Sanchita Pal

Dr. Sanchita Pal is a NASA post-doctoral (NPP) fellow at the Heliophysics Science Division of the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). She graduated from the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences (CESSI) Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata with a Ph.D. in 2020. Her Ph.D. thesis focused on space weather drivers and their geoeffectiveness. She has a background in Electronics and Communication Engineering with a specialization in microwave and space science. Prior to joining as an NPP fellow she was a contractor post doctoral researcher at GSFC worked in the Solar Orbiter project. Before that she was a post-doctoral fellow in the space physics group at the Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Finland. There she worked on an ERC Consolidator Grant project dealing with unraveling the structure of solar flux ropes and their magnetosheath (SolMAG).

Her research interests include investigating the solar origin, evolution, and geoeffectiveness of heliospheric large-scale structures specifically coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that are the major driver of space weather. She has expertise in various imaging and in situ satellite data analysis techniques, empirical and data-driven semi-analytical modeling of large-scale heliospheric structures and building machine learning models to apply on satellite data.

2018-2019

Served as a teaching assistant in 'Space Astronomy' Course in IISER Kolkata, India.

• Solar Science, Ph.D., Center of Excellence in Space Sciences (CESSI), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) - Kolkata, Award: 2020
• Radio Physics and Electronics, Master's Degree, University of Calcutta, Award: 2015
• Electronics and Communication Engineering, Bachelor's Degree, West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata, India, Award year: 2015

• Active peer-reviewer in The Astrophysical Journal, The Astrophysical Journal Letters and Journal of Geophysical Research, JGR Space Weather journals. (2021-present)
• Serving as an Honorary Research Associate to the Institute of Astronomy Space and Earth Science (IASES), Kolkata, India. Actively involved in the popular science article writing community of the IASES. (2024-present)
• Active reviewer in several NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES)- 2023, 2024 proposal programs organized by NASA, DC, USA.
• Served as a reviewer in the Science Mission Directorates (SMD) 2024 Proposal program organized by NASA, DC, USA.
• Served as an ES (executive secretary) in NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES)- 2023 proposal program organized by NASA, DC, USA.
• Served as a mentor & co-mentor in the NASA internship program (2023, 2024, 2025) organized by NASA STEM, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
• Served as an oral session chair at the American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, USA. The session's name was Understanding the Origins and Evolution of Large-Scale Structures in the Heliosphere with Observations and Modeling. (Dec 2024).
• Served as a reviewer in the AGU Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) program for multiple scientific sessions. (2022, 2023, 2024).
• Served as a Session Convener at the Triennial Earth-Sun Summit (TESS), held 7-12 April 2024, Dallas, TX, USA, Session name: Early Evolution and Characteristics of Heliospheric Large-Scale Structures (2024).
• Served as a Session Convener at the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, USA, Session name: Evolution of Heliospheric Large-Scale Structures Using Observations and Modeling. (2023).
• Served as a Scene-setter at the Solar Heliospheric and Interplanetary Environment (SHINE), Stowe, Vermont, USA, Session name: Multipoint probing of large-scale structures and their impact in the inner heliosphere (2023).
• Served as a Topic Coordinator at the Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (2022).
• Actively contributed to preparing and designing the currently active space weather assessment website offered by the Center of Excellence in Space Science India (CESSI) (http://www.cessi.in/spaceweather/about.html)

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship

Pal, Sanchita (Recipient), 6 September 2023

AGU Space Physics and Aeronomy Travel Grant

Pal, Sanchita (Recipient), 2018

SCOSTEP Visiting Scholarship (SVS-2017)

Pal, Sanchita (Recipient), 1 May 2017

Young Scientist Best Paper Award

Pal, Sanchita (Recipient), 7 Feb 2020