Every now and then an opportunity arises - especially for university grads in astronomy and physics - that is too good to pass up. Such is the case with the recent announcement of the 20th Annual Heliophysics Summer School, sponsored by NASA and UCAR (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research).
In conjunction with the Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS) they cooperate to hold the Heliophysics Summer School each year. For next summer they are seeking students to join up for a unique professional experience. These aspiring space physicists will learn about the exciting science of heliophysics as a broad, coherent discipline that reaches across space from the Earth’s troposphere to the depths of the Sun, and extends through time from the formation of the solar system to the distant future.
The focus of the 2026 Summer School will be on the connection between our understanding of fundamental physical processes throughout all domains of the heliosphere and the observational methods and subsequent data analysis to uncover those principles. Many of those were revealed to me for the first time when I attended the Solar Dynamics 2025 workshop in Boulder, back in February:
Looking Back On Last Week's Solar Dynamics Workshop - One Of The Best Meetings I've Ever Attended
And:
SDO 2025 Science Workshop: A Gathering of the Helio-hive!
The sessions, presentations of papers were fascinating and brought me up to date on how the SDO has been making monumental contributions to heliophysics. Among the most cogent research papers I saw presented:
Coronal dynamics: delving into the intricate relationship between solar corona processes, such as coronal heating, waves, and jets, and the formation of the solar wind.
Impacts of Solar Variability on Earth, Other Planets, and Space Weather: SDO has been fundamental in providing observations for studying the Sun's region of influence, the heliosphere.
And:
Stellar insights from the SDO Observations :The Sun,
our closest star and the only one we can observe with spatial resolution,
serves as a paradigm for understanding stellar phenomena
I couldn't help but wistfully ruminate on how much further my own solar research would have been had I the benefit of heliospheric research like the SDO now provides, and the Heliospheric Summer School will - for new grads.
They will learn about processes across the heliosphere - such as solar wind evolution and interactions with planetary bodies, solar EUV emissions, or atmospheric outflows from planets - such as described by the evolutions of physical parameters - e.g. temperature, magnetic field, energetic particle, or UV spectra.
Also familiarity with new spacecraft and ground-based observations which generate a tremendous amount of data that can be used to further our understanding of heliophysics. In addition, exposure to merging approaches and algorithms that extract information from data produced by physical sensors, discover patterns and causations, make predictions, and advance foundational understanding using a variety of tools including artificial intelligence and machine learning will be explored.
Through expert lectures and interactive experiences, participants will explore the fundamental observation strategies and emerging data analysis used to infer the physical parameters and how they are used to address scientific questions throughout the domains of heliophysics.
The school will include lectures, laboratories, and recitations from world experts, and will draw material from the Principles of Heliophysics textbook: a textbook on the universal processes behind planetary habitability, available online with free access. It will also make use of data from past and ongoing NASA missions and model results such as those from the NASA Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC).
Approximately 28 lucky students will be selected through a competitive process organized by CPAESS/UCAR. The 2026 Summer School will be held in person, July 21 - 29, 2026, in Boulder, Colorado, and each participant will receive travel support to Boulder.
Below are the student application requirements:
- Currently an advanced graduate student enrolled in a PhD program, or an early career researcher, including postdoctoral researcher, within the first two years of obtaining a doctorate.
- Studying space physics, other space and planetary science, astronomy, engineering, and other fields related to heliophysics.
- Pursuing a research career in heliophysics, astrophysics, or a related field.
Visit the NASA Heliophysics Summer School webpage to apply.
Deadline for Application Submission: January 31, 2026 by 5:00pm MT.
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