ESA Science & Technology - PROBA2 - Fifth Call for Guest Investigators

Around five Guest Investigators or teams will be selected to visit the PROBA2 Science Center at the Royal Observatory of Belgium between September 2014 and March 2015, where they will gain from the detailed knowledge of the Principal Investigators' teams working on SWAP and LYRA. Each Guest Investigator or team should have the goal of publishing a paper in a peer-reviewed journal, whilst all will be asked to write a short report of their stay and activities in Belgium.

Guest Investigators will develop expertise and participate in routine operation of the instruments to set up a dedicated observation campaign in accordance with the needs of their proposal. Guest Investigators may be reimbursed for travel, accommodation and living expenses up to a maximum of EUR5000. They may also be eligible for financial support to present their research at an international conference, during their time at the PROBA2 Science Center.

During the selection process, special consideration will be given to young post-docs and PhD students, collaborative research teams with members from more than one research institute, and to proposals addressing the research topics to which SWAP and LYRA are particularly well-suited (see "PROBA2 research questions" for details):

• The global structure of the EUV corona
• Studies of the evolution of the corona and solar irradiance over the course of solar cycle 24
• Large-scale propagating waves in the corona (EUV waves)
• The mechanisms responsible for the initiation and driving of solar eruptions and associated phenomena
• Studies of the interface between the coronal and heliospheric magnetic fields

Proposals must include:

• a short CV of the candidate Guest Investigator
• a maximum two-page description of the proposed research including a description of the required SWAP and LYRA data. Information on the capabilities of the SWAP and LYRA instruments is available on the website of the PROBA2 Science Center or from Principal Investigators' teams
• at least one publication authored by the candidate Guest Investigator related to the proposed research
• a short motivation and estimate for the requested financial support as well as a motivation and timeframe of an eventual visit to the SWAP and LYRA Principal Investigator teams
• if the candidate Guest Investigator is a PhD-student, a letter of recommendation from the thesis supervisor is also requested
   

Proposals should be sent in PDF format to swap_lyraoma.be. (Questions about the programme or application process can be sent to the same address.)

Full details of this Call are available at the related links in the right-hand menu.

About PROBA2
PROBA2 is the second of ESA's "PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy" spacecraft, part of ESA's in-orbit Technology Demonstration Programme. Launched on 2 November 2009, the PROBA2 spacecraft carries a number of technology demonstrators as well as four scientific experiments that address topics in solar science and space weather. Two of these experiments are the solar observation experiments LYRA (a Large Yield RAdiometer) and SWAP (Sun Watcher using APS detectors and image Processing).