Europlanet Public Engagement Funding Program 2022

The Europlanet Society has set up a funding scheme for funding outreach projects. The prize, awarded annually, varies from 1000 to 5000 euros depending on the project selected. The aim is to widen the reach of the scientific community. It is awarded to individuals or groups that come up with innovative ideas along with a social impact.

This year's award has been awarded to Katia Pinheiro and her team for the creative project 'Bimbim's Team: A Journey to the Planets'. Katia is an active member of our IAGA social media, responsible for video creation and production. She is also the co-chair of the Geomagnetic Observation Working Group. Along with two more members of the IAGA social media and her other colleagues, she plans to introduce little kids to the interesting world of planets and the solar system. 

 

Congratulations to the team! 'Bimbim's Team' will do sets of stories about planetary science through the use of puppets. This will make education fun as well as knowledgeable. To get a sneak peak of the puppets, watch this video.

To get all updates about the project and the final movies, stay tuned on IAGA social media channels!

On This Day #1

If we look back on this day in history, it marks the birth anniversary of Hans Christian Ørsted. He was a Danish physicist and chemist born on 14th August 1977 who formed the foundation of electromagnetism.

A portrait of Hans Christian Ørsted by Christian Albrecht Jensen (1842). Source: Wikipedia

The presence of an electric current deflects a compass needle was the starting point of this discovery. Now, we apply it to objects as big and far away as the planets and space. Much of what the IAGA community does is based on the interaction of electric and magnetic fields.

In his honour, Ørsted (Oe) is the unit of magnetic field strength in the CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system of units. The first Danish satellite was also named after him. The Ørsted satellite launched in 1999 provided magnetic field data around Earth. Many geomagnetic field models make use of this data even today.

6th IAGA Summer School

The 6th IAGA Summer School will be conducted from 6th to 11th July 2023 in Niemegk Observatory, Germany. As always, it is conducted in the week before the General Assembly. The IUGG Assembly will take place in Berlin, Germany from 11th to 20th July 2023.

IAGA will sponsor around 20 early career researchers (ECRs) to attend and stay at the summer school. The school provides a chance to interact with fellow ECRs in the community and gives an understanding about a wide range of topics relating to magnetism and aeronomy.

Images from the IAGA 2017 summer school hosted by SANSA Space Science, Hermanus in South Africa.

The last date to apply is 30th September. ECRs need to fill the application form and submit it to the head of the IAGA Division they belong to. To know more about the application process, click here.

To know more about IAGA and its Summer Schools, look for our blog series 'All things IAGA' in the right hand panel, or click here.