Sami Khan Solanki (born 1958 in Karachi, Pakistan) is director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), director of the Sun-Heliosphere Department of MPS, a scientific member of the Max Planck Society,Organizational profile for the Max Planck Institute for Solar System ResearchOrganizational chart for the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and a Chair (and spokesperson) of the International Max Planck Research School on Physical Processes in the Solar System and Beyond at the Universities of Braunschweig and Göttingen.Staff page for the International Max Planck Research School on Physical Processes in the Solar System and Beyond
Solanki is also an honorary professor at the Institute of Astronomy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and (2) Institute for Geophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics at the Braunschweig University of Technology in Germany. In addition, he is a distinguished professor at the Kyung Hee University in Korea.
He is the editor-in-chief of the Living Reviews in Solar Physics, an exclusively web-based, peer-reviewed journal, publishing reviews of research in all areas of solar and heliospheric physics. Living Reviews in Solar Physics was recently rated with an impact factor of 17.636 taking the third place in the "Astronomy & Astrophysics" category.
Solanki's main topics of research are: Solar and heliospheric physics, in particular solar magnetism and Sun-Earth relations Stellar astrophysics, mainly stellar activity and magnetism Astronomical tests of theories of gravitation Atomic and molecular physics of astronomical interest Protoplanetary discs and extrasolar planets Radiative transfer of polarised light
He has also held these positions: (1) Vice-Chairman and member of the Senate Committee of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR); (2) Member Appointment Committee and Committee of Three of the DLR; (3) Member Extraterrestrial Program Committee of the DLR; (4) Science Advisory Committee of the High Altitude Observatory, Boulder/USA; (5) Science Advisory Board at the Istituto Ricerche Solari (IRSOL), Locarno/Switzerland;Organizational Profile at the Max Planck Society website and has contributed to the following space/balloon projects: Sunrise (PI) STEREO Secchi (Co-I) SDO HMI (Co-I)The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) , led from Stanford University in Stanford, CA, studies solar variability and characterizes the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity. Solar Orbiter PHI (PI)The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) , led from Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, a proposed instrument for the Solar Orbiter mission referencing the Visible-light Imager and Magnetograph.
Academic career 1987 Doctorate from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich 1987–1989 Post doc at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. 1992 Habilitation 1998 Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oulu in Finland 1999 Minnaert guest professor at the University of Utrecht 1999 Director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Awards and honours 2001 Honorary professor at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule 2003 Honorary professor at the Technische Universität Braunschweig 2006 Associateship of the Royal Astronomical SocietyNotice of associateship of the Royal Astronomical Society 2008 Presented the Bernard Price Memorial Lecture in South Africa 2022 George Ellery Hale Prize 2026 Fellow of the Royal Society
In 2011, Solanki delivered a lecture, "Is the Sun to Blame for Global Warming?," at the first Starmus Festival in the Canary Islands. His talk was subsequently published in the book Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space.
Controversy Solanki's research has been quoted as being part of the Global warming controversy, for instance in an article in the Telegraph in 2004 as taking a sceptical position: But the same research has been quoted as being evidence for global warming in a news release from the Max Planck Society though he is quoted as calling for further investigation, saying:
Selected publications Source:
References
External links Personal webpage at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research How Strongly Does the Sun Influence the Global Climate? Press Release 4 August 2004 by the Max Planck Institute Sonne und Treibhausgase heizen ein (en: The Sun and Greenhouse gases warm up) Press release 19 February 1998 by the ETHZ Department Sun and Heliosphere The sun is more active now than over the last 8000 years NASA press release from 2004