All SPC news

Source: EUROfusion

EUROfusion signs Horizon Europe Grant Agreement

— With the signing of the official Grant Agreement, the EUROfusion consortium is ready to start its new, comprehensive approach to developing fusion energy. Written by Gieljan de Vries, EUROfusion

Source: EUROfusion

How Switzerland and the UK stayed part of EUROfusion

— Two members of EUROfusion discovered that new political realities prevented them from directly joining EUROfusion under the EU new seven-year funding programme Horizon Europe. EUROfusion spoke the UK and Swiss partners about how collaboration within the consortium has enabled them to continue as part of the European fusion programme nonetheless. Interview by Gieljan de Vries, EUROfusion.

Paolo Ricci received his Polysphère d’Or award at this year’s graduation ceremony. © Christian Brun 2021 EPFL

“The more you put into teaching, the more you get out”

— Paolo Ricci, a physics professor at EPFL for over ten years, is the winner of this year’s "Polysphère d’Or" – an award given by students to honor teaching excellence.

© Carlos Castilla iStock photos

New high-performance computing hub aims to harness the sun's energy

— EPFL will soon be home to a European hub for high-performance computing focused on fusion power – a potential source of clean, risk-free energy. As part of this effort, EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center will lead a campus-wide, cross-disciplinary research team.

Joaquim Loizu (left), recipient of the 2020 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Plasma Physics receiving the award from Minh Quang Tran [Chair, IUPAP Commission C16] © DR

Joaquim Loizu granted the IUPAP 2020 Prize in plasma physics

— Joaquim Loizu, a researcher at EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center, is the recipient of IUPAP’s (International Union of pure and applied physics) 2020 Young Scientist Prize in plasma physics. This prize is awarded annually to a young international scientist for outstanding research.

The TCV Tokamak at EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center © A. Herzog / EPFL

Heat loss control method in fusion reactors in Nature Communications

— The core of a fusion reactor is incredibly hot. Hydrogen that inevitably escapes from it must be cooled on its way to the wall, as otherwise, the reactor wall would be damaged. Researchers from the Dutch institute DIFFER and EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center have developed a strict measurement and control method for the cooling of very hot particles escaping from fusion plasmas. This milestone for fusion research is published in Nature Communications. 

Prof. Ch. Theiler in front of TCV © Alain Herzog, 2020

2020 Nuclear Fusion journal award to Prof. Christian Theiler

— Prof. Christian Theiler received the IAEA's Nuclear Fusion Journal Award 2020 for his paper presenting ‘Results from recent detachment experiments in alternative divertor configurations on TCV’.

First plasma in MAST-U © UKAEA

Welcome MAST Upgrade, a new fusion device !

— On October 29th, 2020, MAST Upgrade, UK’s new fusion experimental device, came to life. Inside the machine’s vessel, hydrogen was heated into a plasma hotter than the temperature in the center of the Sun. The Swiss Plasma Center congratulates the MAST Upgrade team and looks forward to future scientific collaborations.

Riccardo Agnello tests heating prototypes for ITER @Consorzio RFX

Swiss Plasma Center trains researchers to harness the sun's energy

— Holder of a recent PHD from the EPFL Swiss Plasma Center, Riccardo Agnello is now working for the nuclear fusion reactor ITER. The Swiss Plasma Center is making a major contribution to this enormous international project, which holds out great hope for clean, abundant energy without long-term radioactive waste.

Le réacteur à fusion nucléaire ITER © 2020 ITER

World's largest nuclear fusion reactor ITER begins assembly phase

— The world's largest nuclear fusion reactor ITER is now being assembled in the South of France. This major international scientific project is followed up at the EPFL Swiss Plasma Center, one of the world’s top research labs on nuclear fusion.

All news