Excellent theses involve hard work on cutting-edge scientific topics that lead to groundbreaking results. Some Ph.D. students are also deeply motivated by communicating science, or establishing collaborations that lead to lasting friendships. Still others enjoy discussing science, and many other topics. With Andrea Larosa, we benefited from all of these at once. Andrea first visited our team at the University of Orléans to do his master’s thesis. It was a challenge for him to live far away from Calabria (in southern Italy), but he survived. The collaboration went so well that a year later he started his Ph.D. with us and successfully defended it in December 2021. His arrival coincided with the delivery of the first and stunning data from the Parker Solar Probe mission. Andrea began working on large magnetic structures in the pristine solar wind, called switchbacks, which were receiving considerable attention. By analyzing the wave activity at the edge of these puzzling structures, he was able to provide new constraints on their generation mechanisms. His attention then turned to high-frequency plasma waves. One of the outstanding questions there concerns the magnitude of the magnetic component of the extraordinary Langmuir/slow wave in inhomogeneous plasmas. Many attempts had already been made to observe that magnetic component, including by Fred Scarf himself, but they had not succeeded. Andrea provided the first clear evidence of this component. He then wrote and ran a simulation code describing wave propagation in an inhomogeneous plasma and revealed the key role played by density fluctuations in allowing this component to be observed. Andrea now continues to work on the solar wind at Queen Mary University of London. One of the most rewarding experiences for a Ph.D. supervisor is to see the Ph.D. student gradually become a researcher, acquiring new skills and ideas that he or she can in turn share with others. This is precisely what has happened with us. It has been a real pleasure and privilege to work with you, Andrea. Buona strada, continua così! —Thierry Dudok de Wit, LPC2E, CNRS/University of Orléans/CNES, Orléans, France, and International Space Science Institute, Bern; and Vladimir Krasnoselskikh, LPC2E, CNRS/University of Orléans/CNES, Orléans, France

Science is able to make you travel in many different ways. In my case, it took me from a remote village in southern Italy to the Fred L. Scarf Award, and I hope this is just the beginning of the journey. But science is made of and by people. Everything I have achieved was made possible by the amazing ones I met along the way. First, I want to thank my parents, Nicodemo and Maria, for the great example they have always been; they taught me the way of hard work to reach goals in life. I have a huge debt toward the physics professors at University of Calabria; they taught me well, and a lot. In particular, I have a debt toward Fabio Lepreti, who put me in contact with my Ph.D. advisers, Thierry Dudok de Wit and Vladimir Krasnoselskikh, through the Erasmus Programme. My greatest thanks go to them for the way they welcomed me in a very stimulating environment (at the LPC2E laboratory in Orléans, France) and pushed me to improve my knowledge and skills. I see this award also as the proof of their great mentorship. My good fortune in finding great mentors recently brought me to work with Christopher Chen at Queen Mary University of London. I’m really glad to be working with such an inspirational figure. Interacting with him and receiving the Fred L. Scarf Award are sources of strong motivation. Finally, I want to thank all the people who made the Parker Solar Probe mission possible. They are giving a great opportunity to many young scientists, and they made this achievement possible for me. —Andrea Larosa, CNRS-LPC2E-Orléans, Orléans, France; and Queen Mary University of London