Swiss Plasma Center

Powering the future with fusion research, today

Interior of the TCV tokamak. © A. Herzog, EPFL

EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center is one of the world leaders in fusion research.

Fusion is based on the principle that powers the Sun. It has the potential to provide everyone with an abundant, safe and clean source of energy.

Through a rich program of research, linked to different levels of training, we are working to deepen our understanding of plasma physics and propel fusion to the heart of the energy transition.

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Research

We conduct a programme organised in six research lines: Plasma Theory, Basic Plasma Physics, TCV Tokamak Physics, International Collaborations, Superconductivity for Fusion, and Plasma Applications.

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Education

We are committed to preparing the next generations of fusion scientists and engineers. We provide education in Physics for students of all levels (Bachelor, Master and Doctoral School).

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Job opportunities

Join our dynamic team at SPC, in the stunning Swiss landscapes, where innovation meets inclusivity, all while fostering professional growth and family-friendly support.

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Last news

"I am a strong believer in the collaborative nature of research"

10.09.24EPFL

Ralf Mackenbach, a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), has been awarded the prestigious Rubicon Grant by the Dutch Research Council for his research at SPC. This two-year grant, beginning in September 2024, will allow him to test new plasma forms using the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) fusion device at EPFL, and apply an interesting model developed during his Ph.D.

"I have always been fascinated by complicated subjects"

01.07.24EPFL

Baptiste Frei has been awarded the 2024 PhD Research Prize by the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS) for the excellence of his thesis at EPFL's Swiss Plasma Center. This award underlines Baptiste Frei's exceptional contributions to the field of plasma fusion and marks an important milestone in his scientific career. After completing his PhD at the Swiss Plasma Center, under the supervision of Paolo Ricci, he has now joined the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Germany, where he works as a postdoctoral researcher in the Tokamak Theory Group. His focus lies in conducting edge turbulence simulations using high-performance computing codes.

Paolo Ricci, director of the Swiss Plasma Center © Nicolas Schopfer

"Our priority remains excellence"

10.06.24EPFL

Since June 1, 2024, Paolo Ricci has succeeded Ambrogio Fasoli as Director of the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC). For several years, he has also held the SPC Chair of Theory while teaching physics at EPFL, a passion which has earned him numerous teaching awards. With a career spanning 18 years at the Swiss Plasma Center, he now heads one of the most prestigious plasma physics research laboratories in Europe.

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Bernoulli Center summer school "Synergies of Combinatorics and Theoretical Computer Science"

Recently, several breakthroughs on long-standing open problems in combinatorics and theoretical computer science have resulted from synergistic connections between these two areas. This summer school will cover some of these…

09-09-202413-09-2024

With: Shachar Lovett (UCSD), topic: Sunflowers, spreadness and the Kahn-Kalai conjecture. Bhavik Mehta (Cambridge), topic: Automated theorem proving. Raghu Meka (UCLA), topic: 3-term arithmetic progressions, spreadness, and the polynomial method.
Place and room: Bernoulli Center
Online: https://bernoulli.epfl.ch/comb2024/
Category: Conferences – Seminars

Synergies of combinatorics and theoretical computer science

19-08-202413-09-2024

With: Nati Linial, Lianna Hambardzumyan, Rob Morris, Alexey Gordeev, Rico Zenklusen, Sophie Huiberts, Parinya Chalermsook, Vera Traub, Sorrachai Yingchareonthawornchai, Pravesh Kothari, Peter Manohar, Venkatesan Guruswami, Benny Sudakov, Hannaneh Akrami, Mehtaab Sawhney, Sammy Luo, Maya Sankar, Daniel Kral, Nathan Klein, Jinyoung Park, Matija Bucic, Omar Alrabiah, Oliver Janzer, Matthew Kwan, Zixuan Xu, Daniel Dadush
Place and room: GA 3 21
Online: https://bernoulli.epfl.ch/external-programs/
Category: Conferences – Seminars

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DeepFake Mini-Hackathon

13-09-202414-09-2024

Place and room: ELE 117
Category: Miscellaneous

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