New physics faculty member named to $28 million second phase of NASA project

Wednesday, Feb 18, 2026 • Greg Pederson :

 

A new faculty member is bringing his award-winning research portfolio in space physics to the University of Texas at Arlington.

Anton Artemyev joined the UTA Department of Physics in January as an associate professor. He spent the previous 10 years at UCLA, where he worked on both observational and theoretical studies of Earth’s magnetospheric dynamics and received multiple awards for his research on space plasma, the ionized gas that makes up 99 percent of the visible universe.

At UTA he joins the new Center for Space and Data Science, which was launched in January, as associate director for research. Artemyev said a big part of his desire to come to UTA was so that he could expand his teaching and mentoring roles.

“I was very enthusiastic about the opportunity to complement my research activities with more substantial teaching and mentoring responsibilities offered by the UTA Department of Physics,” he said. “The combination of the unique expertise of the UTA space plasma team, the very ambitious plans to expand the space plasma direction at UTA, and the extended opportunities to further develop my teaching and mentoring methodologies ultimately motivated my decision to come to UTA.”

The ability to help create and guide the direction of a new center dedicated to space physics and data science was also a key factor in his decision, he said.

“I believe there is a clear demand from the space industry, national agencies, and leading educational institutions for a new generation of researchers and Ph.D. students with multidimensional advanced training in mathematics, data science, and space physics, including space weather and engineering disciplines,” he said. “Therefore, the idea of organizing such a Center at UTA, especially given its substantial undergraduate student population, appears both timely and highly compelling.”

Artemyev was recently named a co-investigator of Phase B of NASA’s Cross-scale Investigation of Earth’s Magnetotail and Aurora (CINEMA) project, which is led by Robyn Millan, professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. CINEMA aims to help scientists better comprehend how plasma energy flows into the Earth’s magnetosphere. The flow is unpredictable and is critical to understanding why some space weather events are so much more influential than others.

The mission’s long-term goal is to improve predictions of space weather events to mitigate possible impacts on satellite and ground-based communications, as well as on the power grid and other infrastructure. The mission will greatly improve understanding of the energetic connection between the Sun and Earth while providing deeper insight into how similar environments in space impact plans for human exploration.

“My role will primarily involve theoretical and observational reanalysis of existing concepts and datasets to provide the CINEMA team with the best possible understanding of what can be expected from, and how to interpret, future CINEMA measurements,” Artemyev said.

Artemyev and his CINEMA co-investigators are sharing $28 million in funding for Phase B of the project. The overall mission has a budget of approximately $180 million, most of which is allocated for the design and construction of nine satellites and to instrumentation being developed at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and elsewhere.

Artemyev was involved in Phase A of CINEMA while at UCLA, through his analysis of data from two small, lightweight Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) satellites which were created at UCLA.

“My role during this phase focused on providing observational and theoretical expertise related to ELFIN measurements in the context of formulating CINEMA’s scientific objectives,” Artemyev said. “In many respects, CINEMA actively builds on our understanding of low-altitude monitoring of the magnetosphere derived from ELFIN observations.”

Artemyev received his Ph.D. in physics from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow in 2010. He then worked as a research scientist at the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz, Austria, where he conducted spacecraft data analysis, with a particular focus on measurements from the European Space Agency’s Cluster mission, which studied how the solar wind drives space weather variations.

From there he took a position at the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the Environment and Space at the University of Orléans (France), where he studied radiation belt dynamics, an essential element of space weather research. The project primarily involved observational and simulation-based studies, along with parallel development of mathematical models.

The project concluded in 2013, resulting in multiple widely cited publications, and Artemyev was awarded the prestigious Zeldovich Medal by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in recognition of the importance of this work.

In 2015 Artemyev joined UCLA as an assistant researcher. He worked on both observational and theoretical studies of Earth’s magnetospheric dynamics, with a strong emphasis on data analysis from NASA’s THEMIS and ARTEMIS missions. In recognition of his overall contributions to the study of magnetospheric dynamics, he was awarded the James B. Macelwane Medal by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in 2019.

In his nomination letter of Artemyev for the Macelwane Medal, UCLA professor Vassilis Angelopoulos wrote: “Dr. Artemyev is one of the premier plasma theorists in the world with a unique ability to work equally well with theory, models, and observations. … His breadth of research is enviable even by senior scientists. He is a leader among leaders.”

In addition to his work with ELFIN, Artemyev’s research during his 10 years at UCLA included various aspects of solar wind interaction with planetary magnetospheres, using data from NASA’s MAVEN and Juno missions orbiting Mars and Jupiter, respectively.

In his 25-plus years of academic activity, Artemyev has published approximately 500 papers, including about 100 as first author, with more than 15,000 total citations.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Artemyev to UTA and the Department of Physics,” said Alex Weiss, professor and chair of the department. “We were fortunate to be able to recruit him. He brings an outstanding research record, a rare ability to explain his science clearly, and exceptional promise as a teacher. We’re excited to have him join an already very strong space physics program, where his contributions will further elevate the impact and visibility of our work at UTA.

“His participation in the CINEMA mission will create terrific opportunities for him and his students to work at the cutting edge of space science and will further strengthen the reputation of UTA and the Center for Space and Data Science.”
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