Nominations Open: October 1 - December 1, 2024

Elections Period: January 1 - March 31, 2025

Mandate Begins: July 2025

Term Length: 4 Years (renewable for an additional 4 years)

We invite all members to participate in the upcoming elections for new Board members of the EPS Plasma Physics Division. This is an excellent opportunity to shape the future of our community and contribute to the advancement of plasma physics.

Who Can Nominate?

All EPS Individual Members, member of the EPS member societies, EPS associate members and members of the collaborating societies. Self-nominations are possible.

How to Nominate?

Submit the nomination form via email with the subject line “EPS Plasma Physics Division Board Nomination”.

Voting Eligibility

All EPS Individual Members are eligible to vote in the elections.

Join us in strengthening our community and driving innovation in plasma physics!

For more information, visit our website.

The 2022 EPS Plasma Physics PhD Research Awards go to: 

• Plamen Ivanov (University of Oxford, UK) for his thesis on “Zonally dominated dynamics and the transition to strong turbulence in ion-scale plasma turbulence”,
• Alexis Marret (Sorbonne University & Observatoire de Paris-PSL, France) for his thesis on “The non-resonant streaming instability: from theory to experiment”,
• Valeria Perseo (University of Greifswald, Germany) for her thesis on “Impurity flow measurements with Coherence Imaging Spectroscopy at Wendelstein 7-X”,
• Martina Salvadori (University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy) for her thesis on “Advanced time-of-flight diagnostics for real-time characterization of ions accelerated by high energy lasers”.

Read more about the prizes of the EPS Plasma Physics Division: http://plasma.ciemat.es/eps/awards/

Details about the EPS Plasma Physics Innovation Prize 2022 can be found at: http://plasma.ciemat.es/eps/awards/innovation-award/

Deadline for nominations: 1st February 2022.

The EPS Plasma Physics Division is happy to announce the winners of the EPS PPD PhD Research Award. The Selection Committee had following members : Fabien Dorchies, Francois Ryter and Jack Connor.

The Selection Committee proposed 4 candidates for the award:

• Archie Bott
• Bart Ripperda
• Kevin Verhaegh
• Rogério Jorge

Candidates and citations

Candidate: Archie Bott

Nominator: Alex Schekochihin

Title of PhD thesis: Magnetic-field amplification in turbulent laser-plasmas

Univ./Inst: University of Oxford 

Citation: This work combines theoretical simulations and experimental contributions in laser-generated-jet collision, in order to simulate in a laboratory what happens in various astrophysical contexts. In only the first year of his PhD, Archie Bott produced and published a complete theory of magnetic-field reconstruction from protons radiographic images and a full set of numerical codes needed to apply it. This “preparatory” work was used to significantly enrich this diagnostic tool that provided new information from experiments that he led on the most high-energy lasers in the word.

These original studies and impressive work focused on time-resolved turbulent dynamo process. At the end of his PhD, Archie Bott returned to more theoretical and fundamental work, giving rise to another innovative publication of great depth in physics, which is essentially a comprehensive treatise on plasma instabilities at high beta.

Candidate: Bart Ripperda

Nominator: Rony Keppens

Title of PhD thesis: On magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in relativistic plasmas

Univ./Inst: KU Leuven University

Citation: This is a theoretical and simulation work that concerns the astrophysics, and more precisely the environment of black holes and neutron stars. In his PhD work, Bart Ripperta combines very strong knowledge and understanding of plasma physics and general gravity, which allows him to tackle problems that are well beyond the scope of traditional plasma physics and astrophysics. He built a variety of word-class numerical tools for plasma physics in strong gravitational fields, including general relativistic & resistive magneto-hydrodynamic, and a set of algorithms for pushing charged particles in electromagnetic fields around black holes.

This remarkable work on photon and particle paths in full general relativity is of highest quality, and has already received broad recognition in the international plasma astrophysics community. It directly benefits the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration for which he has been actively working for a year.

Candidate: Kevin Verhaegh

Nominator: Bruce Lipschultz

Title of PhD thesis: Spectroscopic investigations of detachment on TCV: Investigating the role of atomic physics on the ion current rollover and the dynamics of detachment in TCV

Univ./Inst: University of York

Citation: This thesis presents new results on the physics of detachment in a tokamak divertor, a complex topic because it involves not only plasma physics but also atomic phenomena. This is extensively discussed in Kevin Verhaegh's thesis, showing clearly that he understands very well this physics.

Kevin Verhaegh developed excellent divertor measurements and a novel method to analyse the data taking into account both the recombination and excitation contributions to the Balmer lines. He shows convincingly that the ion flux is not only due to recombination, as assumed during the last two decades, but that, in addition, the ionisation of the neutrals is an important contribution. Furthermore, he demonstrates that the latter is limited by a loss of power into the divertor recycling region when density increases, contributing significantly to the saturation. He validated these important results with modelling using the edge and divertor code SOLPS-ITER, showing that the modelling results match the experimental observations much better than in the past.

This new view contributes significantly to fusion research as divertor detachment will be required in future devices to reduce the power load. With this new knowledge modelling and extrapolation of divertor detachment are more reliable.

Candidate: Rogério Jorge

Nominator: Paolo Ricci

Title of PhD thesis: A moment-based model for plasma dynamics of arbitrary collisionality

Univ./Inst: EPFL, University of Lisbon

Citation: This thesis tackles a long-standing problem, namely, how to develop a set of equations that can uniformly describe plasma behaviour in situations where the collisionality ranges from essentially collision-less to highly collisional, a situation that pertains in the edge region of a tokamak in particular. This region is crucial to a tokamak’s performance and the viability of fusion as an energy source, controlling overall confinement and exhaust; an ability to model the region is essential for the development of fusion power. This thesis develops a set of fluid-like moment equations suitable for this purpose. The derivation is based on a Sonine-Laguerre expansion of the drift-kinetic plasma equations and treats the full non-linear Coulomb collision operator, an analytic tour-de- force. The model is appropriate for describing the scrape-off-region, which contains open magnetic field lines and lies between the confined plasma region and the containment vessel; furthermore, it can describe the large fluctuations that are present there.  A similar procedure is also applied in the thesis to the full-F gyro-kinetic model, which is suitable for modelling the adjacent confinement region of a tokamak. In addition, efficient numerical algorithms for computing solutions to these equations are formulated. Finally, the methodology is applied in practice to study the impact of collisions on plasma oscillations and drift waves, using different common simplified collision models; the results show surprising sensitivities.  The model is now ready for application to the tokamak edge problem. This work, performed independently and with considerable initiative, constitutes a seminal contribution to magnetic confinement fusion, and plasma theory in general, demonstrating novelty and originality and exhibits both analytic and numerical skills.

The EPS Plasma Physics Division is happy to announce the winners of the EPS PPD PhD Research Award. The Selection Committee had following members : Alexander Andreev, Arutiun Ehiasarian, Enzo Lazzaro and Michel Chatelier.

The Selection Committee proposed 4 candidates for the award:

• Giada Cantono
• Eleanor Tubman
• Francisco Javier Artola Such and
• Michael Faitsch

Candidates and citations

Candidate: Giada Cantono

Nominator: Marco Borghesi

Title of PhD thesis: Relativistic plasmonics for ultra-short radiation sources

Univ./Inst:  Université Paris-Saclay and Università di Pisa

Citation: The thesis of Giada Cantono “Relativistic plasmonics for ultra-short radiation sources” demonstrates the opportunity of resonant surface plasmon (SP) excitation at ultra-high laser intensities by studying how such waves accelerate bunches of relativistic electrons along the target surface and how they enhance the generation of high-order harmonics of the laser frequency. Both these processes have been investigated with numerous experiments and extensive numerical simulations. Adopting a standard configuration from classical plasmonics, SPs are excited on solid, wavelength-scale grating targets. In their presence, both electron and harmonic emissions exhibit remarkable features that support the conception of practical applications. Putting aside some major technical and conceptual issues discouraging the applicability of plasmonic effects in the high-field regime, these results are expected to mark new promises to the exploration of Relativistic Plasmonics.

Candidate: Eleanor Tubman

Nominator: Nigel Woolsey

Title of PhD thesis: Magnetic field generation in laser-plasma interactions

Univ./Inst: University of York

Citation: In the thesis of Eleanor Tubman “Magnetic field generation in laser-plasma interactions” the primary focus is the understanding of the different mechanism of magnetic field production during laser-plasma experiments. The first one is from the by-product of launching asymmetric shocks. The second looks at the reconnection of magnetic fields between two laser focal spots and the third is from fields produced around a current carrying loop target The coupling of the laser energy into the shock wave is calculated to be 2%. It was experimentally demonstrate that when two laser spots are placed in close proximity reconnection occurs. Diagnostics, including proton radiography, X-ray detectors and an optical probe, record and diagnose the existence of a semi-collisional reconnection event. Magnetic fields are produced by driving a current through a loop attached to two plates and new measurements recording the voltages induced are presented in this thesis. Ideas for furthering this research to enhance our understanding in this area are given.

Candidate: Francisco Javier Artola Such

Nominator: Guido Huijsmans

Title of PhD thesis: Free-boundary simulations of MHD plasma instabilities in tokamaks

Univ./Inst: Université Aix-Marseille

Citation: The PhD works of Javier Artola address a central question for magnetic fusion energy, with major potential consequences for the next step device, ITER. In the standard operational regime of ITER, periodic relaxations (ELMs) of the edge plasma pressure may both affect plasma confinement and deteriorate plasma facing materials. Controlling these instabilities in a practical way is thus mandatory.

A major step toward this control is the development of an accurate and comprehensive numerical tool capable of describing the experimental observations and developing the adequate control scenarios for the future. This is the aim of the JOREK-STARWALL code, a free boundary simulation of MHD plasma instabilities coupled to the detailed tokamak structures where induced currents need to be calculated accurately.

The most visible result obtained in the frame of the PhD is the clear demonstration of ELM control by vertical plasma kicks which trigger ELMS. This result is fully explained by 3D simulations. Other important contributions relate to the development of halo currents in the machine structures when the plasma becomes vertically unstable. Javier Artola has made very general predictions for the halo currents development in ITER which will be very useful for minimizing their impact on the tokamak structures.

The prudent approach of Javier Artola of developing analytical codes in parallel to the full 3D simulations should be noted, giving confidence that the code predictions lay inside limits that can be justified.

The contribution of Javier Artola to the development of JORK-STARWALL, the code simulations of experimental results already accomplished and the application to the ITER geometry are outstanding achievements and give confidence that the magnetic fusion community has in hands a highly performing tool capable of assisting ITER operation since the beginning.

Candidate: Michael Faitsch

Nominator: Hartmut Zohm

Title of PhD thesis: Divertor Power Load Studies at ASDEX Upgrade and TCV

Univ./Inst: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, at Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik

Citation: The thesis work of M. Faitsch is well focused on the problem of the effect of magnetic perturbation breaking the axisymmetry of a tokamak on the heat flux pattern on the divertor target looking up to high performance scenarios, in L-Mode conditions as well as H-Mode. Attention is given to changes in steady state heat flux compared to heat flux without a magnetic perturbation present.

The questions specifically addressed by the author are all very meaningful for reactor oriented devices:

• How does the application of a magnetic perturbation change scrape-off layer heat transport?

• How does transport in the divertor region change the heat flux pattern on the divertor target in presence of an external magnetic perturbation?

• What are the differences between L-Mode and inter-ELM heat fluxes in presence of an external magnetic perturbation?

• How are ELM heat loads affected by the application of a magnetic perturbation?

The approach used in this work blends theoretical competence (and rigor) with concrete modeling of realistic situations (for AUG) with interesting technical proposals. The experimental results are new, to my knowledge and this research deserves encouragement to be continued and extended.

The conclusion that applying an external non axisymmetric magnetic perturbation leads to a major change in the divertor heat flux pattern and the inter-ELM and L-mode pattern is extremely important, practically and theoretically.

More information about EPS Plasma Physics Division and the award on the division's website: http://plasma.ciemat.es/eps/