The purpose of the Solar Physics Division (SPD) is the advancement of the study of the Sun and the coordination of such research with other branches of science. The SPD holds annual scientific meetings, awards several different prizes, and supports students in various ways.

NEW

24th January 2023 - 2023 Thomas Metcalf SPD Travel Awards – Call for Applications from Meeting Organizers

The Solar Physics Division (SPD) hereby announces the Thomas Metcalf SPD Travel Award Program for 2023. The Thomas Metcalf Travel Fund was established in 2007 with generous contributions from his family and many others to help early-career scientists attend meetings relevant to solar physics. For this year, two or three meetings will be selected by the Metcalf Travel Award Committee (MTAC) on the basis of brief applications from Meeting Organizers. The total amount available this year is expected to be about $10,000.

23rd January 2023 - AAS Solar Physics Division Announces 2023 Hale and Harvey Prizes

The Solar Physics Division (SPD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is proud to announce the 2023 winners of its two most prestigious annual scientific prizes. Dr. George H. Fisher of the University of California Berkeley’s Space Sciences Lab (SSL) in Berkeley, CA is awarded the George Ellery Hale Prize for his pioneering work on modeling of solar and stellar flares and important contributions to the studies of magnetic field in the solar interior. Dr. Bin Chen of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ is awarded the Karen Harvey Prize for his innovative research of physics of solar flares.

28th October 2022 - Graduate Student & Postdoc Fair on Monday, November 14, 2022

See the Grad & Postdoc Fair Agenda here! 

The SPD Committee will host its annual Graduate Student & Postdoc Fair virtually on Monday, November 14, 2022—this is to ensure that the event happens before the first grad school deadlines, December 1. The goal of this event is to introduce prospective grad students and postdocs to US-based institutions that teach and/or perform research in solar physics.

This virtual event is split into two half-day focus sessions. The earlier session (9am - 12pm US Pacific Standard Time; 5pm - 8pm UTC) is aimed at prospective graduate students, while the later session (12pm - 2pm US Pacific Standard Time; 8pm-10 pm UTC) is directed towards postdoctoral scholars. Last year’s Fair had about 150 early-career participants from the US as well as from international institutions. Both the grad student session and postdoc session are divided into two parts: 1) a series of brief institutional presentations and 2) institutional breakout Q&A discussions.

If you are a prospective grad student OR postdoc and would like to attend, please register via this Google Form to indicate your interest! We will make sure to contact all those who sign up with details on how to attend.

HELP SPREAD THE WORD! We aim to infuse Solar Physics with fresh perspectives and diversity of thought! The more attendees we have, the brighter the future of our scientific community will be! Share the grad/postdoc interest link above with any and all potential attendees!

Thanks for doing your part to support the future of the Solar Physics community!

Please contact this year’s Fair Facilitators, Shea Hess-Webber and Erika Palmerio, if you have further questions.

See the Grad & Postdoc Fair Agenda here! 

24th May 2022 - AAS Solar Physics Division Announces 2022 Popular Media Awards

The AAS Solar Physics Division (SPD) is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Popular Media Awards are Colin Stuart, Mara Johnson-Groh, and Joy Ng.

• Colin Stuart is awarded for his article “Solar Trouble: How Well Do We Know the Sun?,” published in the April 2021 edition of Sky & Telescope Magazine.
• Mara Johnson-Groh and Joy Ng are jointly recognized for their article and accompanying video entitled “NASA Enters the Solar Atmosphere for the First Time, Bringing New Discoveries,” published on 2021-12-14 on nasa.gov and YouTube, respectively.

The SPD Popular Media Awards are presented annually to authors of popular articles and new media about the Sun or the relationship between the Sun and Earth. More information about the annual award can be found on the SPD website and how to submit content for consideration for next year’s award. The SPD would like to thank Angela DesJardins and Cooper Downs for their 10 years of service on the Popular Media Awards committee and welcome Erika Palmerio and Trae Winter as new committee members.