SCOSTEP aims at bringing together scientists with an interest in solar-terrestrial physics, covering the topics of fundamental solar physics, solar variability, Sun-Earth relations, and future missions and observations. The committee regularly organizes workshops to foster collaborations between the Swiss institutes, to promote a lively exchange between workshop participants, and to strengthen the Swiss solar-terrestrial community.
Several universities/institutes in Switzerland work on solar-terrestrial physics:
- The Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò, Locarno (IRSOL) studies fundamental solar physics and operates a 45 cm solar telescope in the South of Switzerland. It is affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana.
- The Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern hosts a research group on space weather, which studies the physics of eruptions on the Sun and stars and investigates their predictability using machine learning.
- The Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos / World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) focuses on research of the Sun, climate modeling, and measurements of the solar irradiance and has an affiliation with ETH Zurich.
- The Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz has a large expertise on high-energy solar physics and built STIX, the X-ray instrument that launched on board Solar Orbiter in 2020.
Contact
National Committee of the Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics (NC SCOSTEP)
c/o Prof. Dr. Lucia Kleint
Université de Berne
Astronomisches Institut
Sidlerstrasse 5
3012 Berne