INSTITUTIONAL NEWS
Cristina Mandrini was appointed president of the Steering Committee of the “Sun and Heliosphere” Division of the IAU
She holds a PhD in Physical Sciences and has made great contributions in astronomy. Mandrini is the first Argentine to be in this position.
Cristina Mandrini, senior researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) at the ‘Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics’ (IAFE, CONICET-UBA), was appointed as president of the Steering Committee of the “Sun and Heliosphere” Division of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for the period 2021-2024.
“I feel grateful because it means a work and a personal recognition from the world community of Sun and Heliosphere as the appointment was made by the members of all the countries that comprise the International Astronomical Union,” Mandrini says. She is also a member of the ‘Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales (ANCEFN)’.
Created in 1919, the IAU is the main astronomical organization of the world that governs the rules and nomenclatures that enable global understanding on astronomical topics. It has more than 13500 active members from 107 different countries, among which approximately 160 of them are Argentine scientists.
Mandrini has a PhD in Physical Sciences and is the first Argentine to hold the position of president of the “Sun and Heliosphere” division. “In 2018 I ran for the ‘XXX Vienna General Assembly’ of the IAU and was appointed vice president, which leads to an elected president in the continuous period (2021-2024),” she comments.
Throughout her career, the researcher has worked on the development of a novel method to calculate the location of the release of magnetic energy in the solar atmosphere. This has been successfully applied to models based on the observation of active and inactive solar phenomena that determine these locations unequivocally, and the features of the magnetic field in their environment.
The “Sun and Heliosphere” division aims at promoting knowledge and enhancing the understanding of the Sun-heliosphere system. The division encompasses the study of the Sun, its variability, activity and dynamics, as well as its impact on the Earth and other bodies of the heliosphere. Besides, it has several affiliated Commissions and Working Groups that support these objectives and holds regular meetings to encourage the exchange of ideas.
Mandrini is also editor-in-chief of the Springer’s international journal ‘Solar Physics’ and a member of the The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). She has received several awards, including the lifetime achievement award given by the ANCEFN.