The department of Applied Physics of Ghent University, Belgium has regular courses in both plasma physics and fusion technology at bachelor and master level. Since the department is very well connected to plasma research laboratories, its students always have had the opportunity to visit large research devices, and now the department has bridged the gap between theory and large experiments with a set of carefully selected hands-on experiments.
Target group: Experiments at Ghent University are regularly used by bachelor and master students enrolled at the university to complement the theory courses, and by students enrolled in the FUSION-EP Erasmus Mundus master programme. Measurements are designed so that the experiments can be successfully performed without prior advanced knowledge of specialised fields of plasma physics.
Use and access: The FuseNet funded experiments are routinely undertaken by local students as well as students enrolled in the FUSION-EP Erasmus Mundus master program. Detailed documentation (including laboratory manuals, blueprints and lab reports) has been produced with FuseNet support, and replication of these experiments in FuseNet member institutes is encouraged.
FuseNet made it possible to expand the PlasmaLab Ghent, and produce the detailed documentation faciliatting the replication of the experiments. Examples of experiments at PlasmaLab Ghent: