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Carolus Magnus Summer School report

Carolus Magnus Summer School report

Athina Kappatou tells the story of her experiences at the Carolus Magnus Summer School:

The first week of the summer school is over… It is a summer school that actually takes place at a holiday resort, but the weather has not been so kind to us during this week!

Well, no problem of course, there have been a lot of interesting lectures indoors… Ranging from general discussion on the prospects of fusion research and overview of basic concepts such as burn criteria and control of fusion  plasmas, to more complicated subjects such as turbulence, kinetic wave theory and neoclassical transport. The lecture schedule might be tough, but also very exciting. The speakers have done an excellent job in their presentations. It is really rewarding to finally understand some of the things you have been struggling with for quite some time!

However it is not only the lectures that make it all worthwhile. The participants come from all over the world, each and every one with their own specific field of research, but also different cultural backgrounds, so lengthy discussions are inevitable! What is the future of fusion research? What are the problems that ITER might encounter? And what about other alternative energy sources? And of course, is this really what dutch people have for lunch?!

Nice highlights of the week were the evening lecture of "exotic" plasmas which impressed everyone in the audience (see picture) and of course the visit to Juelich Research Center on Thursday, where we got a tour of the TEXTOR tokamak and control room (see picture). The day ended with a barbecue - indoors of course, it was raining again!

Now it is time to get some rest! The second week looks even harder and more exciting!