While the Sun-Earth system acts as a vast laboratory for fundamental research in plasma physics, its behaviour is also instrumental for many applications with daily impact, like communication or GPS satellites. The study of solar-terrestrial interactions is at the forefront of the space exploration programs, growing in importance and allocated resources with the progress of space technologies.

The project M-ICAR covers fundamental research and is not related directly to applicative research. However, indirectly, the project will consolidate the Romanian expertise in a field with high spin-off rate, driving technological development. The successful execution of the project will contribute to the international visibility of the Space Plasma and Magnetometry Group (GPSM) at the Institute for Space Sciences (ISS), Bucharest-Magurele, and will consolidate the group position in the space science community. At a time when Romania has become full member of the European Space Agency (ESA), this may also imply a better chance to get involved in hardware projects, of key importance for the evolution of the group in the longer run.

M-ICAR complements the POLARIS project, carried on at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, and is executed in close cooperation with the Earth & Space Science (ESS) Department of the School of Engineering and Science (SES) at Jacobs University Bremen (JUB). As part of the collaboration between ISS and JUB/SES, the project provides a framework for pursuing PhD work to the young scientists involved.

M-ICAR, project code PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-1013, is supported by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research through the "Idei" Program of CNCS-UEFISCDI, contract No. 67/05.10.2011. A concise summary of the project is available here.