Search

Applications are open for the EUROfusion Bernard Bigot Researcher Grants that fund individual postdoctoral research projects for two years starting in 2025.

Researchers and engineers of all nationalities in possession of a doctoral degree (PhD) who have completed the PhD and defended their thesis in the two years preceding the application deadline are eligible. Candidates must be employed by a EUROfusion Consortium member or one of their Affiliated Entities during the grant period. Interested candidates should jointly prepare their application with an institute(s) affiliated with EUROfusion, who submits the application and offers to employ the candidate for the proposed duration of the project.

The grant will contribute to the salaries and research and training activities of up to 10 outstanding early career researchers. The application deadline is 6 May 2024. For details, or to join the information session planned on 11 April 2024 at 14:00 CET, see the EUROfusion website.

In just the past few weeks, these in-depth studies and reports have been published on fusion energy and fusion energy acceleration. 

Analysis on a strategic public-private partnership approach to foster innovation in fusion energy is a report commissioned by the European Union that provides analysis and recommendations for the European Commission on the establishment of a public-private partnership approach to support industrial innovation in fusion. The 128-page report can be downloaded at this address.

As part of its Technical Documents series (TECDOCs), the International Atomic Energy Agency has just published Considerations of Technology Readiness Levels for Fusion Technology Components (IAEA-TECDOC-2047, 91 pages) and Plasma Physics and Technology Aspects of the Deuterium—Tritium Fuel Cycle for Fusion Energy (IAEA-TECDOC-2049, 73 pages). Both reports can be downloaded or ordered in print form from this webpage. 

-- Photo of KSTAR (© KFE)

The ITER Organization has opened its 2024 internship program with the publication of 60 offers on the ITER website. These opportunities are geared toward undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a broad array of topics across scientific, technical and support departments. Applicants must hold a passport from one of the countries participating in the ITER Project (the People's Republic of China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA).

See this page to apply. The deadline for students to submit their application is 17 March 2024. Please note that additional internship opportunities will be launched in May 2024.

2024 IEEE Fusion Technology Awards will be presented during the 31th Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE 2025, Boston) to individuals who have distinguished themselves through innovation in any fusion approach that has shown significant promise or progress in the design of reactors or in the understanding of fusion plasmas. The awards each consist of a USD 3,000 cash prize, a plaque, and an invited talk at SOFE 2025.

The nomination package—consisting of a letter describing the technical contributions on which the nomination is recommended and a current resume of the candidate—should be sent before 11 March to the Fusion Technology Committee Awards Chair, Dr. Carl Pawley (drcpawley@ieee.org). Other supporting endorsements are encouraged. Equal consideration will be given to innovation in all fusion approaches and outstanding leadership in the fusion community.

For more detailed information on eligibility, basis for judging, the nomination process or a list of past award recipients, please visit the IEEE-NPSS website and go to the "Fusion Technology Awards" section.

--The IEEE Nuclear Plasma Science Society (NPSS) Fusion Technology Standing Committee

There was a time in fusion history when one single man could be credited with inspiring the best part of a machine's design. French physicist Paul-Henri Rebut was this kind of a man. In the early 1970s, a little more than a decade after entering fusion research at France's Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), he was instrumental in building TFR, for Tokamak de Fontenay-aux-Roses, a Paris suburb where CEA was then located. For his colleagues, however, TFR meant Tokamak Façon Rebut, which can be understood as "Tokamak à la Rebut"...

Operational in 1973, TFR was an ambitious and powerful machine that played a key role in exploring the physics and establishing the technology that made possible the construction of the "giants of the 1970s,"—the European JET, the American TFTR, the Japanese JT-60 and the Soviet T-15.

The experience accumulated at TFR led to the first international cooperation in constructing a fusion machine, the European JET whose design, quite naturally, was entrusted to Rebut and his team. Last week, as the fusion community celebrated JET's accomplishments at the Culham Campus (UK), the 89-year-old physicist, introduced as "the inventor and designer" of the iconic machine, was greeted by a standing ovation. It is under Rebut's stewardship that JET produced the first-ever deuterium-tritium plasmas, a campaign that culminated in a historical 16 MW of peak fusion power. Rebut later piloted the ITER design activities (1992-1994), and well into the 2000s he was a familiar figure at ITER Headquarters providing advice and suggestions to optimize the ITER design.

Photo: The JET project team in 1977: Paul-Henri Rebut (centre) and colleagues Alan Gibson (UK), Giulio Celentano (Italy), Ettore Salpietro (Italy), John Last (UK), Barry Green (Australia), Peter Noll (Germany), Jean-Pierre Poffé (Belgium), Ingevar Selin (Sweden), and Dieter Eckhart (Germany). © EFDA

Read the full article on Rebut's standing ovation during JET's celebration day here.

The ITER Organization has opened its 2024 internship program with the publication of 60 offers on the ITER website. These opportunities are geared toward undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a broad array of topics across scientific, technical and support departments. Applicants must hold a passport from one of the countries participating in the ITER Project (the People's Republic of China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA).

See this page to apply. The deadline for students to submit their application is 17 March 2024. Please note that additional internship opportunities will be launched in May 2024.

The third edition of the Tritium School will take place in Marseille, France, from 18 to 22 March 2024. Organized by the TITANS Project, which strives to improve tritium management and knowledge to meet the growing demand for nuclear energy, it is organized around four days of invited lectures and contributed talks, and a fifth day comprising a visit to the ITER site.

The young generation of researchers working in fusion and fission research and development is encouraged to participate.

Topics for discussion will include tritium management, inventory and control; waste; radiotoxicity/ecotoxicity; epidemiology of tritium; and tritium dosimetry.

For all information, and to register, see this webpage. The School will be conducted in English.

If your PhD was awarded after 1 January 2021—or you are about to obtain one—you are eligible to apply for a Monaco-ITER Postdoctoral Fellowship.

The Fellowship Program is recruiting now for two-year terms beginning autumn 2024.

Since 2008, 39 young scientists and engineers have been able to participate directly in ITER, working on cutting-edge issues in science and technology with some of the leading scientists and engineers in each domain. The principal aim of the Research Fellowships, which are funded by the Principality of Monaco, is the development of research excellence in fusion science and technology within the framework of ITER.

The deadline for application is coming up (29 February 2024). See all information here.

The Fusion Industry School is a two-week interactive program of lectures from world-leading experts in fusion, aimed at providing an overview of the current progress and challenges to industry professionals. The school consists of lectures, networking sessions, panel discussions and Q&As as well as visits to the UKAEA national fusion facilities. 

The Fusion Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) have worked with the fusion community to prepare a program created to meet the needs of the emerging fusion industry and associated supply chain companies and organizations.

The first week (17-20 June 2024) takes place in York (UK) and focuses on the underpinning fusion science and technology. The second week (30 September to 3 October 2024) in Oxfordshire (UK) builds on the first week, with more of an emphasis on engineering applications. The program is optimized for delegates attending both weeks, but there is still benefit to only attending one. No prior knowledge of fusion science and technology is necessary.

Visit the program website for all information and testimonials from previous delegates: Fusion Industry School 2024