Prof. Valentina Zharkova

Prof. Valentina Zharkova is a leading astrophysicist internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research on solar activity, sunquakes, and solar-terrestrial interactions. She graduated with distinction in Applied Mathematics and Astronomy from Kiev National University and earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the Main Astronomical Observatory in Kiev. Her academic career includes positions at Kiev National University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Bradford—where she became Professor of Applied Mathematics, and Northumbria University, where she has served as Professor of Mathematics since 2013. She is also the founder of ZVS Research Enterprise Ltd., dedicated to advancing solar-terrestrial studies.

Prof. Zharkova co-discovered sunquakes induced by solar flares (Nature, 1998), a landmark achievement with global recognition. She has made major contributions to understanding particle acceleration in solar flares, long-term solar cycles, and the prediction of the current Grand Solar Minimum (2020–2053). Her research on millennial-scale solar irradiance oscillations (Hallstatt cycle) reveals deep links between solar motion and climate variability.

Human history has often been studied as a social and terrestrial phenomenon, shaped primarily by politics, economics, and environment. Yet the Sun, the primary energy driver of Earth’s climate system, operates on long, measurable cycles that extend far beyond the familiar 11-year sunspot rhythm.

Valentina Zharkova works at this intersection of astrophysics and Earth systems science, investigating how long-term solar oscillations influence solar irradiance, climate variability, and the conditions under which civilizations rise, adapt, or decline.