- Email: [email protected]
Cheng Fang - Vice-Chair of Scientific Commission E: Research in Astrophysics from Space
Germany are still not solved, 8 years later, and it might still take several more years to do so
scientific assemblies and meetings. I hope that COSPAR, as well as other research organizations, is a platform where this problem can be aired.
Third condition: Meet the right people
There is one beautiful thing about young scientists that is worth much more than money or prestigious awards: most of them are extremely motivated. But unfortunately I have seen too many friends and colleagues losing their motivation because of the many difficulties and problems they have encountered when trying to pursue a scientific career, particularly in Germany, but this is probably also true for other countries. I think that among the three conditions I mentioned above, only luck is one that we cannot do anything about. But working to support young scientists and bringing them together within the scientific community is something that we can do, and COSPAR should continue to play a role here.
Since the end of my studies in Berlin, I have been motivated to work on atmospheric spectroscopy, and I had the luck to work during my PhD thesis in the group of Guy Guelachvili who is one of the pioneers of highresolution Fourier-transform spectroscopy. As post-doctoral researcher (1995-1999), I worked in the group of John P. Burrows at the University of Bremen in Germany, for the GOME and SCIAMACHY satellite projects, the first European remote-sensing instruments that are able to monitor tropospheric chemistry. Then, in 1999, I joined the group of Jean-Marie Flaud in Paris, one of the best spectroscopists working in the field of atmospheric physics and chemistry. I am deeply convinced that working with these scientists has been extremely important, since I learned from them how to evolve in science and how to make the right decisions. (One often learns a lot just by observation.) And these are only the most important people among the many others whom I met over the last 15 years. Probably space science is an area where people come together a lot and where exchange of ideas is particularly important (and not only because of the size of the projects).
Cheng Fang - Vice-Chair of Scientific Commission E: Research in Astrophysics from Space C
heng Fang is a professor in the Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, People s Republic of China. He was born in Jiangsu in 1938, and graduated from Nanjing University in 1959 and, since then, has been working as a teacher in Nanjing University. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in 1995, and to the fellowship of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS) in 2005.
Conclusion I think there is a lot of work to do in the field of atmospheric science, concerning the evolution of the stratosphere, the climate system, and tropospheric air quality. The point is that if young scientists want to make a career in our field, they really need to get the right support, which is absolutely essential for a career in science, not just money from the funding agencies but also structural support from the 'older' scientists, including networking and getting involved in international activities. The many scientists in and around COSPAR must think about how to improve support for young scientists, particularly beyond the frame of COSPAR's
As a visiting scientist, he engaged in solar physics research at the Paris Observatory from 1980 to 1982. He successively served as a special member and the director of the Centre of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the China Centre of Advanced Science and Technology, the director of the Department of Astronomy of
36
have been well explained by the chromospheric condensation and non-thermal effects. The dynamic models of flares have been deduced. He and his colleagues proposed magnetic reconnection in the solar lower atmosphere as a mechanism of the type II white light flares and Ellerman Bombs. They also provided a new model to explain the EIT waves discovered recently by solar satellites. The model has been proved by recent space observations and is now widely accepted in the world.
Joan Schmelz - Chair of SubC o m m i s s i o n E2: T h e S u n as a S t a r
and
oan T. Schmelz fell in love with astronomy when she was seven years old. She found a map of the solar system in a desk drawer and studied it for hours. Until that time, she never noticed the stars or looked through a telescope, and she had no concept of the size and scale of the universe. There were no scientists in her family, but after finding that map, she went out of her way to learn more. Could she grow up to be an astronomer? Her mother assured her that if she worked hard, she could do anything she wanted to do (and she always listened to her mother!).
Professor Fang was in charge of the design and the construction of the solar tower telescope of Nanjing University. This telescope was built in 1980 and, as the only one of its kind in China, has been successfully put into operation. With several successive improvements, including the establishment of a multiwavelength 2D imaging spectral system, the solar tower is the best spectral telescope in China. Using non-LTE theory, he and his collaborators have successfully developed a set of practical methods and programmes that have achieved important results. A series of semiempirical atmospheric models of solar active phenomena, such as solar flares, sunspots, plages and prominences, have been obtained. A method for the spectral diagnostics of nonthermal particles in flares has been investigated and proposed. The mystic asymmetry of line profiles and the velocity field in solar flares
Schmelz duly went on to receive her BS and MS degrees in physics from Rensselaer
J
Nanjing University, and the president of the Chinese Astronomical Society. He was elected Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2003 and re-elected to that position in 2006. He is currently the VicePresident of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology, the Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of Nanjing University, and is also one of the Editors-in-Chief of the
Chinese Journal Astrophysics.
of
Astronomy
37
scientific assemblies and meetings. I hope that COSPAR, as well as other research organizations, is a platform where this problem can be aired.
Third condition: Meet the right people
There is one beautiful thing about young scientists that is worth much more than money or prestigious awards: most of them are extremely motivated. But unfortunately I have seen too many friends and colleagues losing their motivation because of the many difficulties and problems they have encountered when trying to pursue a scientific career, particularly in Germany, but this is probably also true for other countries. I think that among the three conditions I mentioned above, only luck is one that we cannot do anything about. But working to support young scientists and bringing them together within the scientific community is something that we can do, and COSPAR should continue to play a role here.
Since the end of my studies in Berlin, I have been motivated to work on atmospheric spectroscopy, and I had the luck to work during my PhD thesis in the group of Guy Guelachvili who is one of the pioneers of highresolution Fourier-transform spectroscopy. As post-doctoral researcher (1995-1999), I worked in the group of John P. Burrows at the University of Bremen in Germany, for the GOME and SCIAMACHY satellite projects, the first European remote-sensing instruments that are able to monitor tropospheric chemistry. Then, in 1999, I joined the group of Jean-Marie Flaud in Paris, one of the best spectroscopists working in the field of atmospheric physics and chemistry. I am deeply convinced that working with these scientists has been extremely important, since I learned from them how to evolve in science and how to make the right decisions. (One often learns a lot just by observation.) And these are only the most important people among the many others whom I met over the last 15 years. Probably space science is an area where people come together a lot and where exchange of ideas is particularly important (and not only because of the size of the projects).
Cheng Fang - Vice-Chair of Scientific Commission E: Research in Astrophysics from Space C
heng Fang is a professor in the Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, People s Republic of China. He was born in Jiangsu in 1938, and graduated from Nanjing University in 1959 and, since then, has been working as a teacher in Nanjing University. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in 1995, and to the fellowship of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS) in 2005.
Conclusion I think there is a lot of work to do in the field of atmospheric science, concerning the evolution of the stratosphere, the climate system, and tropospheric air quality. The point is that if young scientists want to make a career in our field, they really need to get the right support, which is absolutely essential for a career in science, not just money from the funding agencies but also structural support from the 'older' scientists, including networking and getting involved in international activities. The many scientists in and around COSPAR must think about how to improve support for young scientists, particularly beyond the frame of COSPAR's
As a visiting scientist, he engaged in solar physics research at the Paris Observatory from 1980 to 1982. He successively served as a special member and the director of the Centre of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the China Centre of Advanced Science and Technology, the director of the Department of Astronomy of
36
have been well explained by the chromospheric condensation and non-thermal effects. The dynamic models of flares have been deduced. He and his colleagues proposed magnetic reconnection in the solar lower atmosphere as a mechanism of the type II white light flares and Ellerman Bombs. They also provided a new model to explain the EIT waves discovered recently by solar satellites. The model has been proved by recent space observations and is now widely accepted in the world.
Joan Schmelz - Chair of SubC o m m i s s i o n E2: T h e S u n as a S t a r
and
oan T. Schmelz fell in love with astronomy when she was seven years old. She found a map of the solar system in a desk drawer and studied it for hours. Until that time, she never noticed the stars or looked through a telescope, and she had no concept of the size and scale of the universe. There were no scientists in her family, but after finding that map, she went out of her way to learn more. Could she grow up to be an astronomer? Her mother assured her that if she worked hard, she could do anything she wanted to do (and she always listened to her mother!).
Professor Fang was in charge of the design and the construction of the solar tower telescope of Nanjing University. This telescope was built in 1980 and, as the only one of its kind in China, has been successfully put into operation. With several successive improvements, including the establishment of a multiwavelength 2D imaging spectral system, the solar tower is the best spectral telescope in China. Using non-LTE theory, he and his collaborators have successfully developed a set of practical methods and programmes that have achieved important results. A series of semiempirical atmospheric models of solar active phenomena, such as solar flares, sunspots, plages and prominences, have been obtained. A method for the spectral diagnostics of nonthermal particles in flares has been investigated and proposed. The mystic asymmetry of line profiles and the velocity field in solar flares
Schmelz duly went on to receive her BS and MS degrees in physics from Rensselaer
J
Nanjing University, and the president of the Chinese Astronomical Society. He was elected Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2003 and re-elected to that position in 2006. He is currently the VicePresident of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology, the Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of Nanjing University, and is also one of the Editors-in-Chief of the
Chinese Journal Astrophysics.
of
Astronomy
37