On Thursday 12th December CCFE held its annual Culham PhD open day in association with the York Plasma Institute. "Shape the energy of the future" was the compelling headline of this year's edition and that was exactly what many of the attending students were aiming to achieve, in their hunt for career opportunities.

The day provided opportunities for students interested in pursuing PhDs and Masters degrees in fusion-related topics to meet with representatives from CCFE and a number of universities. In addition, there was a series of short talks outlining the key strategic topics for fusion under the headlines of "Magnetic Fusion Plasmas", "Inertial Fusion Plasmas", "Fusion Materials Science", and "Fusion Engineering and Technology". Tours of the JET and MAST tokamaks were provided over lunch, and plenty of time was provided throughout the day to view posters from current and recent PhD projects. 

Despite significant disruption on the rail network around Culham and unfortunate clashes with some pre-Christmas exam commitments, more than 60 students attended and 9 universities sent delegates. Feedback from the day has been universally positive so far, with comments highlighting both the enthusiasm of potential students and the quality of talks presented.

Poster presentation of PhD projects during the Culham PhD open day