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Guest Investigator Call 2024

Guest Investigator Call: visit the EUI and SWAP/LYRA PI teams in Brussels in 2024 

The Solar Physics team of the Royal Observatory of Belgium invites external researchers to join in the data exploitation of its space telescopes on the PROBA2 microsatellite (SWAP, LYRA) and on Solar Orbiter (EUI). Research visits are solicited for funding through our Guest Investigator Program.

Selected proposers will be invited to spend a few weeks with the PI teams to obtain expert knowledge on the instrument, to participate in the planning of observations according to the needs of their proposal, and to conduct their research. Though one long visit to the Science Centers is preferred, two separate visits are also possible in case this is considered to be more productive science-wise, e.g. the first visit can be devoted to the preparation of the research and the second one to the finalization of the work. The goal for every Guest Investigator visit is to publish at least one paper in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Guest Investigators may be reimbursed for travel, accommodation and living expenses up to a maximum of 5000 Euro, provided that the guest’s home institute authorizes such payment. We encourage in particular early-career post-docs and PhD students to apply, although more senior Guest Investigators' proposals are also welcome. In this round we anticipate funding for around 6 Guest Investigators or teams who will visit the EUI Science Center and/or the PROBA2 Science Center at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels in 2024.

During the selection process, special consideration will be given to early-career scientists and PhD students (from the second year onwards), to collaborative research teams with members from more than one research institute (funding above the 5000 Euro level may be approved for such teams), to proposals that are closely aligned with the research topics below, and to proposals that appear likely to lead to publications.

We especially encourage proposals addressing:

  • Multi-instrument research combining Solar Orbiter and other satellites
  • Heliospheric connection science including studies of erupting or dynamical features and studies of the extended corona
  • Research based on high resolution EUI data
  • Any opportunity brought by the EUI, SWAP and/or LYRA instruments that has not been addressed in previous studies yet

The proposal deadline has been extended to November 3, 2023 (23:59 CET). Proposals should include:

  • a short CV of the candidate Guest Investigator(s)

  • a (maximum) two page description of the proposed research including a description of the required EUI, SWAP and/or LYRA data. Information about the capabilities of the instruments can be found in the EUI instrument paper, the SWAP instrument paper and the LYRA instrument paper. The latest data releases can be found in EUI Data Release 6, the SWAP data page and the LYRA data page. The PI teams are available to address additional questions. The proposal should specify whether it is built on existing EUI, SWAP and/or LYRA data or includes the planning and acquiring of new, dedicated observations.

  • at least one publication authored by a member of the candidate Guest Investigator team 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 EUI, SWAP and/or LYRA PI team. The budget estimate should include costs for travel, accommodation, living expenses (fixed per diem of 50 Euro), and visa (if required), as a minimum.

  • in case the candidate Guest Investigator is a PhD student, a recommendation letter from the thesis supervisor is also requested. Only PhD students that have finished at least their first year are eligible to apply.

Proposals should be sent in PDF format to guest_investigator [@] sidc.be. Questions about the program or application process can be sent to the same address.

More information on logistics and accommodation can be found in the Guest Investigator welcome book.

The submitted proposals will be evaluated by a subcommittee of the EUI, SWAP and LYRA teams. Note that each selected Guest Investigator will be asked to present their results in a seminar.