Curriculum Vitae

You can download my CV in PDF format.

Employment History

2023-present

Associate Professor (2024-present), Assistant Professor (2023-2024)
Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Warsaw, Poland

2018-2023

Associate Research Scholar (2020-2023), Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018-2020)
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University
Princeton, NJ, USA

2011-2018

Research Assistant (2016-2018), Student Researcher (2011-2016)
Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Warsaw, Poland

2009-2012

Student Internship
Institute of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland

Education & degrees

Habilitation
(doktor habilitowany)
2024

Natural Sciences, discipline: Astronomy
Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN)
Awarded: June 19, 2024
Achievement: Determination of Physical Conditions in the Interstellar Medium Around the Heliosphere from Observations of Interstellar Neutral Helium Atoms

PhD
(doktor)
2013-2018

Physical Science in the branch of Geophysics
Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN)
Awarded: February 7, 2018
Dissertation: Prospects for studying the heliosphere and its vicinity based on observations of energetic neutral atoms of heavy elements on Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe
Advisor: Dr. Maciej Bzowski

MSc
(magister)
2011-2013

Physics with major in Theory of fundamental particles and interactions
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw
Awarded: July 4, 2013
Thesis: Dark Matter effects in the Inert Doublet Model in the light of the newest LHC data (in Polish)
Advisor: Prof. Maria Krawczyk

BSc
(licencjat)
2008-2011

Physics within Inter-Faculty Individual Studies in Mathematics and Natural Sciences under Individual Study Programme
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw
Awarded: September 2, 2011
Thesis: Dark Matter in the Thermal History of the Universe (in Polish)
Advisor: Prof. Stefan Pokorski

Invited talks and lectures

1. P. Swaczyna, Our Interstellar Neighborhood: Observations of Interstellar Matter in the Heliosphere, seminar lecture, Warsaw Observatory Tuesday Seminar, 21 Nov 2023, Warsaw, Poland [recording available on YouTube].
2. P. Swaczyna et al., Interstellar Neutrals and Pickup Ions from IBEX and New Horizons, invited talk, New Horizons Science Team Meeting #54, 26 – 27 Oct 2023, Boston, MA, USA.
3. P. Swaczyna, Uncovering Interstellar Neighborhood of the Sun with Neutral Helium Observed by IBEX-Lo, Outer Heliosphere – Very Local Interstellar Medium Online Seminar, 20 Sept 2023.
4. P. Swaczyna, Interstellar medium surrounding the heliosphere, invited talk, 41st Meeting of Polish Astronomical Society, 11 – 15 Sept 2023, Toruń, Poland.
5. P. Swaczyna, Mixing Interstellar Clouds Around the Heliosphere from Observations of Interstellar Neutral Atoms, invited talk, New Horizons Science Team Meeting #53, 24 – 25 May 2023, Boulder, CO, USA.
6. P. Swaczyna, Interstellar Neutral Atom Observations from 1 au to the Very Local Interstellar Medium, invited talk SH11B-03, AGU Fall Meeting 2021, 13 – 17 Dec 2021, New Orleans, LA, USA.
7. P. Swaczyna, Local Interstellar Medium Probed by Neutral Atom Observations, invited talk, 40th Meeting of Polish Astronomical Society, 13 – 17 Sept 2021, Virtual.
8. P. Swaczyna, The heliosphere and the very local interstellar medium revealed by neutral atom observations with IBEX, invited talk D1.2-0007-21, 43rd COSPAR Assembly, 28 Jan – 4 Feb 2021, Hybrid.
9. P. Swaczyna, D. J. McComas, E. J. Zirnstein, J. M. Sokół, H. A. Elliott, M. Bzowski, M. A. Kubiak, J. D. Richardson, I. Kowalska-Leszczynska, S. A. Stern, H. A. Weaver, C. B. Olkin, K. N. Singer, J. R. Spencer, SWAP Measurement of Interstellar Hydrogen Density from Pickup Ion Observations, invited talk, New Horizons Science Team Meeting #45, 19 May 2020, Virtual.
10. P. Swaczyna, S. Grzedzielski, M. Bzowski, Helium Energetic Neutral Atoms – a New Perspective for Heliospheric and Extraheliospheric Observations with IMAP, invited talk SH53C-05, AGU Fall Meeting 2015, 14 – 18 Dec 2015, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Participation in research projects

See also the projects page.

1. Grant 2023/51/D/ST9/01261 (period of performance: 2024–2027, ongoing) from the National Science Centre, Poland (NCN), Evolution of the outer heliosphere seen in neutral atom fluxes, role: Principal Investigator (PI).
2. Grant BPN/PPO/2022/1/00017 (period of performance: 2023–2027, ongoing) from Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) Polish Returns 2022 with a research component financed by NCN (2023/02/1/ST9/00004), The outer heliosphere and its interstellar surrounding revealed in neutral atom and pickup ion observations, role: PI.
3. International Space Science Institute (ISSI Bern) Team #541 (period of performance: 2022-2024, completed), Distribution of Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen in the Sun’s Neighborhood, role: Team Leader.
4. Grant 80NSSC21K1686 (period of performance: 2021–2024, completed) from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ROSES-2020 Heliophysics Supporting Research Program, Mapping the Heliospheric Termination Shock with IBEX Observations and Modeling, role: Co-Investigator (Co-I, 2021–2023), PI: Eric J. Zirnstein.
5. Grant 80NSSC21K0582 (period of performance 2021–2023, completed) from NASA ROSES-2020 Heliophysics Guest Investigators “Open” Program, Separation and Time-evolution of the Ribbon ENA Source Observed by IBEX, role: PI.
6. Grant 80NSSC20K0781 (period of performance 2020–2023, completed) from NASA ROSES-2019 Outer Heliosphere Guest Investigators Program, Angular Scattering of Neutral Atoms: Observations and Interpretation from IBEX and Consequences for IMAP, role: PI.
7. Prime Contract NASW-02008 (ongoing) from NASA New Frontiers Program, New Horizons, role: Postdoctoral Researcher (2019–2022), PI: S. Alan Stern.
8. Contract 80GSFC19C0027 (period of performance: 2018–2025, ongoing) from NASA Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) Program, Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), role: Postdoctoral Researcher (2018–2023), PI: David J. McComas.
9. Contracts 80NSSC18K0237 (period of performance: 2017–2020, completed) and 80NSSC20K0719 (period of performance: 2020–2023, ongoing) from NASA Small Explorers Program, IBEX – Interstellar Boundary Explorer, role: Postdoctoral Researcher (2018–2022), PI: David J. McComas.
10. Grant 2015/19/B/ST9/01328 (period of performance: 2016–2020, completed) from NCN Opus, Interstellar medium in the vicinity of the Sun: inferences from analysis of the flux of neutral atoms, role: PhD Student (2016–2018), PI: Maciej Bzowski.
11. Grant 2012/06/M/ST9/00455 (period of performance: 2013–2016, completed) from NCN Harmonia, Polish participation in the NASA space mission Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX): astronomy of neutral atoms, role: PhD Student (2013–2016), PI: Maciej Bzowski.

Prizes and awards

• Scholarship of the Polish Minister of Science for Young Scientists, Warsaw, 2024-2027.
• START stipend from the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) with distinction from Prof. Adam Sobiczewski Fund, Warsaw, May 2017. ⓘ
• Outstanding Student Paper Award for the talk presented at the 2015 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 2016.
• Arkadiusz Piekara Award from the Polish Physical Society for an outstanding master’s thesis, Warsaw, December 2014. ⓘ
• Outstanding Student Poster Award for the poster presented at the European Geosciences Union 2014 General Assembly, Vienna, October 2014.
• Joanna and Jerzy Glazer Award for the best master’s thesis prepared in the academic year 2012/2013 at Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, March 2014.
• The Minister of Science and Higher Education Scholarship for outstanding achievement for the academic year 2012/2013, Warsaw, December 2012.

Membership in scientific organizations

• European Geosciences Union (EGU): 2014, 2015, 2017 (student), 2020, 2022 (regular)
• American Geophysical Union (AGU): 2014–2017 (graduate student), 2018–2023 (regular)
• International Astronomical Union (IAU): 2021–current (junior member)
• American Astronomical Society (AAS): 2023 (full member)

Service and other activities

• Co-convener of session The Past, Present, and Future of Heliophysics Through In Situ Observations of the Outer Heliosphere and the Interstellar Medium at AGU Fall Meeting 2023.
• Primary convener of session Interstellar Medium Traces in the Time-Varying Heliosphere at AGU Fall Meeting 2022.
• Member of Topical Science Group on Interstellar Neutrals for the Interstellar Probe concept study.
• Chair of the Ph.D. Students’ Government in SRC PAS (Oct. 2014 – Sept. 2016).
• Voluntary tutor on science workshops in Astronomy and Physics for gifted high school students organized by the Polish Children’s Fund.
• Reviewer for The Astrophysical Journal, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, The European Physical Journal Plus, Astronomy, Remote Sensing.
• Reviewer and member of NASA ROSES proposal evaluation panels.