Science Interest Groups
(SIGs)

Science Interest Groups (SIGs) are standing groups of scientists with interests in a certain area of astrophysics. SIGs provide quantitative metrics and assessments to NASA in regard to current and future needs of the community in that area, and act as a focal point and forum for the community.

Most SIGs operate within one of the three themes of NASA Astrophysics — Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins, and Exoplanet Exploration — but some encompass all astrophysics themes.

All PhysCOS SIGs are chaired by one or more members of the PhysPAG Executive Committee. Anyone subscribed to a SIG’s mailing list is considered a member of the SIG.

Current SIGs

• Cosmic Ray (CR SIG) (Chairs: Andrew Romero-Wolf and Athina Meli): Coordinate community activities and preparations for a future cosmic ray astronomy mission.
• Cosmic Structure (CoS SIG) (Chairs: Vera Gluscevic and Rebekah Hounsell): Coordinate community activities for future space activities concerning the nature of dark energy, dark matter, neutrinos, and tests of inflation, as well as astrophysical galaxy evolution.
• Gamma Ray (GR SIG) (Chairs: Justin Finke, Eric Burns, and Manel Errando): Coordinate community activities and preparations for a future gamma ray astronomy mission.
• Gravitational Wave (GW SIG) (Chairs: Chiara Mingarelli and Alessandra Corsi): Coordinate community activities and preparations for a future gravitational wave mission.
• Inflation Probe (IP SIG) (Chair: Roger O’Brient): Coordinate community activities and preparations for a future cosmic microwave background polarization mission.
• Time Domain and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics SIG (TDAMM SIG) (Chairs: Eric Burns, Rebekah Hounsell, Brad Cenko, and Ian Crossfield): Coordinate community activities for future missions relevant to time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics.
• X-ray (XR SIG) (Chairs: Grant Tremblay, David Pooley, Kristin Madsen, and Chien-Ting Chen): Coordinate community activities and preparations for a future X-ray astronomy mission.