The Electric Propulsion Club at 草榴社区 (UAH) won first place at the 2025 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Conference Region II Student Conference in Raleigh, N.C.

Nine undergraduate and graduate students at 草榴社区 (UAH) received national scholarships and fellowships during the spring 2025 semester.

The 22nd Annual International Astrophysics Conference (AIAC), held this year in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, brought together leading scientists from across the globe to discuss the latest breakthroughs and challenges in solar wind and local interstellar medium physics. The conference, known for its focus on the universality of physical processes in space plasma physics, drew researchers, students, and mission scientists for a week of presentations, collaboration, and enlightened dialogue.

At this year鈥檚 conference, there were exciting updates from several space missions, including (PSP), which completed its closest-ever approach to the Sun on December 24, 2024. This landmark event, along with the upcoming (IMAP) and missions, served as focal points for many of the presentations and discussions.

鈥淭here were very exciting results from the NASA Parker Solar Probe mission that is exploring the deepest parts of the Sun's atmosphere,鈥� says Dr. Gary Zank, the director of the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), the Aerospace Rocketdyne endowed chair of the Department of Space Science (SPA) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), and the director of AIAC. 鈥淭hese exciting results are shedding light on how the atmosphere of the Sun is heated to well over 1 million degrees, which has been an enduring mystery for over 100 years. Several of our UAH scientists and students were deeply involved in some of these results.鈥�

Attendees listen to scientific discussions and research presentations at the 22nd Annual International Astrophysics Conference.

The AIAC emphasized how distinct yet complementary missions are reshaping our understanding of the Sun and its environment. Zank noted that while Parker Solar Probe investigates the solar wind鈥檚 origins near the Sun, IMAP will observe related phenomena near Earth, offering insights into space weather that impacts satellite operations and global communications.

鈥淭hese are all entirely different missions,鈥� Zank explained. 鈥淧arker Solar Probe is exploring the origins of the solar wind, including the generation of shock waves, structures, the driving of magnetized turbulence, accelerating highly energetic particles,and more. All of these will be measured and observed by IMAP at the location of the Earth, and this will feed into our deeper understanding of Space Weather.鈥�

Zank says this has important implications for Earth-bound satellites that are important for communications, navigation, military situational awareness and more. 鈥淚MAP is also exploring the boundaries of the solar wind where the solar wind meets the local interstellar medium, which has nothing to do with PSP.鈥�

鈥淗elioSwarm, on the other hand, will be exploring the nature of magnetic turbulence in the solar wind at very small scales. This is typically created in situ by larger scale processes within the solar wind, and these can originate low in the Sun's atmosphere where PSP is exploring,鈥� Zank explained. 鈥淔urthermore, HelioSwarm is a configuration of 9 spacecraft unlike the single IMAP and PSP spacecraft, meaning that the kinds of measurements, multi-point, will be completely different. So all of these considerations informed and influenced conversations and scientific directions at the AIAC.鈥�

One of the defining themes of AIAC -  the universality of physical processes such as turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and shock acceleration - was clearly reflected throughout the presentations.

鈥淐ertain processes such as turbulence and magnetic reconnection or particle acceleration by shock waves or magnetic islands exist throughout the universe and not just in the solar wind or the Sun's atmosphere,鈥� Zank says. 鈥淭hese processes occur around other stars, in the interstellar medium, and even in different galaxies.鈥�

The conference served as a launchpad for new collaborations and interdisciplinary exploration, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas between early-career researchers and seasoned experts.

鈥淐ollaborations and interdisciplinary work are a feature of a conference of this kind -- the meeting is designed to facilitate students and researchers engaging and discussing their work and identifying areas of common interest and where progress and new breakthroughs can be made," says Zank.

Held in Santiago de Compostela, the location itself added to the unique atmosphere of the meeting.

鈥淏y being located in a single hotel and having the opportunity to meet in a beautiful, vibrant and culturally rich city means people from all scientific backgrounds and fields want to attend the meeting. This allows one to create a scientifically highly diverse meeting which makes transdisciplinary interactions possible,鈥� Zank says.

Looking ahead, the AIAC is already setting its sights on new frontiers in heliophysics and interstellar studies.

鈥淓very spacecraft that goes to a new region or environment or makes new kinds of measurements, whether multipoint or at unexplored scales, will make exciting discoveries that create new frontiers,鈥� Zank says. 鈥淣ASA's IMAP will launch in September of this year and we can expect groundbreaking discoveries almost immediately. This will undoubtedly be a major theme of next year's AIAC meeting.鈥�

Zank also shared words of encouragement for prospective students eyeing careers in space science.

鈥淎s evidenced by the number of students applying to the program, the opportunities to attend meetings like the AIAC, to be constantly at the frontiers of space science research working with world-class faculty make the Space Science graduate program one of the most exciting programs in the world,鈥� he says.

With fresh insights and collaborative spirit, the global scientific community at the 22nd AIAC once again affirmed its reputation as a cornerstone event in the field of space physics.

草榴社区 (UAH) announced awards of tenure and/or promotion for 22 faculty members and recognized eight who were granted emeritus status over the past year at the University Awards for Excellence.

草榴社区 (UAH) honors the outstanding work of its students during the spring 2025 semester with the announcement of the Dean鈥檚 and President鈥檚 lists.

草榴社区 (UAH) announced today the introduction of the Charger EDGE (Educational Discount for Graduate Excellence) program.

Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti, the Pei-Ling Chan Endowed Chair at 草榴社区 (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, has co-authored a paper that uses young stars to develop a more accurate map of the outer gas disk of the Milky Way galaxy.

草榴社区 (UAH) celebrated 14 faculty and staff members for their outstanding achievements during the 2024-25 academic year at the 2025 University Awards for Excellence ceremony on May 1.

Dr. Xiaomin Chen, a researcher at 草榴社区, has published a paper in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), that offers a new model capable of resolving turbulence and eddies within hurricanes as they transition from water to land.

The Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) has announced the recipients of its 2025-26 scholarships and fellowships. ASGC is located on the campus of 草榴社区 (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System.