MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

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2026 MIST Council Election Results

It is our pleasure to announce the results of the latest MIST Council Election.

  • Samuel Wharton (University of Leicester) is elected for a 3 year term as a MIST Councillor
  • Jewel Abbey Relampagos (Lancaster University) is elected for a 1 year term as the MIST Student Representative

In addition, due to concerns from the community regarding the ongoing UKRI/STFC funding situation, MIST Council have also decided to charter Mark Lester (University of Leicester) as an additional councillor to inform and steer the council in matters related to this specific brief, as set out in Article 4.5 of the MIST Charter.

We would like to congratulate everyone on their new roles. The full composition of Council can be found on the MIST website (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council). We would like to thank all the candidates for putting themselves forward and everyone who took part in the voting. We received votes from 132 people which represents a turnout of 21.5% of people registered to receive the MIST emailing list.

Finally, MIST Council would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to our outgoing members: Fiona Ball and Georgios Nicolaou. We would also like to say a special thank you to Andy Smith who was co-opted to be on MIST council while Rosie Johnson was on maternity leave, thank you for all of your hard work.

Open Letter Ready For Signatories

Protect MIST Science! Sign the MIST Community Open Letter on the STFC funding cuts!

https://sites.google.com/view/uk-mist-community-open-letter

 

Statement from MIST Council regarding the STFC Funding Situation

Statement from MIST Council regarding the STFC Funding Situation

MIST Council is deeply concerned by the ongoing STFC funding uncertainty and its impact on our community and beyond.

The current combination of prospective delayed and reduced funding, together with already volatile financial situations at universities across the UK, is placing significant strain on research groups. In some cases, institutions may be unable to support researchers through gaps between projects, increasing precarity across the community and adding significant pressure on early-career researchers.

We are concerned that continued uncertainty risks accelerating a brain drain from the UK, as skilled researchers reconsider their future in a system offering limited stability. The loss of expertise at any career stage would have lasting consequences for UK space science.

 

What is going on?

For those that are unaware of the situation, it is complex and evolving. We suggest the following sources to get up to speed on the current developments.

https://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and-publications/detail/what-is-happening-with-ukri-funding-and-the-stfc-cuts/

https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/proposed-budget-cuts-catastrophe-uk-astronomy

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2514481-physicists-warn-of-catastrophic-impact-from-uk-science-cuts/

 

What are we doing about it?

Behind the scenes, MIST Council is actively engaging with relevant parties to understand the scale of the challenge and to identify constructive ways forward.

  • We are seeking seasoned members of the community to join MIST Council on a task force to help develop options and represent the needs of our community. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to us via the MIST Council email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by the end of this week (13th February 2026).
  • In addition to the task force, we want to provide an open forum for discussion and collective input among all members of the wider MIST community. We are exploring options and will be in touch as soon as possible with further details.
  • We believe in working together in the face of the current challenges and we are collaborating with UKSP and others to strive for a fair and positive outcome for all. We are reaching out to members of the SSAP (Solar System Advisory Panel) to explore the hosting of a community town hall meeting, like the one already being organised by the AAP (Astronomy Advisory Panel), to provide an open forum for discussion and collective input.

 

What can you do to help?

There are several open letters representing people in various career stages that have been made available to sign. We encourage you to read the relevant letter(s) and to sign them if you support them:

The Royal Astronomical Society are also urging Fellows to lobby their MPs against the cuts, and have included a template letter that can be used to do so:
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/ras-fellows-urged-lobby-against-unprecedented-cuts

 

MIST Council will continue to advocate for transparency, stability, and funding structures that recognise both the long-term nature of our science and the people who deliver it.
We thank you for your continued support in this period of uncertainty.

 

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have further suggestions.
MIST Council

Announcement of New MIST Council 2025

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected to MIST Council:

  • Gemma Bower (University of Leicester), MIST Councillor
  • Tom Elsden (University of St Andrews), MIST Councillor
  • Cameron Patterson (Lancaster University), MIST Councillor
  • Fiona Ball (University of Southampton), Student Representative

They will begin their terms in July 2025.

We thank outgoing MIST Council members: Maria Walach, Chiara Lazzeri and Emma Woodfield. Andy Smith will remain on council a little longer as a co-opted member to cover Rosie Johnson's maternity leave.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Announcement of New MIST Councillors.

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected unopposed to MIST Council:

  • Rosie Johnson (Aberystwyth University), MIST Councillor
  • Matthew Brown (University of Birmingham), MIST Councillor
  • Chiara Lazzeri (MSSL, UCL), Student Representative

Rosie, Matthew, and Chiara will begin their terms in July. This will coincide with Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, and Sophie Maguire outgoing as Councillors.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website, and this will be amended in July to reflect this announcement (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Autumn MIST schedule

Autumn MIST is being held on Gather and Zoom, 19–20 November 2020, is now available! 

The full schedule is available below, or you can click here to download and view a PDF. The links to the Zoom webinar, and the Gather rooms, are available through the MIST mailing list, along with a Google Drive folder containing all the posters in PDF format. If you are an attendee and do not subscribe to the MIST mailing list, you can subscribe.

The full list of abstracts can be downloaded here.

Thursday 19 November 2020

10:00 – Session 1 – Chair: Jasmine Sandhu

  • 10:00 – Sandra Chapman – A regular clock for the Schwabe and Hale variations in solar and geomagnetic activity
  • 10:15 – Megan Maunder – Multi-spacecraft observations of a new type of high-latitude ICME
  • 10:30 – Joel Baby Abraham – Statistical analysis of solar wind electron populations using Parker Solar Probe
  • 10:45 – Thomas Woolley – The proton core behaviour inside magnetic field switchbacks

11:16 – Session 2 – Chair: John Coxon)

  • 11:16 – Seong-Yeop Jeong – The evolution of the electron-strahl velocity distribution in the inner heliosphere
  • 11:31 – Sadie Robertson – A statistical study of magnetopause flux ropes near the Electron Diffusion Region (EDR) using Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS)
  • 11:46 – Lauren Orr – Wavelet and network analysis of magnetic field variation and geomagnetically induced currents during large storms

13:02 – Poster Session 1

14:14 – Session 3 – Chair: Oliver Allanson

  • 14:14 – Ned Staniland – First evidence of a cushion region at Saturn and a reconsideration of why it forms
  • 14:29 – Dale Weigt – Characteristics of Jupiter's X-ray auroral hot spot emissions using Chandra
  • 14:44 – John Coxon – MIST Council update

Friday 20 November 2020

10:00 – Session 4 – Chair: Greg Hunt

  • 10:00 – Emma Woodfield – The effect of hiss waves on electrons in Saturn’s radiation belts
  • 10:15 – Josh Wiggs – Modelling plasma transport at the outer planets using a kinetic-ion, fluid-electron approach – validation
  • 10:30 – Adrian LaMoury – Solar wind control of jets impacting the magnetopause
  • 10:45 – Beatriz Sanchez-Cano – Mars' ionopause: A matter of pressures

11:16 – Session 5 – Chair: Maria-Theresia Walach

  • 11:16 – Laura Fryer – Observations of closed magnetic flux embedded in the lobe during periods of northward IMF
  • 11:31 – Mayur Bakrania – Using dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques to classify space plasma regimes
  • 11:46 – Jasmine Kaur Sandhu – Identifying storm-time variations in ULF wave power and implications for radiation belt dynamics

13:02 – Poster Session 2

14:14 – Session 6 – Chair: Mathew Owens

  • 14:14 – Samuel Walton – The relative contribution of enhancement and loss to global variations in relativistic outer radiation belt electrons
  • 14:29 – Téo Bloch – Constraining the location of the outer boundary of the radiation belts
  • 14:44 – Alexander Lozinski – Optimisation of a steady state radial diffusion model to derive diffusion coefficients for the proton radiation belt