09
April
2018
|
16:30 PM
America/New_York

Universities Space Research Association Elects 4 New University Members

 

Columbia, Maryland—April 9, 2008. The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) elected four new universities to membership, bringing the Association to a total of 110 universities. The members participate in the governance of USRA through the election of the Board of Trustees and establishment of the Association’s bylaws.

The criteria for election is rigorous. Universities must be Ph.D. degree-granting institutions, with demonstrated expertise in the fields of space science or aerospace research and engineering.

The following universities were elected by the current membership at their annual meeting on March 29, 2018 in Washington DC:

Montana State University (MSU), a premier research university located in the Northern Rocky Mountains, which has programs in solar-terrestrial physics, as well as astrophysics and space science research in extreme gravity phenomena such as black holes, gravitational waves, and the early universe. MSU’s eXtreme Gravity Institute hosts regular workshops, summer/winter schools and long-term visitors.

University of Bern in Switzerland, which has provided a number of instruments for European planetary missions to Mars, Jupiter, and for the comet mission Rosetta. Bern’s Astronomy Institute conducts astrometric observations of asteroids, comets, and supernova remnant; and its Center for Space and Habitability conducts interdisciplinary studies on the definition of life and our search for it in the universe.

University of Canterbury (UC) in New Zealand, which serves as a Gateway to Antarctica, using remote sensing to conduct research on the causes, effects, and responses of the Antarctic system to global change, with an emphasis on the atmospheric-climate-cryosphere interactions. UC also conducts research is cosmology and astroparticle research, operates the Mt. John Observatory, and is a contributor to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole.

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, which operates the Swiss Space Center that supports academic institutions, research and technology organizations, and industry in space related activities. EPFL supports a wide variety of space missions and related applications, and the implementation of Swiss space policy. EPFL’s faculty includes Prof. Dr. Claude Nicollier, a Swiss astronaut who flew on four U.S. Space Shuttle missions, including the first and third servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.

###