MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

Latest news

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.

RAS Awards

The Royal Astronomical Society announced their award recipients last week, and MIST Council would like to congratulate all that received an award. In particular, we would like to highlight the following members of the MIST Community, whose work has been recognised:
  • Professor Nick Achilleos (University College London) - Chapman Medal
  • Dr Oliver Allanson (University of Birmingham) - Fowler Award
  • Dr Ravindra Desai (University of Warwick) - Winton Award & RAS Higher Education Award
  • Professor Marina Galand (Imperial College London) - James Dungey Lecture

UK Solar Orbiter workshop in 2019

The UK Solar Orbiter Workshop is to be held on 3–4 June 2019 at University College London. For more details, visit the conference website, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or click here to register. All members of the UK solar physics community interested in the Solar Orbiter mission goals are encouraged to attend, and registration will close on 15 May 2019. Due to venue limitations the number of participant is capped, and early registration is encouraged.

Solar Orbiter is an ESA/NASA mission designed to answer some of the key questions in heliophysics, from the origin and variability of the solar wind to the link between solar eruptions, magnetic fields and energetic particles. Solar Orbiter will have a unique combination of in-situ and remote-sensing instruments, probing the atmosphere close to the Sun in and out of the ecliptic plane. The modeling of the magnetic environment that will be experienced by the satellite and its connection to the Sun will be key to the success of both the in-flight operations as well as to the mission’s scientific goals.
With the launch of Solar orbiter scheduled for February 2020, the UK solar Orbiter Workshop aims to bring together the expertise of the UK solar community in magnetic modeling and model validation, to increase the UK impact on the international efforts in preparation for Solar Orbiter operations, and to coordinate the UK efforts for the exploitation of the satellite observations.

Interact 2019: An engagement symposium

Following the huge success of Interact 2017, this landmark symposium will be returning as Interact 2019 on Wednesday 4th September 2019 at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston, Lancashire. Click here for registration details and to find out more.

Spanning the physical and life sciences this event offers something for everyone with an interest in improving their public engagement capabilities. It will provide a fantastic opportunity to learn new ways to engage with your audience, explore the barriers to engagement and discuss how the engagement landscape is changing. But above all, it will be a chance to share your experiences with like-minded people in a fun and friendly environment.

The STFC, IOP, SEPnet, RSC, RAS Ogden Trust and UCLan are partnering together to develop an inspiring, challenging and refreshing programme on the following key themes:

  • Evaluation & Impact and REF2021
  • Reaching under-served audiences
  • Schools outreach
  • Sharing best and worst practice in a safe space

 

The detailed content of the day will be co-created and you will be able to vote on proposals by fellow delegates, so get your thinking caps on!

Partially Ionised Plasmas in Astrophysics: PIPA2019

The Partially Ionised Plasmas in Astrophysics (PIPA2019) conference is to be held in Mallorca in June 3-7, 2019. The meeting will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between participants from all areas of astrophysics in which partially ionised plasmas play a capital role, from the Earth's ionosphere to partially ionised regions in galaxies, which also includes solar chromosphere, interstellar medium, stellar formation, protostellar discs, planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, etc. For information about the conference, including the venue, accommodation, preliminary invited speakers and talks, click here. The deadline for registration, abstract submission and hotel reservations is 1 April 2019.

 

RAS discussion meeting on space weather monitoring at L1 and L5

A Royal Astronomical Society discussion meeting entitled Transitioning Research and Instrument Expertise in Heliophysics into Space Weather Monitoring Capabilities at L1 and L5 is to be held at Burlington House on 8 March, convened by Richard Harrison (STFC), Jackie Davies (STFC), and Jonny Rae (MSSL). This meeting specifically targets the exploitation of our research and instrumentation for space weather applications, in particular, associated with the ESA Lagrange mission and the associated NASA L1 mission. The RAS page for the meeting is here, and the programme is available here.

Read more: RAS discussion meeting on space weather monitoring at L1 and L5

NAM abstract submissions open for 2019

The online abstract submission system for the 2019 Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting is now open. The deadline for abstract submissions is 15 March and abstracts can be submitted through the NAM 2019 website.

NAM 2019 will be held at Lancaster University between 30 June–4 July. Further information and a full list of parallel sessions is available on the event website. Additional practical information will be added to the site prior to registration opening on Mon 25 February, and it is not necessary to register to submit an abstract.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The LOC and SOC look forward to welcoming you to Lancaster in the summer!

Read more: NAM abstract submissions open for 2019