Chair:
Mary Snitch (USA), 2025 – 2029
Vice-Chairs:
Marius Anger (Finland), 2026 – 2030
Nicolina Chrysaphi (Greece), 2026 -2030
Aura Roy (USA), 2026 – 2030
PEP Members
Intercommission/Panel/Task Group/Committee Liaisons:
See Members link above.
Terms of Reference:
The objective of the Panel on Emergent Professionals (PEP) is to promote space research worldwide and strengthen international cooperation in the 21st century scientific workforce. PEP reflects a name change from the Panel on Early Careers and International Space Societies (PECISS), established in March 2025, and extends engagement with early career scientists to include interests and challenges faced by traditional graduate and PhD students and non-traditional mid-career doctoral students aspiring to enter the global scientific workforce. In that regard, PEP will:
- Engage with traditional graduate students, early careers and mid-career doctoral students across the global scientific arena for enhanced cooperation in space research worldwide, including for the benefit of emerging nations;
- Leverage the potential of space to emergent professionals to support grants, tutorials for writing articles, competitions, etc., and facilitate their networking within COSPAR;
- Promote discussions and partnerships with other organizations to foster growing institutional support for traditional and mid-career PhDs and early careers:
- Develop outreach to explain to the public and to decision-makers the relevance and impor4tance of science and space research to society;
The future of COSPAR relies on an active new generation of space scientists. PEP will contribute by enhancing support for traditional and mid-career PhDs and early-career scientists through grants, article-writing tutorials, competitions, and more. It will also foster collaboration with other early-career space organizations, such as the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), and promote networking opportunities.
PEP expects to help open new areas of collaboration involving a variety of scientists from different disciplines in natural and social sciences. For social sciences and humanities communities PEP will offer a larger audience and visibility for their work and provide opportunities for novel research in a highly dynamic field and the benefit of recognition of their key role in promoting interdisciplinary research and collaboration.
PEP will liaise with the Panel on Education (PE) and Panel on Capacity-building (PCB) to foster a common vision within the COSPAR community on the need to strengthen research collaboration worldwide and in the interest of future generations.