Announcements

NKUA: Participation of Space Physics Group and Professor Ioannis Daglis in a European research project on Space Safety

NKUA: Participation of Space Physics Group and Professor Ioannis Daglis in a European research project on Space Safety

Last week, the Progress Review of the European research project FARBES (Forecast of Actionable Radiation Belt Scenarios – https://www.farbes.eu/) was conducted successfully. FARBES is funded through Horizon Europe and pertains to space safety. NKUA participates as partner of the consortium implementing the project and is represented by the Space Physics Group (http://www.space.phys.uoa.gr/) and its leader, Prof. Ioannis Daglis.

Near-Earth space is riddled with high energy electrons, which are trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field. It is important to know when those electrons gain energy and how, because they can impact the services and the integrity of satellites. Similarly to how meteorologists have models for how the weather works and use observations to make forecasts, there are models for how ‘space weather’ works but observations are more difficult to come by, because space is big and we can only have spaceships observing tiny parts of it at any one time.

FARBES aims to improve this situation by using readily available measurements from ground observatories to quickly run models with them. In our part of the project, we are looking into how we can measure a particular type of process, the radial diffusion of electrons from ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves. The electrons that are trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field bounce up and down in it between the two poles, but they also drift sideways, orbiting the planet. As they do so they feel the effect of electromagnetic waves that are also moving around there. When the two are in resonance, electrons can be moved closer or further from the Earth, gaining or losing energy in the process. This is a statistical process, since some electrons will gain energy and some will lose it, but on average they will be moving in one of those directions. This gradual movement is called radial diffusion, and we need to know how fast it happens. For this we need the strength of the electric field out in space.

Because the magnetic field lines there are shaped like those of a dipole (unless they’re very far away from the Earth or are on the side that gets swept away by the sun’s constant particle wind), we can tell, to an extent, what’s happening at a point on the Earth’s equatorial plane out in space by looking at that’s happening down at where the dipole’s field line meets the surface of the Earth. With magnetometers there, we can measure changes in the magnetic field and use a set of equations to deduce what the electric field is doing out in space. This is what we did, using two arrays of magnetometers that span Europe from Scandinavia in the north to Greece in the south (EMMA and ENIGMA). We developed a code that reads the magnetometers’ measurements and converts them into a coefficient that models can then use to see how electrons are diffusing at that time.

space en
Figure: A sketch of the Earth’s magnetic field lines intersecting the Radiation Belts. Electrons bounce up and down along those lines but also drift around the Earth and can be diffused inwards or outwards. We can use magnetometers on Earth to measure changes along the magnetic field lines.

That code will be further refined and tested in future months. We can also use it to investigate some effects when the magnetic field lines are not very much like those of a dipole, and see what kind of corrections we can make in that case.

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ranks first in Greece and Cyprus – Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2025 and US News Global University Rankings 2025-2026 announced

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ranks first in Greece and Cyprus – Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2025 and US News Global University Rankings 2025-2026 announced

US News & World Report Media Company has recently published the results of its Best Global Universities Rankings for 2025-2026. In this 11th consecutive annual edition of the US News Best Global Universities Rankings, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens placed 1st among Greek and Cypriot Universities and 216th worldwide. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki […]

Once again, top-scoring candidates choose the University of Athens

Once again, top-scoring candidates choose the University of Athens

It is a day of joy for many candidates who have recently sat the nationwide examinations for admission to Greece’s Higher Educational Institutions. Among this year’s top achievers—those scoring over 19,000 points—a significant number have once again set their sights on enrolling in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). One of the highest […]

Renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ opens officially – School of Education, Library of the Department of Economics

Renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ opens officially – School of Education, Library of the Department of Economics

In a particularly symbolic and emotional opening ceremony, the renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ was officially handed over to the academic community of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This historic building lies at the heart of Athens, surrounded on three sides by Mavromichali, Navarinou, and Charilaou Trikoupi streets. With the completion of the […]

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the School of Medicine of the University of Athens, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the School of Medicine of the University of Athens, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Professor for Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR). During his two-year term, he plans to implement a number of measures aimed at further improving patient care […]

Alpha TV: NKUA ranks among the top 100 Universities in the world

Alpha TV: NKUA ranks among the top 100 Universities in the world

Rectors and Vice-Rectors from 54 Universities in Europe met at the historic main building of the University of Athens to participate in the 35th General Assembly of the UNICA Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe, which took place for the first time in Greece earlier this month. At the same time, the University […]

The 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closes at NKUA with great success and participation from across the continent

The 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closes at NKUA with great success and participation from across the continent

With the symbolic strength of Athens’ scholarly tradition encompassing contemporary academic collaboration, the 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closed at the historic main building of the University of Athens. The proceedings began on Thursday, 19 June, with the UNICA Administrative General Assembly. The meeting, held in a hybrid […]

MA “Philosophy”: Call for applications for the academic year 2025-2026

MA “Philosophy”: Call for applications for the academic year 2025-2026

The Department of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens invites those interested, to apply for: *one of the -up to 50- postgraduate positions of the MA “Philosophy”, specialization: “History of Philosophy and Ideas (Greek Philosophy)” * General Information ➢The classes are held online ➢The program grants the Postgraduate Degree Master of Arts in “Philosophy”, in the specialization: “History of Philosophy and Ideas (Greek Philosophy)“ ➢Starting date : October 2025 ➢Language of instruction : English ➢Number of courses : 6 courses & a short master thesis ➢Duration : one year-intensive program (two semesters -winter & spring- and a summer term) ➢Credits : the program consists of 75 ECTS ➢Tuition fee : 850 € (EUR) per semester (each of the two installments is due in […]

University of Athens

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which was inaugurated on May 3, 1837, was initially housed in a renovated Ottoman building on the northeastern side of the Acropolis. This building has since been restored and now functions as the University Museum. Originally named the "Othonian University," after Otto, the first king of Greece, it consisted of four academic departments and 52 students. As the first university of the newly established Greek state, as well as of the broader Balkan and Mediterranean region, it assumed an important socio-historical role, which was pivotal in the development of specific forms of knowledge and culture within the country.

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