National Academy of Sciences award includes additional funding for solar physics research

Stuart D. Bale, Interim Director of the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) and Professor of Physics, has been awarded the National Academy of Sciences’ prestigious Arctowski Medal in recognition of his contributions to our understanding of the physics of the solar corona and the solar wind.

“It’s a great honor, for me and the entire team,” says Bale. “At the Space Sciences Lab, students, engineers and scientists all work together as a tight-knit group. It’s been a pleasure to be part of it.”

The Arctowski medal, established in 1958, is awarded every two years to scientists who advance our understanding of solar physics and solar-terrestrial relationships. The National Academy of Sciences says that Bale has, “revolutionized our understanding of the energization of and heat transport in the solar wind.” 

Bale led the development of SSL’s FIELDS experiment which includes a suite of instruments on NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) that measure the electric field around the spacecraft. PSP has 21 close orbits of the sun under its belt—the most recent just 3.8 million miles above the surface—allowing the FIELDS experiment to observe the properties of the solar wind in more detail than ever before. The data gathered by the experiment is already revolutionizing our understanding of the energization of and heat transport in the solar wind.

The Arctowski Medal will be presented to Bale on Sunday April 27^th at the National Academy of Sciences’ 162^nd annual meeting in a ceremony that will be livestreamed. The medal will be presented with an award of $100,000 and includes an additional $100,000 in funding for solar physics research to be awarded to an institution of the recipient’s choice. Previous recipients include Eugene Parker (University of Chicago), namesake of the Parker Solar Probe.