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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

Japan-Norway Partnership for Computing in Space Science

Alternative title: Japan-Norge partnerskap for beregningsorientert romvitenskap

Awarded: NOK 10.0 mill.

Norway and Japan are very active in space science and exploration. For example, both countries send scientific rockets and satellites into the ionosphere, which is the uppermost part of the Earth atmosphere. In the polar regions it is directly connected to the interplanetary space and this is where we can observe auroras, which are due to highly energetic electrons originating from the Sun and entering the Earth atmosphere. Today, space science increasingly relies on numerical modeling and advanced numerical data analysis. Through the Japan-Norway Partnership for Computing in Space Science, we develop, strengthen, and consolidate the collaboration between both countries in education and research within a broad context of computing in space research. We establish a research-based educational platform which is related to ongoing and future space missions. The partnership also provides a framework for increased mobility of university students and researchers. We establish a joint course in numerical simulations of space environment, organize schools and symposia on computing in space data science, scientific workshops, and encourage student exchange and staff mobility. All activities are related to ongoing research projects, including joint sounding rocket experiments, satellite experiments, and larger exploratory missions, such as the joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury. We focus on numerical modelling of physical processes, performance of instruments, and data analysis. The main partners: the University of Oslo, Kobe University, and Kyoto University form together hubs for research and education in computing in space science. Other academic and industrial partners are also invited to join this collaboration. In year 2023, after it became possible to restart active cooperation after the pandemic, we organized two international workshops, one in Norway and one in Japan. In addition, several Japanese students have traveled to Norway to participate in an intensive course for launching research sounding-rockets, while a research fellow and a master's student from Norway have been in Japan for longer periods to collaborate with data from research rockets and simulate the environment of Mercury in connection with the BepiColombo mission. Corresponding scientific works have been submitted for publication.

Norway and Japan are very active in space science research, in particular in the context of the exploration of ionosphere and space by spacecraft, such as scientific rockets and satellites. The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the Earth atmosphere. It is partially ionised, and in the polar regions it is directly connected to space, due to configuration of the Earth’s magnetic field. Manifestations of these interactions are auroras, which are due to high energy electrons originating from the Sun and entering the Earth atmosphere. Through the Japan-Norway Partnership for Computing in Space Science, we will develop, strengthen, and consolidate the collaboration between both countries in education and research within a broad context of computing in space research. We will establish a robust, research-based educational platform for students on graduate (master, PhD) level and in the final year of bachelor study, and tightly relate it to ongoing and future space missions. The partnership will also provide a framework for research collaboration between the countries through increased mobility of researchers at all levels. We will establish a joint course in numerical simulations of space environment, organise schools and symposia on computing in space data science, targeted scientific workshops, and encourage student exchange and staff mobility. All activities will be related to ongoing research projects, including joint sounding rocket experiments, satellite experiments, and larger exploratory missions, such as the joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury. We will focus on numerical modelling of physical processes, performance of instruments, and data analysis. The main partners: the University of Oslo, Kobe University, and Kyoto University will form together two national hubs for research and education in computing in space science. Other academic and industrial partners will be invited to join this collaboration during the course of the project.

Funding scheme:

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research