INSTITUTUL DE STIINTE SPATIALE

Their core work

The Institute of Space Sciences (ISS) in Bucharest is a Romanian research institute focused on space physics, with particular strength in ionospheric research and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. They study atmospheric gravity waves, traveling ionospheric disturbances, and related plasma physics using ground-based instruments like ionosondes and dynasondes. Beyond core research, ISS contributes to the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) service as a national third-party provider, and actively participates in science communication and public engagement programs across Romania.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014-2018), ISS was primarily involved in science outreach and Researchers' Night events, with keywords centered on edutainment, national coverage, and public engagement with science. From 2019 onward, their profile shifted sharply toward technical space science: they coordinated MICAWA on ionospheric physics, continued SST contributions, and their keyword landscape became dominated by atmospheric gravity waves, ionosondes, and spectral analysis. The outreach work continued but the research core clearly matured and deepened.

ISS is transitioning from a primarily outreach-oriented participant to a technically specialized institute in ionospheric science and EU space surveillance, making them increasingly relevant for space physics and monitoring consortia.

How they like to work

ISS mostly joins projects as a participant or third party rather than leading them — they coordinated only once (MICAWA), which was also their largest-funded project by far. Their 34 unique partners across 8 countries suggest a moderately broad European network, though the third-party roles in SST projects indicate they often contribute specialized national capabilities to larger infrastructure-type consortia. They appear reliable as a contributing partner but are still building their track record as consortium leaders.

ISS has worked with 34 unique consortium partners across 8 countries, suggesting a solid European network for a relatively small institute. Their partnerships span both large SST infrastructure consortia and smaller science communication networks.

What sets them apart

ISS occupies an uncommon niche combining ionospheric physics research with operational contributions to European space surveillance infrastructure — a combination few Romanian institutes offer. Their dual capability in technical space science and proven science communication makes them a useful partner for projects that need both research depth and public engagement work packages. For consortium builders targeting Eastern European coverage in space-related calls, ISS brings Romanian national infrastructure access and a track record in both Pillar 1 (MSCA) and Pillar 2 (Space) programs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MICAWA
  Their only coordinated project and by far the largest funding (EUR 125K) — a Marie Curie fellowship on magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling that represents their core scientific identity.
• 2-3SST2018-20
  Multi-year contribution to the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking service, demonstrating operational-level involvement in European space infrastructure beyond pure research.
• DoReMi-RO
  Representative of their sustained commitment to citizen science and public engagement, featuring hands-on experiments and collaborative engagement approaches.