MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

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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
Full details can be found here: https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/royal-astronomical-society-unveils-2023-award-winners.

New MIST Council 2021-

There have been some recent ingoings and outgoings at MIST Council - please see below our current composition!:

  • Oliver Allanson, Exeter (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2024 -- Chair
  • Beatriz Sánchez-Cano, Leicester (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2024
  • Mathew Owens, Reading (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2023
  • Jasmine Sandhu, Northumbria (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2023 -- Vice-Chair
  • Maria-Theresia Walach, Lancaster (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2022
  • Sarah Badman, Lancaster (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), to 2022
    (co-opted in 2021 in lieu of outgoing councillor Greg Hunt)

Charter amendment and MIST Council elections open

Nominations for MIST Council open today and run through to 8 August 2021! Please feel free to put yourself forward for election – the voting will open shortly after the deadline and run through to the end of August. The positions available are:

  • 2 members of MIST Council
  • 1 student representative (pending the amendment below passing)

Please email nominations to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 8 August 2021. Thank you!

Charter amendment

We also move to amend the following articles of the MIST Charter as demonstrated below. Bold type indicates additions and struck text indicates deletions. Please respond to the email on the MIST mailing list before 8 August 2021 if you would like to object to the amendment; MIST Charter provides that it will pass if less than 10% of the mailing list opposes its passing. 

4.1  MIST council is the collective term for the officers of MIST and consists of six individuals and one student representative from the MIST community.

5.1 Members of MIST council serve terms of three years, except for the student representative who serves a term of one year.

5.2 Elections will be announced at the Spring MIST meeting and voting must begin within two months of the Spring MIST meeting. Two slots on MIST council will be open in a given normal election year, alongside the student representative.

5.10 Candidates for student representative must not have submitted their PhD thesis at the time that nominations close.

Spring MIST 2023

Spring MIST will be held at the University of Birmingham from 3rd to 5th April 2023.

With eight sessions dedicated to MIST science this is an excellent opportunity to see the truly excellent and world-class research being done across the UK. Included in the registration we will also have a Poster Session and Drinks Reception, a Conference Banquet held at the beautiful Birmingham Botanical Gardens and, after a Covid-induced break, the Spring MIST Football Tournament will also be back. 

There are two registration options: with or without B&B accommodation. All tickets include:

  • Registration for all 3 days of the conference
  • Hot lunch on each day of the conference (Mon, Tue, Wed)
  • Tea/Coffee breaks with pastries
  • Poster session (with drink included)
  • Conference Banquet (Tuesday night) 

The accommodation option includes B&B at the venue (Edgbaston Park Hotel, University of Birmingham) on the Monday and Tuesday night.

The price is £350 for registration with accommodation and £200 for just registration (no accommodation).

Abstract submissions closes on January 30th and Registration closes on February 20th (please register as early as possible to help with the logistic planning!). 

All the details, links to submit abstracts and register are available here: https://spaceweather.bham.ac.uk/conference/spring-mist-2023/ 

We look forward to seeing you at Spring MIST 2023!

Autumn MIST 2022

Autumn MIST will be held on 18th November 2022, at the Geological Society in London (Burlington House).

Abstract submission is closed.

Talks will be given in a hybrid format and posters will be presented in person only.

Registration will close on 11/11/22. You must preregister as we cannot accept registration on the day. Registration is £10 for online attendance, £20 for student in person attendance and £30 for staff in person attendance. The link for registration is below:

https://www.store.reading.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-science/department-of-meteorology/autumn-mist

Code of Conduct

We expect all attendees to follow the RAS code of conduct which can be found here:https://ras.ac.uk/code-conduct-ras-meetings

If you have any queries, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Autumn MIST 2021

MIST Council are planning to hold Autumn MIST 2021 on Thursday 25th - Friday 26th November 2021.

  • This will be online only (zoom + gathertown)
  • Here is the abstract submission form for Autumn MIST 2021 https://forms.gle/gDPJLYMK7uXH9ZLi8  - Please submit by end of Friday 22nd October.
  • We will then aim to circulate the programme by Friday 5th November, to give 3 weeks for poster/talk prep.
  • Contributions are very welcome from all areas of MIST science, and you may submit more than one abstract by submitting the form more than once.
  • Exact timings will follow – but we will plan to have a schedule similar to last year: roughly 10am until 3pm each day (with breaks), and this will include both poster and oral sessions.

Please e-mail MIST council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions or encounter any problems with submission.

V- Interact and Interact 2022

Dear Colleague

Due to the ongoing Covid situation, Interact 2021 will now be held as an online event. Entitled V- Interact, this free one day online symposium will take place on Tuesday 14 September 2021 as a series of themed workshops. Commencing with an opening plenary, we will then focus on two core topics: running and evaluating online engagement and supporting an equitable Covid recovery. Above all, it is a chance to share your online experiences and take part in discussions which will help shape engagement work going forward.

The event will also help shape our programme for Interact 2022, which will go ahead in person on 13–14 September 2022, hosted by Cardiff University.

V- Interact offers something for everyone wanting to hear from others and discuss how the pandemic has affected their engagement activities, it will provide a great opportunity to learn how people have adapted their engagement for online delivery, explore how this was evaluated, and provide a chance to share your experience and good practice.

Objectives for V-Interact can be viewed here, alongside evaluations of previous meetings. We will publish a draft programme in the summer and if you would like to receive more details, then please register here.

Webinar on Electojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE)

The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) will be hosting a seminar by Jesper Gjerloev, Sam Yee, and the entire EZIE Team on 2 June at 3pm (Dublin). Jesper will give an overview of the EZIE mission to study Earth's auroral electrojets. The title and abstract are below; the Zoom link can be found on the MIST mailing list.

Electojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE): A Cubesat Mission to Study The Electrojets

EZIE will image the magnetic signature of the ionospheric electrojets using the Zeeman splitting of the O2 thermal emissions originating from around 80km altitude. EZIE’s 3 smallsats each carry a microwave electrojet magnetogram (MEM) instrument for multipoint vector magnetic field measurements proximate to the source current thereby revealing the structure and evolution of the electrojets. In situ measurements of the electrojet region have proved elusive because the altitudes are too high for balloons and too low for satellites. EZIE’s multi-point measurements will provide unprecedented 2D current maps allowing for a separation of spatial and temporal variations of the electrojets.

EZIE will address two primary science questions that have remained elusive because of observation limitations:

  • What is the structure and evolution of the auroral electrojet segment of the substorm current wedge?
  • To what extent is the auroral electrojet modulated by localized (hundreds of kilometers) current segments?

EZIE’s science augmentation characterizes the spatiotemporal structure of equatorial electrojets and explores the physical mechanisms of their generation, resulting in EZIE’s third science question:

  • What are the characteristics of the equatorial electrojet dynamics and structure?

The presentation will provide an overview of the mission with a focus on science and implementation. We will show results from comprehensive and realistic end-to-end simulations to illustrate the unprecedented observational capabilities of the EZIE mission.