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News & Media

Latest °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Newsline

  • Fusion supply chain | A glimpse into the future for commercial fusion reactors

    Most of the USD 7 billion in investment in private fusion initiatives has gone to companies that are building devices from the ground up. But recently, another [...]

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  • Outreach | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ @ October science festivals

    Every October, before schools pause for two weeks of holiday, towns and cities in France open their municipal spaces to scientific experts of all stripes who ar [...]

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  • Image of the week | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Director-General visits Russia

    The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Director-General was in Russia last week, meeting with stakeholders and holding technical meetings with colleagues in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. As [...]

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  • Image of the Week | Sector 5 is on its way

    The first vacuum vessel sector produced in Europe travelled last week between Monfalcone, Italy, and the French port of Fos-sur-Mer. The 440-tonne component had [...]

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  • Anniversary | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Document Management system turns 20

    Whatever its nature, every large project generates huge numbers of documents. And when project collaborators operate from different countries, as was the case f [...]

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Of Interest

See archived entries

Research

°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellows are at the cutting edge

In the area of cutting-edge research—and particularly the sophisticated modelling of plasmas—the project is benefitting from the assistance of world-renowned experts through the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellow Network program. Now into its fourth year, the program is beginning to produce concrete results.

In February, head of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Science Division Alberto Loarte met with members of the Pedestal Confinement and Stability Group. Outside of the coordination meetings planned at the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ site, much of the work between Fellows and the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ coordinators takes place by email and teleconference. (Click to view larger version...)
In February, head of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Science Division Alberto Loarte met with members of the Pedestal Confinement and Stability Group. Outside of the coordination meetings planned at the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ site, much of the work between Fellows and the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ coordinators takes place by email and teleconference.
"When we want to do detailed studies for the planning of operations using established codes and approaches, we usually place contracts for which leading Member institutes compete," points out Alberto Loarte, head of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Science Division. "With the Scientist Fellow Network we are aiming for something quite different: encouraging state-of-the-art development in simulation and theory for °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ through advanced calculations and cutting-edge research."

The Fellows focus on areas of interest to the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ team but which also advance their own research objectives—for example, developing new models to apply to plasma simulations or using known codes in novel ways. "The results are never guaranteed, however. This is a research activity."

Sixty-six scientists are currently collaborating as °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellows, organized into groups of 4 to 20 by theme (see box). Six groups are managed within the Science Division; a seventh has been created in the area of diagnostics. Every scientist has an annual work plan, and one or two coordination meetings are planned yearly at the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ site during which the Fellows present their results, hear about the work of other Fellows and °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization scientists working in the same area, and are kept abreast of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ developments (updated plasma scenarios, design changes, etc.). Outside of these on-site meetings, much of the day-to-day work between the Fellows and the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ coordinators takes place by email and teleconference.

During a meeting at °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ, Scientist Fellows from the Divertor and SOL simulation group tour the Cryostat Workshop. In the background: the 1,250-tonne cryostat base that is being readied for transfer to the Tokamak pit. (Click to view larger version...)
During a meeting at °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ, Scientist Fellows from the Divertor and SOL simulation group tour the Cryostat Workshop. In the background: the 1,250-tonne cryostat base that is being readied for transfer to the Tokamak pit.
"The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellow program allows us to bring together world-renowned experts from different laboratories around areas of specific development for °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ. With time, we are seeing a very productive dynamic within the groups, as well as a certain amount of cross-fertilization between areas. As we move forward with the understanding of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ plasmas, which is required to plan the experiments, the contributions of the Fellows are proving increasingly valuable."

Working groups and coordinators

Disruption and Runaway Theory and Simulation (Michael Lehnen)
Divertor and Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) Simulations including drifts, currents and three-dimensional fields (Richard Pitts and Xavier Bonnin)
Integrated Modelling (Simon Pinches)
Pedestal Confinement and Stability Modelling
(Alberto Loarte)
Plasma Control (Joseph Snipes)
Fuel Retention Management
(Greg de Temmerman)
Diagnostics
(George Vayakis and Roger Reichle)

And the results are increasingly visible in the fusion community. "After two or three years of build-up, depending on the group, we are now in production mode," says Alberto. "Output from the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellow program was featured at major conferences and specialized workshops in 2019, including invited presentations (e.g., at the American Physics Society Division of Plasma Physics Conference, the Workshop on Tritium Transport Modelling in Nuclear Fission and Fusion, etc.) and publications in high-impact journals in the field such as Nuclear Fusion, Physics of Plasmas, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, etc.). This brings recognition to the individual scientists as well as to their home labs." As a result of the quality and the increased visibility of the work carried out by the Fellows, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization is seeing a rise in nominations.

The typical nominee for the fellowship program has a strong international reputation in his or her area of expertise, often leading teams of scientists in their home institutes. Fellows commit to spending a substantial part of their time working on °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ-related issues, with multi-annual research programs and targeted annual goals. Fellows are named for three years and the appointments are renewable. Since the start of the program in 2016, more than 80 percent of the early participants have been renewed.

"The program has been instrumental in increasing the community's sense of ownership of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ's science," says Alberto. "As we prepare for the scientific exploitation phase of the device, this network of scientists involved directly in advanced modelling of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ plasmas will be irreplaceable."

Other Newsline articles are planned on the achievements of each group. For more information on the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellow program, please contact alberto.loarte@iter.org.
 
Since 2016, °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Scientist Fellows have been nominated by the following institutes:
 
Aalto University (Finland)
Australian National University (Australia)
CEA Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research, IRFM (France)
EPFL Swiss Plasma Center (Switzerland)
EUROfusion VR/Chalmers (Sweden)
Forschungszentrum Jülich - Plasmaphysik (Germany)
Fudan University (China)
General Atomics (US)
Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf (Germany)
Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)
Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, IST (Portugal)
Instytut Fizyki Plazmy i Laserowej Mikrosyntezy, Warsaw (Poland)
KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)
Kurchatov Institute (Russia)
Laboratoire des Sciences des Procédés et des Matériaux, CNRS (France)
Laboratory for Plasma Physics - ERM/KMS (Belgium)
Lehigh University (US)
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching (Germany)
Nagoya University (Japan)
National Institute for Fusion Science (Japan)
National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, QST (Japan)
Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University (Russia)
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (US)
Princeton University (US)
Sino-French Institute for Nuclear Energy and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University (China)
Southwestern Institute of Physics (China)
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (The Netherlands)
UKAEA Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (UK)
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain)
Universidad de Sevilla (Spain)
Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (France)
University of Basel (Switzerland)
University of Texas, Institute for Fusion Studies (US)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)
Uppsala Universitet (Sweden)
Ústav fyziky plazmatu AV ČR, (Czech Republic)



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