June 15, 2026

ISRO and the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), Panvel, Navi Mumbai are jointly organising a space weather summer school of two-week duration at IIG. The summer school was inaugurated on June 8, 2026 at IIG, Mumbai and is planned up to June 19, 2026. The program focuses on the various aspects of space weather as well as solar-terrestrial physics to introduce the students about the scientific foundations, and practical application of this important emerging field.

The inaugural session of the program began with the welcome address by Prof. A. P. Dimri, Director, IIG, who highlighted the significance of this joint initiative between ISRO and IIG. Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director of the Space Science Programme Office at ISRO Headquarters, provided a brief overview of the joint activities being undertaken with IIG under the ISRO-IIG Memorandum of Understanding. Delivering the inaugural address as Chief Guest, Shri M. Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO, emphasized the importance of space weather monitoring and capacity building in this domain for India's growing space infrastructure. He indicated that, with society's increasing dependence on space-based technologies, understanding the dynamic space environment, which is driven by solar activity, has become a priority. Various phenomena related to space weather can directly affect satellite operations, power grids, communication and navigation networks. He noted that the summer school will help to address the growing national requirements for skilled human resources in the space weather domain.

During the two weeks of the program, the students will be exposed to a comprehensive curriculum that will cover the Sun, heliosphere, magnetosphere, ionosphere-thermosphere interactions, planetary space weather as well as the requirements of various types of measurements, now casting and forecasting requirements. The program is planned to facilitate understanding of students about space weather and associated monitoring requirements for our society. A series of lectures by eminent scientists and faculty members from ISRO, IIG and from other national academia are planned along with hands-on data training to students. Out of around 50 participants from different parts of the country, about 64 percent of the participants are female.

In line with the broader efforts to make the country self-reliant in space weather programmes, this summer school represents a significant national-level collaborative initiative to create and enable human resources in the domain of space weather.