NSF Org:	AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Initial Amendment Date:	August 27, 2018
Latest Amendment Date:	August 27, 2018
Award Number:	1832778
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Lisa Winter AGS  Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	August 15, 2018
End Date:	July 31, 2019 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$25,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$25,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2018 = $25,000.00
History of Investigator:	David Schriver (Principal Investigator) dave@igpp.ucla.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of California-Los Angeles 10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700 LOS ANGELES CA  US  90024-4200 (310)794-0102
Sponsor Congressional District:	36
Primary Place of Performance:	University of California-Los Angeles 3871 Slichter Hall Los Angeles CA  US  90095-1567
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	36
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	RN64EPNH8JC6
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS
Primary Program Source:	01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	7556
Program Element Code(s):	575000
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

This award is to support student travel to the International School for Space Simulations (ISSS). It was first held in 1982 in Japan as a joint collaboration between leading scientists from the US, Asia and Europe, in order to teach basic simulation techniques to students going into this growing field. The first meeting was a great success and since that time ISSS has been held on average every 2 to 3 years rotating locations between Europe, Asia, and the US. The next ISSS meeting will be the 13th in the series and following the tradition of rotating between Asia, Europe and the US will be held in the United States at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) from September 6-14, 2018. This project is for support for (non-UCLA) students to be able to attend ISSS-13. The ISSS meeting has provided new generations of students with a basic understanding of the numerical simulation techniques and is for many their first exposure to cutting edge space science research. Feedback from students over the years who have attended ISSS meetings has been overwhelmingly positive, with some saying it was their favorite meeting they attended as a student. Scores of previous ISSS students have gone on to careers in space plasma simulations as researchers, professors and civil servants at NSF and NASA. Since space science is an international endeavor, the international aspect of this meeting opens future space scientists and simulators to the world at large and initiates contacts and collaborations among scientists, researchers and students that last a lifetime.

The first four days of the ISSS meeting comprise the school portion and include intensive hands-on training with experts in the field such that when finished students will learn how different types of codes work, including particle in cell (PIC), hybrid and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), and will have run the codes themselves to produce output and graph the results. Basic simulation codes are given to the students, which are theirs to keep after the meeting for further use and study. The symposium portion of the meeting is held immediately after the school portion and allows the students who have just learned the basics of the various codes to interact with world experts who conduct cutting edge research in space science. The environment of the symposium is maintained to be student friendly whereby students can feel free to ask basic questions and interact with top scientists in smaller groups or one on one sessions, either at the science presentations, poster sessions or social events meant to foster teaching and collaboration. This school and symposium approach has proven over the years to be very effective for students to maximize their knowledge gain from the meeting.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This grant provided funding for 26 graduate students from all over the world to attend the 13th International School/Symposium for Space Simulations (ISSS-13) held September 6-14, 2018 at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).  Conference registration fees as well as local room and board was covered for all 26 students.  All of the students attended a very intense week and a half of ISSS-13 with the schedule including several hands-on tutorials in space simulation techniques and also presentations by top scientists illustrating the use of these simulations in ongoing cutting-edge research.  Some of the student attendees presented posters with their own research and were able to gain valuable feedback on their work from experts in the field. 

In general the students' experience at ISSS-13 was very positive.  Most of the students enjoyed the meeting and felt they had gained knowledge not only in basic plasma simulation techniques, but also benefited from seeing how these simulations are used in a practical sense by space scientists in active research projects.  The students also found the interactions with other international students to be invaluable both socially and as future potential contacts.  One of the main outcomes is that the experience of attending ISSS-13 has resulted in many of the students becoming interested in pursuing graduate studies in space plasma physics and careers in space science.  As with previous ISSS meetings, ISSS-13 has fulfilled its goal of training the next generation of space scientists in the use of plasma simulations and some will become leaders in the field.  The funding from this NSF grant has allowed this process, which has been going on for over 30 years now, to continue successfully into the future, enhancing and improving the space science community.

Last Modified: 09/17/2019
Modified by: David Schriver

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