An artistic take on science – vocational secondary school training with the Vlasiator team

Hello, I am Lynn an 8th grade student from the English school Helsinki and I am very interested in physics and mathematics. I had the opportunity to have a one week work practice program in the space physics research team at the university of Helsinki in spring of 2022.

During this week I spent my time mainly learning about colormaps and their usage. I was also experimenting with code and a simulation from the Vlasiator group while trying to figure out which colormap is the best for research. I also got to attend a couple of meetings and lectures. I was also able to present my results in the group meeting.

To find out which colormap was best I went through all available colormaps and then created two opinion polls for others to vote on.

nipy_spectral

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Recruiting summer trainees for 2022

The UH Space Physics Group is recruiting summer trainees! We are offering several positions which will challenge and inspire new space scientists, with topics ranging from solar eruptions such as coronal mass ejections to the compilated plasma dynamics of near-Earth space. Most projects will use either the world’s most accurate space weather simulation Vlasiator or the leading european space weather simulation EUHFORIA, both developed by members of our groups. Some projects will also include direct analysis of satellite observation datasets. Experience with Python and basics of plasma physics are a plus, but not required. Most positions provide an excellent topic for BSc or MSc theses!

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Getting a glimpse of a physicist’s job: Vocational secondary school training experience in the Space Physics group

Text: Ovee Tulaskar, 9th grade (TET student)
Finnish International School of Tampere (FISTA)

During the past week, the Space Physics group had the pleasure to receive the visit of 15-year-old Ovee Tulaskar from the International Finnish School of Tampere (FISTA). The aim for Ovee was to get familiar with the workplace environment and the day-to-day work of research scientists at various career stages. At the end of the week, Ovee wrote a summary of her experience in which she reflects upon what she has learnt and her impressions on the academic world.

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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Fellow Position in Space Physics Group at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Finland (remote work possible)

The Space Physics Group of the University of Helsinki is a leading European space physics group specialised both in computational modelling of space plasmas and in spacecraft observations. We are the leading host for the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research of Sustainable Space, where our target is to understand the space environment to be able to build more durable small satellites for the future. The Centre of Excellence is essentially a space programme to build and launch three nanosatellites, each of which has both an ambitious science programme as well as a technology demonstration payload. The Space Physics group is also a home to the novel Vlasiator code, providing an unprecedented view of the global solar wind – magnetosphere – ionosphere system at ion kinetic scales.

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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Fellow Position in Space Physics Group at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Finland (remote work possible)

The Space Physics Group of the University of Helsinki is a leading European space physics group specialised both in computational modelling of space plasmas and in spacecraft observations. In particular we are the PI institute for the global magnetospheric beyond-MHD simulation Vlasiator.

We have recently completed the first 6-dimensional runs of the entire magnetosphere, offering high-resolution results both from the 3D real space as well as from the 3D velocity space, revealing the first glimpses at what the ion-kinetic global magnetosphere looks like. We are excited to open a postdoctoral fellow position for a 2-year project, funded by the prestigious European Research Council. The postdoctoral fellow will focus on the 3D reconnection process within the simulation, looking both at the dayside and tail reconnection which occur simultaneously in the same simulation box.

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Project Coordinator for Marie-Curie Innovative Training Network SWATNet

We are seeking a PROJECT COORDINATOR for Marie-Curie Innovative Training Network SWATNet (Space Weather Awareness Training Network) at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki. The position is for 3.5 years and would start on 1st of May or June, 2021

The SWATNet project establishes a unique PhD network in the field of heliophysics. The project aims at breakthroughs in our physical understanding – and ultimately forecasting – of key  Space Weather agents at Earth. The Consortium consists of nine Parties from eight European countries (Finland, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, UK, Italy, Poland and Portugal), as well as several recognized companies in the field. The project aims to educate 12 PhD students in the field of heliophysics with training by experienced supervisors in highly competitive, international research environments. 

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Recruiting summer trainees for 2021

The UH Space Physics Group is recruiting summer trainees! Trainees will work with the space weather simulation Vlasiator and with projects investigating solar eruptions in the corona and interplanetary space. Both projects dealing with modelling and data analysis are possible. Experience with Python and basics of plasma physics are a plus, but not required. Most positions provide an excellent topic for BSc or MSc theses!

A short overview of some of our offered topics are listed below, full descriptions and staff members who can answer your questions can be found in our thesis section. Please indicate in your application which projects you are interested in and any preference between modelling, observations/data analysis or theory. Also, please indicate if you would like to do your BSc or MSc work based on your summer trainee work.

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JOB OPENING: Postdoctoral Researcher Position in the Space Physics Group

The Space Physics Group of the University of Helsinki is a leading European space physics group specialised both in observations and theoretical/computational modelling of space plasmas. We are now opening a postdoctoral researcher position for a 2-year project, funded by the University of Helsinki. The postdoctoral researcher will focus on imaging of solar radio bursts associated with solar eruptions with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR).

The candidate should hold a PhD in solar or space physics, or a related field. Prior knowledge and useful skills include experience with Python data analysis and radio observations. In particular, we welcome candidates with previous knowledge of radio interferometry.

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Job opportunity: GPU-programmer for scientific computing

The Space Physics Group at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, is a leading European research group specialised in numerical modelling of space plasmas using high-performance computing. We develop Vlasiator, massively hybrid-parallelized simulation in order to investigate the near-Earth space. We are now looking to hire a GPU-programmer to join our team in a software engineer position.

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WE ARE HIRING: Two Postdoctoral Fellow Positions (remote work possible)

The Space Physics Group of the University of Helsinki is a leading European space physics group specialised both in observations and theoretical/computational modelling of space plasmas. We develop in particular the global magnetospheric hybrid-Vlasov simulation Vlasiator and have a strong focus on solar eruptions and planetary radiation belts.
We are now opening two postdoctoral fellow positions for a 2-year project with possible extension, funded by the Academy of Finland. The postdoctoral fellows will focus on:
Postdoc 1: Using, developing and running Vlasiator to model space plasmas in extreme conditions
Postdoc 2: Applying Extreme Value Theory to  in situ measurements of electron fluxes in the Earth’s radiation belts.

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