The name of the new centre of excellence will be the Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics (RoCS). It is named after the great Norwegian astronomer Svein Rosseland, who founded the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics in 1934.
The goal of the new centre is to understand the workings of our nearest star, the Sun. By combining observations of the Sun with advanced computer models, the researchers at the centre will develop new knowledge about particle acceleration and heating, both inside and around the Sun. In this way one can uncover processes that have direct consequences for the Earth's atmosphere and conditions for life on Earth.
The Norwegian Research Council has given ten research groups status as a centre of excellence. The centres will in total receive 1,5 billion NOK over ten years to do research at international top level.
The new centre will consist of the entire solar research group at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics. Mats Carlsson will be director of the centre, and Viggo Hansteen, Boris Gudiksen, Luc Rouppe van der Voort, Sven Wedemeyer og Bart De Pontieu are principle investigators (PI).