Previously, MIST Council announced the cancellation or postponement of Autumn MIST if proposed UCU strike action had not been cancelled by 22 November. The strike action is still scheduled to take place, and as such, Autumn MIST will indeed be cancelled or rescheduled.
We appreciate that this news will inconvenience some Autumn MIST attendees, but after much discussion, MIST Council feels that this is the best way to proceed to ensure a vibrant and constructive meeting.
The inaugural working meeting of the COSPAR International Space Weather Action Teams (ISWAT) will be held on 10-14 February 2020 at the Radisson Resort, Port Canaveral, Florida, USA. The ISWAT initiative is a global hub addressing challenges across the field of space weather. Information about the ISWAT initiative is available on the website. This meeting also comes inside the launch window of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft from nearby Cape Canaveral. You can register for the meeting now, and the deadline is 13 December 2019.
ISWAT consists of teams that focus on a variety of key problems and topics in space weather research and forecasting. The teams are organised into clusters (by domain, phenomena, impact, or overarching activities), to facilitate collaboration and ensure complementarity. On the ISWAT website you can register a new team and request to join registered teams.
MIST Council appreciates that the following news will inconvenience some Autumn MIST attendees, but after much discussion, we feel that this is the best way to proceed to ensure a vibrant and constructive meeting.
There is a significant risk that Autumn MIST will not occur as scheduled. We recommend making travel arrangements as late as possible.
As some of you may already be aware, a few days ago the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) called strike action for 25 November–4 December, and Autumn MIST is scheduled for Friday 29 November.
If the UCU strike action has not been cancelled by 22 November, Autumn MIST will either be cancelled or rescheduled, pending the result of an advisory survey that will be circulated on that date.
Please note: UCU says "You should not take part in any action until you have joined UCU". Therefore, MIST Council recommends that non-UCU members do not participate in this strike action. For more information, visit the UCU website.
The programme and list of abstracts have been announced for the Autumn MIST meeting scheduled for Friday 29 November. Please note that we will not be providing paper copies on the day.
As a UK-based community meeting, we believe that it is important to accommodate all submissions, and that has been our philosophy when putting together the schedule. Therefore we have a busy schedule this year. We look forward to engaging with attendees both during and after the meeting, to discuss the planning of future meetings. Please note that we will be back in the larger Geology Society venue in 2020. The current plan is then to continue using Geology Society indefinitely.
For more information about Autumn MIST, see the initial meeting announcement.
The third UK Solar Orbiter Workshop will take place at the University of St Andrews between the 13–14 January 2020, just prior to the launch of Solar Orbiter in February 2020. Abstract submission and registration are open, and you can do both on the meeting webpage. The chairs of the SOC are Duncan Mackay and Gherardo Valori.
Information on travel to St Andrews and possible options for accommodation in both hotels and B&Bs can be found here. We recommend booking of accommodation as early as possible as St Andrews is a tourist destination.
Please note the key dates below: