Stephan G. Heinemann

ST Solar-Terrestrial Sciences

The 2023 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Stephan G. Heinemann in recognition of his outstanding research in the field of solar terrestrial relations and solar physics.

Stephan Heinemann has made significant contributions to the understanding of high-speed solar wind streams and their source regions, coronal holes. High-speed solar wind streams are a major source of recurrent geomagnetic disturbances at Earth.

During his PhD studies, he developed a new method for detecting and extracting solar coronal holes from observations. He contributed to the “International Space Science Institute” team whose objective was to understand the solar open magnetic flux from the Sun into the heliosphere. During his postdoctoral work at the Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen he devised and implemented a novel approach to estimate the magnetic flux on the Sun’s far side using helioseismology. This information can improve forecasting of space weather effects. Additionally, he studied low-frequency oscillations of the solar magnetic field at high latitudes. He also participated in multi-instrument observation campaigns of the Sun and actively contributed to the iSWAT-COSPAR (International Space Weather Action Teams) roadmap and the International Study of Earth-affecting Solar Transients review.

In the coming years he will study the shape of the solar open magnetic fields at the University of Helsinki and in collaboration with the Karl-Franzens-University Graz, thanks to the highly competitive Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship awarded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Because of his considerable contributions to space weather research and solar physics, Stephan Heinemann is a worthy recipient of the Solar-Terrestrial Sciences Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award.