MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

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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).

Nominations are open for MIST Council

We are very pleased to open nominations for MIST Council. There are three positions available (detailed below), and elected candidates would join Georgios Nicolaou, Andy Smith, Maria-Theresia Walach, and Emma Woodfield on Council. The nomination deadline is Friday 31 May.

Council positions open for nomination

2 x MIST Councillor - a three year term (2024 - 2027). Everyone is eligible.

MIST Student Representative - a one year term (2024 - 2025). Only PhD students are eligible. See below for further details.

About being on MIST Council

If you would like to find out more about being on Council and what it can involve, please feel free to email any of us (email contacts below) with any of your informal enquiries! You can also find out more about MIST activities at mist.ac.uk. Two of our outgoing councillors, Beatriz and Sophie, have summarised their experiences being on MIST Council below.

Beatriz Sanchez-Cano (MIST Councillor):

"Being part of the MIST council for the last 3 years has been a great experience personally and professionally, in which I had the opportunity to know better our community and gain a larger perspective of the matters that are important for the MIST science progress in the UK. During this time, I’ve participated in a number of activities and discussions, such as organising the monthly MIST seminars, Autumn MIST meetings, writing A&G articles, and more importantly, being there to support and advise our colleagues in cases of need together with the wonderful council members. MIST is a vibrant and growing community, and the council is a faithful reflection of it."

Sophie Maguire (MIST Student Representative):

"Being the student representative for MIST council has been an amazing experience. I have been part of organizing conferences, chairing sessions, and writing grant applications based on the feedback MIST has received. From a wider perspective, MIST has helped to grow and support my professional networks which in turn, directly benefits my PhD work as well. I would encourage any PhD student to apply for the role of MIST Student Representative and I would be happy to answer any questions or queries you have about the role."

How to nominate

If you would like to stand for election or you are nominating someone else (with their agreement!) please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 31 May. If there is a surplus of nominations for a role, then an online vote will be carried out with the community. Please include the following details in the nomination:

  1. Name
  2. Position (Councillor/Student Rep.)
  3. Nomination Statement (150 words max including a bit about the nominee and focusing on your reasons for nominating. This will be circulated to the community in the event of a vote.)

MIST Council details

  • Sophie Maguire, University of Birmingham, Earth's ionosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Georgios Nicolaou, MSSL, solar wind plasma - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, University of Leicester, Mars plasma - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, University of Leicester, Earth’s inner magnetosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Andy Smith, Northumbria University, Space Weather - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Maria-Theresia Walach, Lancaster University, Earth’s ionosphere - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Emma Woodfield, British Antarctic Survey, radiation belts - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • MIST Council email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Winners of Rishbeth Prizes 2023

We are pleased to announce that following Spring MIST 2023 the Rishbeth Prizes this year are awarded to Sophie Maguire (University of Birmingham) and Rachel Black (University of Exeter).

Sophie wins the prize for the best MIST student talk which was entitled “Large-scale plasma structures and scintillation in the high-latitude ionosphere”. Rachel wins the best MIST poster prize, for a poster entitled “Investigating different methods of chorus wave identification within the radiation belts”. Congratulations to both Sophie and Rachel!

As prize winners, Sophie and Rachel will be invited to write articles for Astronomy & Geophysics, which we look forward to reading.

MIST Council extends their thanks to the University of Birmingham for hosting the Spring MIST meeting 2023, and to the Royal Astronomical Society for their generous and continued support of the Rishbeth Prizes.

Nominations for MIST Council

We are pleased to open nominations for MIST Council. There are two positions available (detailed below), and elected candidates would join Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, Andy Smith, Maria-Theresia Walach, and Emma Woodfield on Council. The nomination deadline is Friday 26 May.

Council positions open for nomination

  • MIST Councillor - a three year term (2023 - 2026). Everyone is eligible.
  • MIST Student Representative - a one year term (2023 - 2024). Only PhD students are eligible. See below for further details.

About being on MIST Council


If you would like to find out more about being on Council and what it can involve, please feel free to email any of us (email contacts below) with any of your informal enquiries! You can also find out more about MIST activities at mist.ac.uk.

Rosie Hodnett (current MIST Student Representative) has summarised their experience on MIST Council below:
"I have really enjoyed being the PhD representative on the MIST council and would like to encourage other PhD students to nominate themselves for the position. Some of the activities that I have been involved in include leading the organisation of Autumn MIST, leading the online seminar series and I have had the opportunity to chair sessions at conferences. These are examples of what you could expect to take part in whilst being on MIST council, but the council will welcome any other ideas you have. If anyone has any questions, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”

How to nominate

If you would like to stand for election or you are nominating someone else (with their agreement!) please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday 26 May. If there is a surplus of nominations for a role, then an online vote will be carried out with the community. Please include the following details in the nomination:
  • Name
  • Position (Councillor/Student Rep.)
  • Nomination Statement (150 words max including a bit about the nominee and your reasons for nominating. This will be circulated to the community in the event of a vote.)
 
MIST Council contact details

Rosie Hodnett - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mathew Owens - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Beatriz Sanchez-Cano - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jasmine Kaur Sandhu - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Andy Smith - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Maria-Theresia Walach - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Emma Woodfield - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
MIST Council email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Autumn MIST 2022

Autumn MIST will be held on 18th November 2022, at the Geological Society in London (Burlington House).

Abstract submission is closed.

Talks will be given in a hybrid format and posters will be presented in person only.

Registration will close on 11/11/22. You must preregister as we cannot accept registration on the day. Registration is £10 for online attendance, £20 for student in person attendance and £30 for staff in person attendance. The link for registration is below:

https://www.store.reading.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-science/department-of-meteorology/autumn-mist

Code of Conduct

We expect all attendees to follow the RAS code of conduct which can be found here:https://ras.ac.uk/code-conduct-ras-meetings

If you have any queries, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Autumn MIST 2021

MIST Council are planning to hold Autumn MIST 2021 on Thursday 25th - Friday 26th November 2021.

  • This will be online only (zoom + gathertown)
  • Here is the abstract submission form for Autumn MIST 2021 https://forms.gle/gDPJLYMK7uXH9ZLi8  - Please submit by end of Friday 22nd October.
  • We will then aim to circulate the programme by Friday 5th November, to give 3 weeks for poster/talk prep.
  • Contributions are very welcome from all areas of MIST science, and you may submit more than one abstract by submitting the form more than once.
  • Exact timings will follow – but we will plan to have a schedule similar to last year: roughly 10am until 3pm each day (with breaks), and this will include both poster and oral sessions.

Please e-mail MIST council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions or encounter any problems with submission.

V- Interact and Interact 2022

Dear Colleague

Due to the ongoing Covid situation, Interact 2021 will now be held as an online event. Entitled V- Interact, this free one day online symposium will take place on Tuesday 14 September 2021 as a series of themed workshops. Commencing with an opening plenary, we will then focus on two core topics: running and evaluating online engagement and supporting an equitable Covid recovery. Above all, it is a chance to share your online experiences and take part in discussions which will help shape engagement work going forward.

The event will also help shape our programme for Interact 2022, which will go ahead in person on 13–14 September 2022, hosted by Cardiff University.

V- Interact offers something for everyone wanting to hear from others and discuss how the pandemic has affected their engagement activities, it will provide a great opportunity to learn how people have adapted their engagement for online delivery, explore how this was evaluated, and provide a chance to share your experience and good practice.

Objectives for V-Interact can be viewed here, alongside evaluations of previous meetings. We will publish a draft programme in the summer and if you would like to receive more details, then please register here.

Webinar on Electojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE)

The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) will be hosting a seminar by Jesper Gjerloev, Sam Yee, and the entire EZIE Team on 2 June at 3pm (Dublin). Jesper will give an overview of the EZIE mission to study Earth's auroral electrojets. The title and abstract are below; the Zoom link can be found on the MIST mailing list.

Electojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE): A Cubesat Mission to Study The Electrojets

EZIE will image the magnetic signature of the ionospheric electrojets using the Zeeman splitting of the O2 thermal emissions originating from around 80km altitude. EZIE’s 3 smallsats each carry a microwave electrojet magnetogram (MEM) instrument for multipoint vector magnetic field measurements proximate to the source current thereby revealing the structure and evolution of the electrojets. In situ measurements of the electrojet region have proved elusive because the altitudes are too high for balloons and too low for satellites. EZIE’s multi-point measurements will provide unprecedented 2D current maps allowing for a separation of spatial and temporal variations of the electrojets.

EZIE will address two primary science questions that have remained elusive because of observation limitations:

  • What is the structure and evolution of the auroral electrojet segment of the substorm current wedge?
  • To what extent is the auroral electrojet modulated by localized (hundreds of kilometers) current segments?

EZIE’s science augmentation characterizes the spatiotemporal structure of equatorial electrojets and explores the physical mechanisms of their generation, resulting in EZIE’s third science question:

  • What are the characteristics of the equatorial electrojet dynamics and structure?

The presentation will provide an overview of the mission with a focus on science and implementation. We will show results from comprehensive and realistic end-to-end simulations to illustrate the unprecedented observational capabilities of the EZIE mission.

STFC introductory course in solar and solar-terrestrial physics

This year’s STFC summer school is provisionally planned to be held in person at Durham University from 22–27 August. However, if the government’s easing of restrictions between now and then changes so that an in-person meeting is not deemed sensible, then the school will instead be held online. The final decision on this will be made by 30 June.

For more information, visit the website for the summer school.

Registration is now open, and is free for all STFC funded students. Non-STFC students will be subject to a registration fee and should consult the webpage above for more details.

The summer school is intended as an introduction to solar physics and solar-terrestrial interactions, aimed at PhD students starting in Autumn 2021. The five-day course will consist of a number of lectures delivered by experts from across the UK. The lectures will cover a range of topics, from a general introduction to Plasma Physics to more specialised areas such as magnetic topology.

The preliminary programme is currently available. In addition to the core lectures there will be a careers Q&A, a session on surviving a PhD, an interactive introduction to Python/SunPy and a conference dinner on the Thursday evening. Accommodation for students during the week will be in one of Durham's colleges.

Click here for contact information for the summer school.