21st Joint EU-US Transport Task Force Meeting in Leysin, Switzerland.
Reported by Felipe Nathan Lopes. Powered by FuseNet.
On Monday 5 September 2016, the twenty-first Joint EU-US Transport Task Force Meeting took place on top of a distant mountain in Switzerland. For that reason, the academic elite in the field of thermonuclear plasma transport convened in the city of Leysin, trying to understand the underlying mechanisms behind microturbulence and how to suppress it, in order to develop a clean, abundant, and endless source of energy. The event, which lasted 4 days, provided an ideal scientific environment that allowed me to learn a lot in a rather brief period of time. I think that the great atmosphere during the conference finds its origin in the effort, passion and conviction shown by all participants during their insatiable pursuit of controlling nuclear fusion as an energy source.
The beautiful city of Leysin on top of a distant mountain in Switzerland.
The event allowed us to demonstrate our respective advances and to learn with our colleagues about how to overcome obstacles in our field of research. During the conference, I also presented a poster that is part of an on-going research about the nonlinear electromagnetic stabilization of microturbulence enhanced by suprathermal ion gradient pressures. Despite the peculiarities of my research, my efforts were received with positive and constructive feedback, which strengthened my determination to conclude my work and to contribute in making another little but significant step towards the future.
A great scientific atmosphere with lots of presentations and discussions.
Make no mistake, though, physicists also know how to enjoy themselves after a long day of discussions and collaborations: we celebrated our encounter with a superb lunch in a revolving panoramic restaurant on top of the mountain la Berneuse and we competed in an inter-continental snooker competition, which Europe won, before the Americas, and Asia, respectively. Legend says that in the case of a future meeting in Asia, snooker will be replaced by table tennis. Only time will tell.
A snooker competition and a lunch with a astonishing view from lake Genève to Mont Blanc. Definitely also take a look at this short video for another impression of the restaurant at 'La Berneuse'.
I am gratified that I could attended this meeting. I would like to thank my advisor from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, where I do my internship, Mervi Mantsinen, for her support and patience in the tempestuous situation we faced in August. Also, I would like to thank Hauke Doerk, from the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics, for his remote but essential contribution to my work.
And lastly I would like to acknowledge the support from FuseNet and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The exquisite experience was marvellous and uplifting and I believe that from now on, I feel that I have set my first relevant steps into the scientific community.
