B-REP is a Technical Capacity-Building Program designed to bridge the gap between regional (African)- talent and the global space-data ecosystem.
Date:
12 Saturdays: 7th March - 24th May, 2026
Time:
10:00 AM - 01:00 PM WAT (Each session)
Registration window: ย ย ย
15th December, 2025 - 13th February, 2026
Target Applicants:
Science- or Engineering-Inclined
Demography:
Undergraduates, Graduates, Science Teachers and Space Weather Enthusiast
Registration Fee:
The program fee of $100 is waived for all accepted participants, ensuring that financial barriers does not hinder participation.
To Register:
Program of Events (POE)
Program's Poster
Diego Prado
Juie shetye
New Mexico State University, United States
Benjamin Reid
University of Birminham, United Kingdom
Mahith Madhanakumar
The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
Enrique Rojas
MIT Haystack Observatory, United States
Mostafa Hegy
National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Egypt
Omena Raphael Idolorย
University of Lagos, Nigeria
Jeff Klenzing
University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), United States
Amadi B. Chinonso
Program Director, BrianSpace Associates
Roberto Madeira
National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil
Vincent Ledvina
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, United States
We understand the scheduling demands in under-served regions. B-REPโs weekend structure and flexible tasks are designed to accommodate:
Students whose weekdays are fully occupied with lectures
Science and engineering teachers with demanding weekday schedules
Graduate students seeking to strengthen research skills or broaden expertise beyond their primary field.
Enthusiasts, Professionals, and Engineers interested in space science but lacking access to a supportive research community.
If you can commit 5 - 8 hours each week to this 12-week learning journey, B-REP offers a flexible, paced pathway to learn, practice, and grow in space science research.
Participants will interface with datasets provided by these global space entities:
GFZ: Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciencesย
IGS: International GNSS Service (Global Navigation Satellite System)
NCAR: National Center for Atmospheric Research
The exact datasets include:
Swarm data
Digisonde data
GNSS TEC data
GOLD Instrument data
NASA CCMC database geomagnetic data
CEDAR Madrigal database
EMBRACE database
Global Atmospheric and Ionospheric Models (TIEGCM, WACCM-X, SAMI-3)
The program runs for 12 Saturdays, allowing tutorials to be delivered in manageable, bite-sized sessions that improve assimilation and long-term retention.
Core Skills: GitHub version control, Physics of the equatorial ionosphere, and Space Weather fundamentals.
Data Focus: Collection, processing, visualization, and analysis of data from Digisonde, Swarm, GNSS TEC, Magnetometers, GOLD instrument, and NASAโs CCMC database.
Project-Based Learning: Each week, participants will complete a flexible, self-paced task leading toward a final research project, which they will present and commit to their GitHub accounts.
Mentorship and Publication: Highly motivated participants may continue their research after the program under guidance, with the goal of developing a publishable paper based on a selected dataset.
Prerequisite: Upon registration, each participant takes a course on the equatorial ionosphere (see Book) and completes an assessment (see Assessment) before the deadline.
B-REP is designed to have the same impact as Research Experience for Undergraduates (REUs) organized by top universities worldwide.
We are open to collaborators to enhance the program's offerings.
Give a Talk (30 - 45 Minutes)
We invite talks on the fundamentals of the following topics:
Sun-Earth Connection (Ionosphere)
Impact of Space Weather on Technology
Equatorial Irregularities (EIA and EPB)
Basic Equatorial Electrodynamics
Impact of Geomagnetic Storms on the Ionosphere (PPEF and DDEF)
Be a Workshop Instructor and/or Mentor
We are seeking additional instructors to provide instruction in data processing, visualization and analysis for the aforementioned datasets.
To maintain instructional quality equivalent to international research experience programs (like US REUs), all B-REP instructors and guest speakers are (must be) practicing scientists, engineers, or PhD candidates holding advanced degrees (MSc/PhD) with established expertise and publications in their respective space weather fields.
If any of this interest you, please fill this interest-matching form.ย
For Inquiries: info@brianspace.org
In 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) raised over โฌ22 billion, while the U.S. Congress enacted a $25 billion budget for NASA. these figures often dwarf the annual science allocations of major African nations. This disparity ensures that while young people in some countries gain meaningful exposure to space research, others remain in the shadows.
The stark reality is that Africa currently lags in space activity, even compared to Antarcticaโan uninhabited continent that is a hub for international scientific cooperation.
Recognizing this global divide, B-REP leverages open-source space data and collaborative learning to bridge the gap. We guide participants to these databases, provide simplified codes, teach data analysis, and foster collaboration with researchers in the U.S., India, and Brazil.
In this program, we will leave no one behind.
B-REP is a rigorous, project-based program designed to mimic a professional research environment. Certification is not automatic - it is earned through measurable commitment and successful technical output.
In addition to the 3-hour Saturday session, participants should plan for a minimum of 5โ7 hours of flexible, self-paced work per week. This includes:
Completing the mandatory pre-program assessment.
Literature review and assigned readings.
Data download, processing, and visualization tasks.
Developing and committing code to the final capstone project.
Successful completion and receipt of the official BrianSpace Research Experience Program (B-REP) Certificate requires meeting all three of the following professional standards:
Attendance: Minimum of 80% attendance in the 20 Saturday sessions.
Tasks: Completion and satisfactory grading on all 20 weekly tasks and activities.
Capstone Project: Successful presentation and final submission of a robust, independent (group) research project to the participant's GitHub repository.
Most capacity-building programs overlook the realities of under-served regionsโshort, compressed training models that ignore different learning paces, and scheduling that excludes working students and professionals. B-REP addresses these gaps by:
Interdisciplinary Focus: Welcoming science- and engineering-inclined individuals from any field to foster interdisciplinary research.
Flexible Scheduling: Holding sessions only on Saturdays so working individuals and students can participate.
Paced Learning: Providing weekly, bite-sized lessons with activities to improve understanding, retention, and sustained interest in space research.
Skill Transfer Commitment: All participants must commit to mentoring at least one mentee within one year after completing B-REP to ensure sustained skill transfer.
We are committed to producing technically competent and ethically sound researchers prepared for the global scientific community.
All participants receive targeted mentorship in:
Scientific Methods: Formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, and interpreting results.
Research Ethics: Proper citation, data integrity, avoiding plagiarism, and responsible conduct in research.
Collaboration: Best practices for teamwork, data sharing, and utilizing platforms like GitHub for version control.
A cornerstone of B-REP is ensuring lasting impact. To promote long-term capacity building in under-served regions, all certified participants must agree to mentor at least one student or enthusiast in their local community within one year of completing the B-REP program. This ensures the continuous, sustainable transfer of high-value space weather skills.
There are highly competitive, fully funded PhD opportunities in space sciences worldwide (see opportunities). Applicants from under-served regions often lack the essential research exposure needed to compete.
For example, initiatives like the PBASE (funded by JSPS) in Japan, CAPES and CNPQ programs at INPE (Brazil), and others in Europe and the United States, require familiarity with space-environment datasetsโthe same types covered in B-REP. By providing these specific skills, B-REP helps participants compete more fairly and effectively for global opportunities.
Specific tools to be utilized by participants during this program include:
Python (Collab, Pandas, Astropy, etc.): ๐๐
Git/ GitHub: ๐๐ป
Jupyter Notebooks: ๐๐ก
Jupyter Books ๐๐
Specific Space Weather APIs: ๐ฐ๏ธโ๏ธ
Projected Reach: 30 - 50 trained.ย
Skill Multiplier: 1:1 Mentorship Requirement (Every trained participant teaches another who did not attend the program)
Collaboration: Collaboration on group topics continues after program. 10 publications (posters and articles) expected.
Data Contribution: Approx. 50 GitHub Research Repositories to be created.
info@brianspace.org
