Welcome to the WWW pages of the Solar and Magnetospheric MHD Theory Group. We are one of the Applied Mathematics research groups in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

We are a large group of applied mathematicians, who study the Sun using mathematical modelling techniques and observational data from satellites such as SoHO, Yohkoh and TRACE, or ground based observatories such as Kitt Peak and Big Bear. We also have close collaborations with the Solar Group at Glasgow University and will be actively involved with the new space missions that are soon to be launched, namely, Stereo, SolarB and Solar Dynamics Observatory (on which we are a Co-Investigators).

The Group is currently investigating several fundamental MHD and plasma processes such as magnetic reconnection, magnetic equilibria, MHD waves, MHD instabilities and particle acceleration. By using these processes we model a wide range of solar phenomena, including coronal heating, solar flares, prominences, the Sun's global magnetic field, coronal loop structure and topology, coronal oscillations, coronal seismology, emerging flux, the magnetic carpet and flux cancellation.

2010

• Congratulations to Bernie Roberts who has been awarded the 2010 RAS Chapman Medal for investigations of outstanding merit in solar-terrestrial physics.

  Also congratulations to Ineke De Moortel on being awarded the 2010 RAS Fowler award in Geophysics which is given to researchers who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to geophysical sciences at an early stage in their career.

• Clare Parnell, Ineke De Moortel, Alan Hood and Stephane Regnier are organising the 4th Solaire Postgraduate School on Solar MHD, Magnetic Reconnection, Flares and CMEs on 11th-14th January 2010 in St Andrews. The deadline for registration is 30th November 2009. To register click here.

2009

• Welcome to our new PhD student Kuan Vai Tam and Mag Selwa a new Solaire European Network funded postdoc.
• Congratulations to Ineke De Moortel on being awarded a Phillip Leverhulme Prize in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
• Ineke De Moortel, Alan Hood and Clare Parnell are organising an RAS Discussion Meeting: SOLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS AND THE DYNAMIC SUN: Celebrating the Career of Prof E.R. Priest on 13th November 2009 in London. If you'd like to submit an abstract please follow this link
• Congratulations to Dr Duncan Mackay on being promoted to Reader.
• This years Edinburgh International Science Festival will be held from 6th to 18th April. If you are interested in learning more about the Sun, its effects on the Earth and Space Travel then come along to Edinburgh Zoo on Saturday 18th April at 11am or 2pm where Dr Clare Parnell and Dr Ineke De Moortel will be revealing amazing facts about the Sun.
• Congratulations to Prof Eric Priest on being awarded the RAS Gold Medal for Geophysics He is honoured in recognition of both his distinguished research work and his key role in nurturing future generations of scientists.

2008

• Welcome to all our new PhD students! Jorge Fuentes Fernandez and Aimilia Smyrli, who are both funded by the Solaire European Network, are both in the second year of their PhDs and are joining us from Budapest and Catania, respectively.
  We also welcome three new students who are just starting their PhDs this September, Karen Meyer, James Threlfall and Fiona Wilson.
  Welcome also to Dr Craig Stark who has recently joined the group as our new Magnetospheric postdoc.
• The 5th Magnetic Tracking Workshop was held in St Andrews from the 1st-5th September organised by Clare Parnell
• Congratulations to Dr Clare Parnell and Dr Ineke De Moortel on being promoted to Reader.

2007

• Congratulations to Dr Clare Parnell on being awarded a Leverhulme Prize in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
• Ineke De Moortel is organising an RAS Discussion Meeting on Coronal Heating: New Observational Results and Forward Modelling on 11th January 2008 in London.
• Public Lecture Tour New Horizons: The Sun and its Effects on the Earth and Space Travel
  The group are organising a series of lectures across Scotland in aid of International Heliophysical Year. The first of these will take place on Wednesday 14th November in Dundee with the second on Wednesday 28th November in St Andrews. Each evening will consist of three mini lectures suitable for secondary school children and above.
• Welcome to all our new PhD students! Ruth Carr, Keith Grady, Cicley Macnamara, David MacTaggart, Anna Lisa Restante and Alexander Russell have all just started their PhDs in September 2007.
  Welcome also to Neil Symington who has recently joined us as the UK MHD Consortium Supercomputer Advisor.
• This years STFC Advanced Summer School in Solar Physics was held in St Andrews from the 2nd-7th September.
• Vasilis Archontis and Alan Hood organised a International Flux Emergence Workshop from the 12th-15th June.
• Congratulations to Prof. Alan Hood on being invited to give the Royal Astronomical Society's Harold Jeffrey's Lecture for 2007. Also congratulations to Duncan Mackay on gaining the Royal Astronomical Society's Fowler Prize for 2007.

2006

• Clare Parnell and Ineke De Moortel organised an RAS Discussion Meeting on Solar Terrestrial Magnetic Fields and Reconnection on 13th October in London.
• Welcome to Graeme Cook, Nick Owen and Lynsey Thornton, who have all recently joined the group as PhD students.
• The group hosted the annual UK MHD meeting from 8th-9th June.
• Welcome to Vasilis Archontis, who has joined the group as a postdoctoral research assistant and to Peng Fei Chen, who is a long term visitor.
• Congratulations to Clare Parnell on gaining the Royal Astronomical Society's Fowler Prize for 2006.

2005

• Congratulations to our long-term visitor Gunnar Hornig on gaining a lectureship at Dundee University.
• Congratulations to Duncan Mackay and Ineke De Moortel who have been appointed to lectureships at St Andrews on completion of their fellowships.
• Welcome to Stephane Regnier who has joined us as a postdoctoral research assistant, to Chris Brady who is the UK MHD consortium's new computing officer, and to Mike Harrison, Dee McDougall and Anthony Yeates who have all recently started their PhDs with the group.
• Congratulations and good luck to Daniel Brown on his move to the University of Wales Aberystwyth to take up a lectureship there in the Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

2004

• Welcome to Fiona McFarlane, the group's new secretary, to Antonio Diaz, who has joined us as a postdoctoral research assistant, and to Antonia Wilmot-Smith, Andrew Haynes and Michelle Murray, who have all recently started their PhDs with the group.
• The group hosted SOHO 15, a major international conference on coronal heating. It took place in September 2004 and was a great success with over 140 delegates attending.
• Eric Priest ran a 1-month programme on Magnetic Reconnection Theory in Cambridge, August 2004.

2003

• The group hosted a conference on Magnetic Reconnection and the Dynamic Sun in honour of the 60th birthday of Professor Eric Priest. The meeting took place on 8-10th September 2003.
• Find out about International Sun-Earth Day and what the Solar Group did.