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The 44th Scientific Assembly of Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) took place in Athens, Greece, on July 16-24, 2022. The aims of COSPAR include promoting research by providing platforms for free exchange of scientific thought. The Assembly is a large annual conference that combined 151 sections within 10 scientific commissions in 2022. Thematically, COSPAR encompasses various aspects of astronomical research – from materials in space to astrobiology, supermassive black holes and elementary particles. COSPAR 2022 combined in-person and remote participation.

Ventspils International Radioastronomy Centre (VIRAC) leading researcher Juris Kalvāns has been accepted as a lawful individual member of International Astronomical Union (IAU). IAU aim is to promote the development of astronomy and has more than 12,000 scientists from 106 countries. This event is both a positive assessment of the leading researcher’s scientific achievements and a confirmation to Latvia’s Space research infrastructure, whose main driving force is VIRAC.

An article “Evaporative cooling of icy interstellar grains. II. Key parameters” by VIRAC researchers J. Kalvāns and J. R. Kalnin has been published in the renowned scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics in September 2020.

High Perfomance Computing Department astronomy technician Jānis Šteinbergs and Astronomy and Astrophysics Department researcher Artis Aberfelds will participate in CASA-VLBI seminar online which will take place from 2-6 November.

On 6 October, 2020 VUAS ERI VIRAC leading researcher Artūrs Vrubļevskis remotely participated in the online conference held by the International Union of Radio Science (French Union Internationale de Radio-Scientifique - URSI) which took place in Warsaw, Poland.