Dr. Rafael A. Garcia (rgarcia@cea.fr): their CV, an updated publication list, 1 page summarizing their research experience, 1 page summarizing their future research projects and 2 letters of recommendation. The closing date for application is 18 July 2008. Helioseismology fellowship: We are seeking an active researcher to work on the analysis of the space-based GOLF/SoHO instrument. Applicants will carry on the studies on the structure and dynamics of the radiative region of the Sun paying special attention to the solar core through the analysis of pressure and gravity modes to better constrain the solar models. Applicants will be invited to participate in the analysis of the test campaign of the new prototype GOLF-NG, as well as in the development of synergies with other space missions. Asteroseismology fellowship: We are seeking an active researcher to work on the analysis of Sun-like oscillations as well as other classical pulsators from stellar observations mainly obtained from the French satellite CoRoT. In particular, the research fellow will actively contribute to the development of new analysis codes and strategies to obtain and characterize the stellar oscillations. These developments will also be applied to other future space-based missions. ******************************************** From : Eivor Jonsson Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden Research in space physics such as space plasma physics, planetology, interaction between the planets and the solar wind, and the evolution of planetary atmospheres and climate. The focus is Mars and analysis of satellite data. Application information can be found at http://www.irf.se/Topical/Vacancies /?group=P3&vacid=6&chosen=topical More information about the Swedish Institute of Space Physics: http://www.irf.se Contact: Prof. Stas Barabash, +46 980 79122, stas.barabash@irf.se ******************************************** From: David Tsiklauri --------------------------------- STFC PhD Full Studentship Space and Solar Plasma Physics University of Salford Applications are invited for a Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) PhD Studentship within the Space and Solar Plasma Physics Group, Institute for Materials Research, University of Salford. The project involves numerical modelling and analytical investigation of wave dynamics and magnetic reconnection in space plasmas in broad, inter-disciplinary context. Project would also involve Solar Active Region modelling in the context of the main unsolved problem in Space Physics the Coronal Heating Problem (http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/mysteries_l1/corona.html) Applicants should have a good Honours degree in Physics or Applied Mathematics (at least 2:1 or equivalent) or a lower second class plus a Master's (MPhys) qualification. Programming experience in any high level language is highly desirable. Candidates should be UK residents and will receive full fees and stipend of 12,600+ per annum for three years. For details and eligibility, see http://www.stfc.ac.uk/Grants/Studs/Contents.aspx EU students qualify for the "fees only"] award. Please send your CV, completed PhD application form, which is available from the Postgraduate Office of the University (Web site: http://www.pg.salford.ac.uk/pdfs/PGR-app.pdf), and two letters of recommendation directly to: Dr. David Tsiklauri Physics Discipline Newton Building University of Salford Greater Manchester, England M5 4WT The deadline for applications is the 1st September 2008. Starting Date is 1 October 2008. -- Dr Duncan H Mackay Mathematical Institute, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, Scotland. Tel 01334 463760 Fax 01334 463748 The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland : No SC013532 _______________________________________________ uksp mailing list uksp@physics.gla.ac.uk http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/uksp