In the last seven months, we have been working to make UKSP news items accessible across different platforms in order to increase visibility. The UKSP website now receives around 50–200 visitors per day. This is partly because, when a new UKSP news item is published on the UKSP website, it is also automatically shared across different social media platforms, but mostly thanks to your reposting support.

Recently, UKSP was contacted by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research social media team about joining Mastodon.

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is a microblogging network that is part of the larger Fediverse, a federated ecosystem of social media platforms run by communities, not by for-profit-companies. This makes the Fediverse particularly suitable for science communication in a time where the voices of science frequently tend to be drowned out on other plaforms. UKSP therefore, would like to invite its community and friends to join the conversation and follow the UKSP Mastodon account. The federated nature of the Fediverse originates from the fact that it is not a single website, but many different servers, which means better resilience. It also means that to start participating in the Fediverse, you can make an account on any server in the covenant Fediverse. Whichever  server you sign up on, you can follow people from other servers and they can follow you. Among the many choices you’ll find on https://joinmastodon.org/servers or https://fedi.garden/, a small selection of recommended servers is

https://scicomm.xyz (make sure to visit https://about.scicomm.xyz/doku.php?id=start and maybe mention UK Solar Physics in your sign-up message; they have confirmed that they’ll be happy to have you!)
https://solarsystem.social
https://universeodon.com
https://mastodonapp.uk
https://cupoftea.social

For any help that you may need while joining or exploring the Fediverse, the resources provided at https://fedi.tips/ are an excellent starting point. A reasonable algorithm is to first sign up at your server of choice and fill in your profile. Then, and this is important, write an introduction post about yourself, tag it at the very end of the post with the hashtag #introduction plus other suitable hashtags such as #solarphysics #heliophysics #astronomy #academicmastodon #academicchatter, and pin the post to your profile. Your home timeline will initially be empty until you start following other profiles and hashtags. Copy the @uksolarphysics@mastodon.social and @FediFollows@social.growyourown.services handles into your search bar to find and follow these profiles. Search for and follow hashtags relevant to you. Share your account address with colleagues so they can follow you. Find other profiles to follow via the local or federated timelines, via keyword searches, and via starter packs #starterpack.

UKSP started posting from its new Mastodon account @uksolarphysics@mastodon.social. In addition to distributing news items on the UKSP web page and via the UK Solar Physics newsletter, UKSP has been distributing these items to X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Bluesky and etc.. Now Mastodon has been added to the list, and UKSP invites you to join them!… continue to the full article

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Dear all,

We are pleased to announce you the launch of the new ORP Multi-Facility call for proposals!
This call for proposals is aimed at observing programmes that require multiple astronomical observing facilities to deliver unique scientific programmes.

It is an opportunity to request observing time on multiple facilities through a single scientific proposal and evaluation process. Access is provided to more than eighteen individual facilities, including world-class optical, radio and infrared telescopes.

Deadline for submission: 9 April 2024 – at 14:00 UTC/15:00 BST/16:00 CEST
There are no constraints on the scientific areas that can be proposed.
Observation programmes must involve at least two ORP facilities.
Requests for non-simultaneous (non-time-critical) or time-critical/sensitive observations (e.g. contemporary or with the requested cadence) will be considered.

For more information about the call and how to submit a proposal, please visit :
https://www.orp-h2020.eu/ORP-multi-facility-call [orp-h2020.eu]

This call, including radio facilities, is run in coordination with the ORP-CTAC optical facility call for proposals which can be found here : https://www.orp-h2020.eu/optical-call-2024B [deadline 11-March-2024]

Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone who might be interested.

Thank you for your attention. Contact ta-call@orp-h2020.eu for any advice, technical or scientific
questions.

On behalf of the Opticon-RadioNet Pilot project.

Rob Beswick
Professor of Astrophysics, The University of Manchester
Joint-Director, UK’s SKA Science Regional Centre – https://www.uksrc.org
Head of Science Operations & Support, e-MERLIN/VLBI National Radio Astronomy Facility – www.e-merlin.ac.uk… continue to the full article

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As the name suggests, a nugget, like a lump of gold, is a small piece of valuable material. Traditionally, UKSP nuggets primarily acted to summarise published research papers—which is certainly useful— however, going forward we would like to revise what a nugget can be.

Whilst summarising recently authored papers is the most common subject matter, these brief articles can also be used to share more general information on topics relevant to solar physics in the UK. For example, one could treat their nugget as a short review of recent discoveries, publicising new missions or datasets, advancements in analytical and computational techniques, solicitations for collaborations on topics, or perhaps just an interesting solar event that you think should garner more attention from the community.

To summarise: Nuggets should be a way to spark discussion and share ideas within the community, therefore we would like to broaden the scope of what a UKSP nugget can be.

We warmly invite community members of all levels of seniority to publish and share information on any relevant topic, no matter the scale. Please feel free to get in touch with Matthew Lennard (mglennard1@sheffield.ac.uk) or Ryan Milligan (r.milligan@qub.ac.uk).… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleagues,

As we enter the new academic year, many of us will welcome new PhD students and other colleagues into our solar groups. Please pass this message onto new group members, and please ask them to sign up for the UKSP mailing list using:
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/uksp (click on “Subscribe” to join the mailing list).

More information about UKSP can be found on our website:
https://uksolphys.org

Recent news items:
https://uksolphys.org/news/recent-news-summary/

Current UKSP council members:
https://uksolphys.org/about-uksp/

Kind regards,

Natasha Jeffrey, on behalf of the UKSP Council… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleagues,

We have created a questionnaire to help determine the best way for our solar community to meet and share our results in the future.

The short questionnaire can be found here:

https://forms.gle/GfnTkU529Zm5juXd6

All responses are anonymous. Please complete the questionnaire by October 1st.

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

UKSP Council… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleagues,

The UKSP Business Meeting was held on the 3rd of July 2023 at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM).

The presentations including AGP and SSAP updates can be found here:
https://uksolphys.org/uksp-business-meeting/

Kind regards,
Natasha on behalf of the UKSP Council… continue to the full article

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https://uksolphys.org/summer-schools-rota-guidance/

The MIST & UKSP councils have:

(1) Reviewed the guidelines for the STFC Introductory Course in Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics summer school. The new version can be found on the UKSP website and contains information for hosts (confirmed and potential).

https://uksolphys.org/wp-content/uploads/SummerSchoolGuidelines_2023_2029.pdf

(2) Updated the list of proposed hosts until 2029.

***Proposed hosts – please check you are happy with the schedule.***

Previous hosts of the introductory (and advanced solar summer school) can now be found here:

https://uksolphys.org/wp-content/uploads/Previous_STFC_Summer_School_Hosts.pdf

Kind regards,
UKSP & MIST Councils… continue to the full article

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European Solar Physics Division (ESPD) 2023 Prizes

• The 2023 ESPD Patricia Edwin PhD Thesis Prize will be awarded to a young researcher whose PhD thesis/viva was defended in 2022.
• The 2023 ESPD Giancarlo Noci Early Career Prize will be awarded to a young researcher whose PhD was awarded after 01/01/2019 (with possible extension).
• ESPD Kees Zwaan Inspirational Community Prize will be awarded, with the aim of recognising researchers/technicians/organisations/groups whose contribution goes beyond scientific research in the field of Solar Physics.

The deadline for nominations is February 5th, 2023.

More info is here:
https://www.eps.org/members/group_content_view.asp?group=85203&id=641304

—

Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)-Thesis Prizes

• Patricia Tomkins Thesis Prize: The Patricia Tomkins Prize, for the best doctoral thesis in instrumentation science for astronomy and geophysics is awarded annually.
  More info is here: https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2285-patricia-tomkins-thesis-prize
• Keith Runcorn Prize: The Keith Runcorn Prize for the best doctoral thesis in geophysics (including planetary science and solar physics) is awarded annually.
  More info is here: https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2277-keith-runcorn-thesis-prize

The deadline for nominations is January 31st, 2023.… continue to the full article

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Save the Date – STFC External Innovations Showcase

Join us at an in-person event in London to hear about our exciting funding plans for the next two years:

• launching our new leading-edge ‘Late-Stage Research and Development Scheme’ joint with Innovate UK, to progress ideas from the STFC Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics (PPAN) community towards market readiness – Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-7;
• launching the next round of our ‘Early-Stage Research and Development Scheme’ to support research and development in the PPAN community TRL 1-5;
• announcing our plans for the STFC Horizons Programme with a new call with a focus on Net Zero;
• sharing our plans for the STFC Cluster funding awards based at our world leading facilities in the UK; and
• giving details of a new Industry Engagement Fund which builds on the success of the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) scheme and will see industry work with our world class facilities and expertise to support industrial challenges.

The showcase event will highlight these opportunities and give you an opportunity to network and ask questions. The event is free to attend, and we would be delighted to see you there.

Secure a place through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/innovation-showcase-event-tickets-445247696847… continue to the full article

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