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Last week, in the framework of the International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interaction () hosted in Marseille, a lunch event organized by Women in Fusion on "Creating an Inclusive Fusion Workforce" was attended by more than 100 people.

Women in Fusion () is a global platform advocating for women and women's organizations active in the fusion community (public and private sectors as well as academia) all around the globe. The group seeks to inspire and support women in the fusion field by highlighting their roles in the field, promoting their leadership, and encouraging recognition of their contributions.

The conference also opened with a keynote on the importance of gender diversity and inclusion in the fusion community, delivered by Laurence Piketty (Deputy Director General of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, CEA) and ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi.

The DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics in San Diego is starting up after undergoing eight months of upgrades that have equipped it with new and improved plasma control and diagnostic systems. These upgrades, which are expected to support experiments performed at ITER, include a range of new diagnostic instruments as well as enhancements to the way that the plasma is heated. Engineers have also installed a "shape and volume rise" divertor, which consists of a series of modular divertor configurations that the DIII-D will now test when experiments start up later this month. The new divertor will allow plasma shapes to be studied that were not possible with DIII-D's previous divertor geometry.

Read more about the upgrades at DIII-D and .

The French tokamak WEST, located at the Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM)/French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), has achieved record results.

WEST's latest campaign, which started in mid-January and ended on 26 April 2024, set a new plasma duration record of 6 minutes and 4 seconds, with an injected energy of 1.15 GJ, along with a steady-state central electron temperature of 4 keV (50 million degrees Celsius), and an electron density twice that of discharges obtained in the tokamak's previous configuration, Tore Supra.

Furthermore, the campaign explored the "X-Point radiation" plasma scenario leading to the achievement of one-minute plasmas with low electron temperature (Te < 5 eV) in the divertor, in turn improving the lifespan of the plasma-facing components by allowing for a better distribution of heat fluxes. In addition, several new diagnostics were successfully deployed, providing new measurements to characterize core and edge plasma. New records for power injection systems were also achieved, with 5.8 MW injected by the lower hybrid heating and current drive system and over 4 MW by the ion cyclotron resonance heating system. Lastly, WEST surpassed the milestone of 10,000 plasmas since the first WEST plasma was achieved in December 2016.

The tokamak is now in a shutdown period for maintenance and the installation of new systems. The next experimental campaign will commence in autumn 2024.

Read more about the campaign's achievements . A French version is available .

Sven Korving, a PhD student researching nuclear fusion at the Eindhoven University of Technology in collaboration with the ITER Science Division, had his publications selected not once, but twice for the Editor's Pick of the journal Physics of Plasmas. The journal called the research "noteworthy, novel, timely, interesting, and important." In his latest paper, dated this month, Korving predicts the transport of impurities in plasmas where instabilities are suppressed by external 3D magnetic fields. His research stands out for the contrast with papers that focus on isolating a single phenomenon, while he develops models to simultaneously and consistently simulate multiple phenomena, interconnected and coupled with each other.

The Eindhoven University of Technology's Department of Applied Physics and Science Education celebrated his achievements in a LinkedIn post, . More information on Sven's research can be found .

Korving, S. Q., Huijsmans, G. T. A., Park, J.-S., & Loarte, A. (2023, April 5). Development of the neutral model in the nonlinear MHD Code JOREK: Application to E × B drifts in ITER PFPO-1 plasmas. AIP Publishing.

Korving, S. Q., Mitterauer, V., Huijsmans, G. T. A., Loarte, A., & Hoelzl, M. (2024b, May 8). Simulation of neoclassical heavy impurity transport in ASDEX Upgrade with applied 3D magnetic fields using the nonlinear MHD code JOREK. AIP Publishing.

--Three dimensional image of the tungsten density at the plasma edge of ASDEX Upgrade modelled by the JOREK code when 3D magnetic fields are applied for ELM control, as foreseen in ITER.

EUROfusion has opened applications for its 2025 Engineering Grants, funding post-Master's engineering projects for two years starting in 2025. Twenty outstanding early-career engineers will receive a grant contributing to their salary, research, and training activities.

The program seeks to support the education and training of a new generation of fusion engineers in alignment with the European Research Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy.

Eligibility:

- Engineers of all nationalities in possession of a Master's (MSc) degree in Engineering OR with proven multi-year engineering work experience and haven completed their Master's degree in a STEM subject in the six years preceding the application deadline.

- The proposed engineering research topic falls into one of the competency areas defined in Annex 5 of the application documents.

- The candidate 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 will submit the application and offer to employ the candidate for the proposed duration of the project.

The application deadline is 21 June 2024. See further details about the program and how to apply .

The European Domestic Agency for ITER, Fusion for Energy (F4E), has opened a fusion Traineeship Scheme, with opportunities in Barcelona (Spain), at ITER (France), and in Garching (Germany).

Apply by Monday 10 June for positions beginning in October 2024. Fusion for Energy is looking for profiles to match its needs in fusion engineering and physics, project and contract management, market intelligence, and administration. It offers a supportive work environment, competitive benefits, and opportunities for professional development.

Traineeships are open to candidates with European or Ukrainian nationality who have a university degree (at least three years) and a good knowledge of English (minimum B2).

See a list of available opportunities . See all information on how to apply .