4th ITER Public-Private Workshop announced

ITER Public-Private Fusion Workshops bring together actors from across the public and private fusion communities to strengthen collaboration across the global fusion ecosystem. For the fourth edition in 2027, the workshop will mark a further step in this dialogue, moving beyond information exchange towards practical collaboration on shared technical, engineering and industrial challenges.

Under the theme "United by Fusion: Shared Challenges, Joint Solutions," the workshop will explore the engineering and industrial capabilities needed to build and operate fusion facilities, as well as the partnerships, infrastructure and skilled workforce required to accelerate progress.

The workshop builds on three previous editions, held in 2024, 2025, and 2026, and forms part of ITER's broader Private Sector Fusion Engagement initiative. Through the sharing of technical documentation and software, cooperation agreements and direct technical exchanges, ITER is making decades of accumulated knowledge and experience available to the wider fusion community, while creating new opportunities for expertise, experience and innovative solutions to flow in both directions. More information on the Private Sector Fusion Engagement (PSFE) Project is available here. 

A particular emphasis in 2027 will be placed on smaller, focused exchanges between participants and ITER technical teams, designed to identify shared challenges, explore potential solutions, and open opportunities for longer-term cooperation. 

“We want to move beyond the exchange of information towards concrete cooperation,” explains Deputy Director-General and Chief Scientist of the ITER Organization Alain Bécoulet, who is in charge of the two-day program. “The idea is to bring people together around specific technical challenges and explore opportunities for joint work that benefit both ITER and the wider fusion community. We want to move further from the initial customer mindset to a partnership mindset, where knowledge and expertise flow in both directions, and where public institutions and private actors work together to accelerate fusion.”

The 2027 workshop will also place greater emphasis on the contribution of research institutes and universities, recognizing their essential role in connecting fundamental research, technology development, skills and the emerging fusion industry. 

“Fusion is a collective endeavour. Public programs, private companies, research institutes and universities bring different strengths and experience, but they face many common challenges. By working together, we can advance faster, reduce unnecessary duplication, and build a stronger global fusion ecosystem,” says Bécoulet.

As in 2025, the 2027 ITER Public-Private Fusion Workshop will take place just a few days ahead of the 2027 ITER Business Forum, which will be held in Mandelieu on the French Riviera. Taken together, the two events will provide the opportunity for the fusion community to exchange knowledge, build connections, and explore new partnerships—bringing scientific, technological, industrial, and business perspectives together within a single week.

Registration will open in late November on the ITER website. Participation is free and open to private-sector fusion organizations, universities, and research institutions from the ITER Member countries, and well as to entities with collaboration agreements with the ITER Organization.