The reward of the Foundation for Polish Science for Krzysztof Sośnica

Doctor Krzysztof Sośnica, who defended his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Astronomy at the University in Bern in Switzerland (with “summa cum laude” 6.0/6.0 in 2014, and received habilitation this year!), and came back to the University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław with the European Geosciences Union reward for the “innovative contribution to the combination of laser measurement of the distance to artificial satellites of the Earth and global navigation satellite systems in order to improve the quality of the key geodesy parameters”, is one of 121 young researchers awarded with fellowships of the Foundation for Polish Science. The amount of the yearly fellowship is 28 thousand PLN, and the total amount spend on the START programme by the Foundation this year has amounted to 3.5 million PLN but…

– Three ”outstanding” young researchers were awarded fellowships amounting to 36 thousand PLN – says Doctor Sośnica, who was among the top three together with Doctor Michał Pilipczuk from the Institute of Informatics of the University of Warsaw, whose work focuses on the fundamental issues of theoretical informatics, and Doctor Piotr Rzymski from Poznan University of Medical Sciences, a researcher with considerable academic achievements in the field of environmental biology.

Our scientist specializes in satellite and planetary geodesy. The committee awarding the fellowships recognized him for being a co-author of the empirical model of orbits for geodesy satellites and software for precise analysis of the satellite observations – from January 2015 this way is used by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe as the official model for determination of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo Satellites. Doctor Sośnica is also a co-author of the concept of the satellite mission VELOCITÉ (Venus Lander and Orbiter for Characterizing the Interior and Tectonics), which is to examine geodetic properties, geophysical processes and tectonic activity of Venus. The concept was prepared under the patronage of the European Space Agency.

In 2015 when he came back to Wrocław with the European Geosciences Union reward, the winner of Foundation fellowship said: – I was interested in environmental sciences and space technologies. The measurements and satellite technologies is the future. There is a lot to do in Poland regarding space technologies because we fell behind for a long time. Today we live in the era of the conquest of space, which can be compared with the era of great geographical discoveries. It is a technological race regarding the conquest of space and we cannot afford to not take part in it.

Krzysztof Sośnica focuses on determining the precise orbits of artificial satellites, i.e. delivery of precise position of satellites. Satellite observations are used for precise navigation, marking out engineering objects such as bridges or flyovers, measurement of tectonic plate movement, or in the analysis of earthquakes’ influence on the change of a day’s length. In order to use the data, it is necessary to know the exact position of a satellite at the moment the signal was sent.

Our researcher also uses his knowledge of precise orbits in studies on the geometry, rotary motion and gravity of the Earth. He uses two observation techniques in his research: GNSS microwave measurement (which includes American GPS, Russian GLONASS system and European Galileo system), as well as laser measurement of the distance to artificial satellites (SLR - Satellite Laser Ranging).

The SLR technique is about sending laser impulses through a terrestrial telescope in the direction of a satellite and registering the returning photons after the laser beam reflects off special reflectors installed on a satellite. The difference of time after multiplying by the speed of light gives us double distance between the station and an artificial satellite. The technique allows for measuring the distance with a precision to a few millimeters between a station and an artificial satellite orbiting around the Earth. American Apollo missions and Russian Luna missions also installed reflectors on the surface of the moon, which makes it possible to measure the distance between the Earth and the moon with a centimeter accuracy (LLR technique – Lunar Laser Ranging).

Dr Krzysztof Sośnica participated in four international research projects, including two organized by the European Space Agency, where he studied the legitimacy of installing accelerometers on second generation Galileo satellites. He works in the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Wrocław, in the Department of Satellite Geodesy, where he manages the OPUS project of the National Science Center. He is a winner of the European Union of Geosciences award for outstanding young scientists in geodesy section (EGU, 2015), award of the International Geodesy Association for the best article (IAG/IUGG, 2015), grant holder of the Space Research Center in Switzerland (CSR, 2014), grant holder of the Minister of Science and Higher Education (2015) and Foundation for Polish Science (2016).

START is the biggest Polish grant programme concerning the best young researchers representing all fields of science. It is the oldest programme of the Foundation and every year over 100 grants are awarded as a part of it. They are to support young scientists financially in difficult beginnings of their research careers and allow them to fully dedicate themselves to science. The winners may allocate grants for any purpose.

As Professor Maciej Żylicz, president of the Foundation for Polish Science, says – this way we help young scientists to not have to work on the side, give private lessons or wash windows on Saturday and Sunday, but to fully focus on scientific work.

The winners of this year’s edition of the competition were selected from among 1291 candidates. These are scientists under 30 years old (or 32 if they used maternity leaves), just before their doctorate or just after obtaining it, working in research centers in all of Poland.

The average age for this year’s winners of the START programme is 29, and 67% of the winners have a doctorate (in Poland, the average age of gaining a doctorate is about 35). The circle of all winners including this year’s winners amounts to 2700 people.

Since 2009, the Foundation also awards distinctions to candidates whose research achievements were assessed the highest by the competition reviewers. This year there were three winners with distinction. The grants for those people were increased to 36 thousand złoty using the means obtained by the Foundation from payments of 1% of the personal income tax.

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