Courses in Space Physics
Our group offers several courses in Space Physics. We are also actively involved in several Bachelor level courses at our department. Our professors and researchers also supervise postdocs, PhD and Master's students.
Main content
The following two courses are mandatory for all Master's students in Space Physics:
PHYS251 – The Near Earth Space (10 ECTS, spring term)
This course offers a broad knowledge of the most important processes responsible for geomagnetic disturbances in the near Earth space due to activity on the Sun. An introduction is given to physical processes and conditions in near-Earth space that have an influence on space weather: The structure of the sun, solar activity and solar radiation, the solar wind, the Earth's atmosphere and its composition, the ionosphere and its influence on radio wave propagation, the geomagnetic field, motion of charged particles in Earth's magnetosphere, particle precipitation, aurora and cosmic rays. The course might also be of interest for students in related fields, such as optics, atmospheric physics, and meteorology.
PHYS252 - Experimental Methods in Space Physics (10 ECTS, autumn term)
This course offers detailed knowledge on key measurement techniques and physical principles for observing processes and phenomena in the near-Earth space. It also provides experience with the interpretation of measurements gathered by ground-based experiments and space probes to describe the signatures of an auroral event or a geomagnetic storm. The course covers several experimental methods and instruments in space physics, including instrument carriers, satellite mechanics, detectors for charged particles and X-rays, measurement of magnetic fields on the ground and in space, radio methods and optical observations. The course includes a field excursion to either Andøya Space Centre or Spitzbergen.
Our group also offers the following courses to our Master's and PhD students:
PHYS350 - Space Plasma Physics (10 ECTS, irregular)
PHYS352 - Selected Topics in Ionospheric Physics (10 ECTS, irregular)
Several of our students have also gained unique fieldwork experience at UNIS in Svalbard, where there is a portfolio of highly relevant Arctic Geophysics courses for Master's and PhD students:
- AGF-301/AGF-801 The Upper Polar Atmosphere (15 ECTS, spring term)
- AGF-304/AGF-801 Radar Diagnostics of Space Plasma (15 ECTS, spring term)
- AGF-345/AGF-845 Polar Magnetospheric Substorms (10 ECTS, autumn term)