معرفی
Valentina Zharkova is a Professor of Mathematics at Northumbria University, where she joined in September 2013. She previously held academic positions at Kiev National University (1975-1994), Glasgow University (1992-2000) where she served as Senior Research Fellow, and Bradford University (2000-2013) where she progressed from Lecturer to Reader (2002) and Professor of Applied Mathematics (2005).
Her educational background includes a first-class with distinction degree in Applied Mathematics from Kiev National University, Ukraine (1975) and a PhD in Astrophysics on 'Radiative transfer of solar prominences' from the Main Astronomical Observatory, Kiev, Ukraine (viva 1984).
Professor Zharkova's research spans Applied Mathematics, Plasma Physics, Pattern Recognition, Solar-Terrestrial Physics, and Solar Activity. She is renowned for discovering sunquakes induced by flaring processes (published in Nature, 1998) and for predicting the Modern Grand Solar Minimum (2020-2053). Her work employs Principal Component Analysis to identify solar magnetic field dynamo waves and predict solar activity on millennial timescales. Recent publications (2022-2024) focus on solar-terrestrial relationships, solar activity periodicities, particle dynamics in solar flares, and terrestrial climate responses to solar variations.
She has published over 200 papers including 3 in Nature group journals during her tenure at Northumbria University, plus a monograph on particle kinetics and 18 book chapters. Her research portfolio demonstrates consistent advancement in understanding solar magnetic fields, particle acceleration mechanisms, and solar-climate connections.
Her scientific achievements have been recognized with:
- SOHO/MDO team award for discovery of sunquake (1999)
- RHESSI award for outstanding research (2005)
- NSF US award for advanced studies of solar flares (2002)
Professor Zharkova has secured significant research funding from the European Commission, EPSRC, STFC, the Royal Society, the Royal Astronomical Society, and the US Air Force. She supervised PhD student Malcolm Druett who completed his thesis on 'The Effects of Energetic Particles on Radiative Transfer and Emission from Hydrogen in Solar Flares' in 2018. At Northumbria University, she served as MPEE department Lead in international affairs (2014-2016) and in Equality and Diversity (2018-2020).
She maintains active professional memberships in the London Mathematical Society, European Mathematical Society, European Physics Society, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, International Astronomical Union, and COSPAR (Committee on Space Research).
