Ten years of lectures now available

In anticipation of the beginning of ITER's construction, the Aix-Marseille University and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) together with ITER Organization launched a series of "ITER International Schools," whose main goal is to offer advanced graduate students, recent PhDs, and young researchers a complete picture of both the theoretical and experimental aspects of tokamak physics. The school aims at preparing young researchers to tackle the current and anticipated challenges at magnetic fusion devices, and spreading the global knowledge required for the effective exploitation of ITER's scientific potential.

The ITER International School (IIS) is jointly hosted and organized every two years by the Aix-Marseille University and the ITER Organization and alternates between Aix-en-Provence, France, and sites within the ITER Members. The first ITER school—in July 2007 in Aix-en-Provence, France—was organized on the topic of turbulent transport in fusion plasmas. Nine different editions have followed: Fukuoka, Japan, on magnetic confinement (2008); Aix-en-Provence on plasma-surface interactions (2009); Austin, Texas (US) on magneto-hydro-dynamics (2010); Aix-en-Provence on energetic particles (2011); Ahmedabad, India, on radio-frequency heating (2012); Aix-en-Provence on high performance computing in fusion science (2014); Hefei, China, on transport and pedestal physics in tokamaks (2015); Aix-en-Provence on the physics of disruptions and control (2017); and, finally, Daejeon (Korea) on physics and technology of power flux handling in tokamaks (2019). The next ITER International School is planned in Aix-en-Provence, France, in 2020.

Over the last decade, the school has covered a very wide range of topics in the areas of experimental and modelling fusion physics and engineering. The choice of ''school format'' for IIS was adopted due to the need to prepare future scientists/engineers on a range of different topics and to provide them with a wide overview of the interdisciplinary skills required by the ITER Project.

The lecturers at the schools are leading specialists from research organizations within the ITER Members and from the ITER Organization. Their lectures, together with the proceedings published for some school editions, represent a wealth of knowledge on fusion and ITER. The ITER Organization and Aix-Marseille University, supported by the organizers and lecturers at the past schools, have thus taken action to collect this priceless knowledge and make it accessible for future generations of fusion scientists and engineers, particularly for post-graduate students and young researchers who are the primary attendants of the schools.

The ITER Organization and Aix Marseille University would like to warmly thank the school organizers and lecturers at the ten ITER International Schools for making the lectures available.