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From the 26th of June to the 2nd of July 2016, the 7th International Workshop and Summer School on Plasma Physics took place in the city of Kiten (Bulgaria). The week-long school was organized by the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and covered a broad range of topics, including Fusion Plasma and Materials, Plasma Modeling, Plasma Sources and Diagnostics. Both, Embie Hasan from Bulgaria and Darío Andrés Cruz Malagón from Spain, attended the event and here they will share some of their experiences.

Workshop and Summer School on Plasma Physics - Kiten, Bulgaria
Report by Darío Andrés Cruz Malagón. Powered by FuseNet

The event's schedule was fully packed, combining multiple academic and cultural activities. During the academic lectures, the speakers did a really good job, telling us about the current status of their research. Also the poster session was very useful, since it was a good opportunity to share thoughts with the other participants about your own work or theirs. Finally there were three different workshop, of which the “remote GOLEM operations workshop” was my absolute favourite. During that workshop, we were tasked to make plasma discharges in GOLEM, which is the unique, remotely-operated tokamak in Prague. The groups that were able to produce the plasmas with the best parameters, received a price. Additionally, we were all certified as official GOLEM operators! 

There was also plenty of time for some very enjoyable, non-educational ativitities. On the first day, the welcoming party gave us a good chance to get to know each other, while having a taste of the exquisite Bulgarian cuisine. During the week, we have had an excursion to the beautiful town of Sozopol, which is known for its history and tourism. And on the final day, we were invited to the farewell dinner, where we were pleasantly surprised by a Bulgarian folkloric dance group. The group danced “Horo”, among other typical dances, and even allowed us to join them in their choreography! The pinnacle of Bulgarian traditions, however, was reached on the 1st of July, when some of us decided to join the locals on their yearly walk towards the beach to see the beautiful sunrise.

 

I really enjoyed this summer school with its great lectures, interesting discussions and lots of sun, sea and fun! I was very happy to be part of it and I would like to thank FuseNet for making this possible for me!

Workshop and Summer School on Plasma Physics - Kiten, Bulgaria
Report by Embie Hasan. Powered by FuseNet

During the summer school, a number of different lectures and workshops were given, which were all very interesting, especially the ones that were related to fusion devices and plasma diagnostics. During the first of the three workshops, we were able to operate the GOLEM-tokamak - the oldest working tokamak in the world - remotely from Kiten, while the tokamak itself is situated at the Czech Technical University in Prague. During the second workshop, we had to “hunt” for a leak in the vacuum system of a VUV spectrometer, which was particularly helpful for experimental physicists. The last workshop was all about 'plasma nanoscience'. There was also a poster session, during which 16 master- and PhD-students presented their research. 

Apart from the lectures and workshops, we have also had quite some free time. The organizers definitely made sure that we had a pleasant time in the beautiful city of Kiten and, especially, at the summer school itself. A part of our free time, we spent on the beach, having nice discussion with eachother. Furhtermore, the programme of the summer school also included a welcoming party and a banquet, during which there were a lot of traditional Bulgarian dances. After the banquet, we decided with some of the participants that we would wait on the beach until the sun would come up again on the first morning of July.

I would like to end this article by thanking FuseNet for its financial support, which allowed me to attend the event!