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Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
RECOMMENDATIONS
91
Employment Opportunities
Appendix D, “Education and Workforce Issues in Solar and Space Physics,” shows that while the Ph.D.
production rate for solar and space physics has increased over the past decade, the number of advertised
positions in the field, inside and outside academia, has decreased. Indeed, the number of advertised faculty
positions reached a decadal low in the last year surveyed, 2010. Although historically many solar and
space physics graduates find jobs in areas other than academic research, these oppositely directed trends,
of increasing numbers of students being trained versus decreasing hires of faculty to train them, indicate
the continued importance of the NSF Faculty Development in the Space Sciences (FDSS) program. This
program grew out of a recommendation by the 2003 decadal survey and led to the creation of eight tenuretrack faculty positions, most of the holders of which have already become tenured. It is widely viewed,
along with NSF CAREER awards, as an exemplary means of sustaining space physics within universities
and promoting the science and engineering workforce. To increase the reach of this program and the
diversity of students exposed to opportunities in solar and space physics, eligibility for these awards could
be expanded to include 4-year institutions, not just Ph.D.-granting research universities. Because many
universities have only one faculty member in solar and space physics, curriculum and other educational
resources need to be strengthened and shared throughout the United States.
The survey committee concluded that programs supporting solar and space physics faculty and curriculum development are required to maintain a healthy presence in universities and to provide communitywide educational resources. The survey committee endorses ongoing curriculum development efforts and
those of NASA’s Heliophysics Education Forum. There is a need to further increase the diversity of the solar
and space physics community through active encouragement and inclusion of educational institutions that
can serve as conduits into underrepresented communities.
Recommendation: The NSF Faculty Development in the Space Sciences (FDSS) program should be continued and be considered open to applications from 4-year as well as Ph.D.-granting institutions as a
means to broaden and diversify the field. NSF should also support a curriculum development program
to complement the FDSS program and to support its faculty.
Education and Training
Hands-on experience for students is critical to developing a competent workforce (Box 4.6). Most
spaceflight programs are far too risk-averse or their duration too long for a graduate student to be directly
involved over the life cycle of the program. The LCAS and CubeSat programs, recommended in the
“Diversify” section above, provide opportunities for graduate programs to attract and train students in the
complete mission life cycle. Complementing hardware training, NASA- and NSF-supported summer schools
(summarized in Appendix D) provide training and education in the field. The NSF-supported Center for
Integrated Space Weather Modeling summer school, which is coming to an end, was an excellent forum
for training young space scientists in modeling and data analysis with a unique, holistic, and integrative
emphasis on the entire system from the Sun to Earth.
The committee concluded that the LCAS, CubeSat, and NASA- and NSF-supported summer schools
provide important hands-on training for graduate students. The committee found, in addition, that skills
needed for becoming a successful scientist go beyond such formal discipline training and include interpersonal and communication skills, awareness of career opportunities, and leadership and laboratory
management ability. The community endorses NASA and NSF programs that support postdoctoral and
graduate student mentoring. Finally, the survey committee endorses ongoing NASA funding for solar and
space physics graduate student research. For 30 years this support was provided under the auspices of the
NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP), but, because that program ended in 2012, the survey
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
RECOMMENDATIONS
91
Employment Opportunities
Appendix D, “Education and Workforce Issues in Solar and Space Physics,” shows that while the Ph.D.
production rate for solar and space physics has increased over the past decade, the number of advertised
positions in the field, inside and outside academia, has decreased. Indeed, the number of advertised faculty
positions reached a decadal low in the last year surveyed, 2010. Although historically many solar and
space physics graduates find jobs in areas other than academic research, these oppositely directed trends,
of increasing numbers of students being trained versus decreasing hires of faculty to train them, indicate
the continued importance of the NSF Faculty Development in the Space Sciences (FDSS) program. This
program grew out of a recommendation by the 2003 decadal survey and led to the creation of eight tenuretrack faculty positions, most of the holders of which have already become tenured. It is widely viewed,
along with NSF CAREER awards, as an exemplary means of sustaining space physics within universities
and promoting the science and engineering workforce. To increase the reach of this program and the
diversity of students exposed to opportunities in solar and space physics, eligibility for these awards could
be expanded to include 4-year institutions, not just Ph.D.-granting research universities. Because many
universities have only one faculty member in solar and space physics, curriculum and other educational
resources need to be strengthened and shared throughout the United States.
The survey committee concluded that programs supporting solar and space physics faculty and curriculum development are required to maintain a healthy presence in universities and to provide communitywide educational resources. The survey committee endorses ongoing curriculum development efforts and
those of NASA’s Heliophysics Education Forum. There is a need to further increase the diversity of the solar
and space physics community through active encouragement and inclusion of educational institutions that
can serve as conduits into underrepresented communities.
Recommendation: The NSF Faculty Development in the Space Sciences (FDSS) program should be continued and be considered open to applications from 4-year as well as Ph.D.-granting institutions as a
means to broaden and diversify the field. NSF should also support a curriculum development program
to complement the FDSS program and to support its faculty.
Education and Training
Hands-on experience for students is critical to developing a competent workforce (Box 4.6). Most
spaceflight programs are far too risk-averse or their duration too long for a graduate student to be directly
involved over the life cycle of the program. The LCAS and CubeSat programs, recommended in the
“Diversify” section above, provide opportunities for graduate programs to attract and train students in the
complete mission life cycle. Complementing hardware training, NASA- and NSF-supported summer schools
(summarized in Appendix D) provide training and education in the field. The NSF-supported Center for
Integrated Space Weather Modeling summer school, which is coming to an end, was an excellent forum
for training young space scientists in modeling and data analysis with a unique, holistic, and integrative
emphasis on the entire system from the Sun to Earth.
The committee concluded that the LCAS, CubeSat, and NASA- and NSF-supported summer schools
provide important hands-on training for graduate students. The committee found, in addition, that skills
needed for becoming a successful scientist go beyond such formal discipline training and include interpersonal and communication skills, awareness of career opportunities, and leadership and laboratory
management ability. The community endorses NASA and NSF programs that support postdoctoral and
graduate student mentoring. Finally, the survey committee endorses ongoing NASA funding for solar and
space physics graduate student research. For 30 years this support was provided under the auspices of the
NASA Graduate Student Research Program (GSRP), but, because that program ended in 2012, the survey