International Union of Radio Science (URSI)

The International Union of Radio Science, universally referred to as URSI (Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale), was created in 1919 during the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council (now ISC). URSI’s origins go back even further, to the earlier International Commission on Scientific Radiotelegraphy. This had been active during the period 1913-1914, when the only existing type of radio communication was radiotelegraphy.

The original objective of URSI in 1919 (to encourage scientific studies of radiotelegraphy, especially those which require international cooperation) has been broadened considerably over the past 70 years. Its object is now described in Article 1 of the Statutes, namely:

Article 1. Radio science encompasses the knowledge and study of all aspects of electromagnetic fields and waves. The International Union of Radio Science (Union Radio Scientifique Internationale), a non-governmental and non-profit organization under the International Council for Science, is responsible for stimulating and coordinating, on an international basis, studies, research, applications, scientific exchange, and communication in the fields of radio science. Included within the objectives are the following:

• to encourage and promote international activity in radio science and its applications, for the benefit of humanity;
• to encourage the adoption of common methods of measurement, and the intercomparison and standardisation of the measuring instruments used in scientific work;
• to stimulate and coordinate studies of:
  • the scientific aspects of telecommunications using electromagnetic waves, guided and unguided;
  • the generation, emission, radiation, propagation, reception, and detection of fields and waves, and the processing of the signals embedded in them;
  • to represent radio science to the general public, and to public and private organizations.

The Members of URSI are the Committees whose applications for membership have been adopted at an Ordinary General Assembly. A Member Committee is established in a territory by its Academy of Sciences or Research Council, or by a similar institution or association of institutions. An updated list of our Member Committees is available at https://www.ursi.org/committees.php

Individual membership of URSI was introduced to secure professional recognition of individual radio scientists and to establish their better connection with the URSI Board of Officers, Scientific Commissions, and URSI Member Committees. Three categories of individual membership (URSI Corresponding Member, URSI Senior Member and URSI Fellow) have been established. Fellowship is by invitation only; Senior Membership can be by invitation or application. More information can be found at https://www.ursi.org/membership.php

The URSI Newsletter is part of the plan to increase the visibility of URSI, and to stimulate the exchange of information amongst the URSI scientists. The Newsletter is published and distributed by e-mail. It allows more informal communication with URSI scientists. The Newsletters can be found at https://www.ursi.org/publications.php?highlight=nl (and then click ‘URSI Newsletters’).

URSI Radio Science Letters (RSL) is an electronic journal owned and operated by URSI. Its purpose is to rapidly publish original and previously unpublished scientific research work in all areas of radio science, in the form of short contributions that are rigorously reviewed. The journal is open access and is published only in electronic format, one volume per calendar year. Each reviewed and accepted letter is published as soon as full editing is completed. Each published contribution is identified by volume number, year of publication, and DOI (https://www.ursi.org/publications.php?highlight=nl and then click ‘URSI Radio Science Letters’).

URSI supports IUCAF, the Steering Committee on Frequency Allocation for Radio Astronomy and Space Science (of which it is a parent Union); and ISES, the International Space Environment Service which provides information relevant to disciplines related to the Sun-Earth environment.

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