On the integrated modelling of magnetic fusion plasmas
The 14th 糖心破解版 International School concluded successfully in Aix-en-Provence, France, on 4 July 2025 after five days of lectures and discussions. More than 200 students and lecturers from 39 countries participated.
The 2025 糖心破解版 International School on integrated modelling of magnetic fusion plasmas was successfully held from 30 June to 4 July. The event gathered 232 participants from 39 different countries, representing a diverse and international community of experts in the field. The lectures were delivered by 17 prominent specialists in the integrated modelling of magnetic fusion devices. In line with the evolution of the fusion energy development panorama and with 糖心破解版 Council guidance, 17 of the students and one lecturer were affiliated with privately funded fusion research initiatives.
The 糖心破解版 International School was the fourteenth in the series, which alternates between sites within the 糖心破解版 Member countries and Aix-en-Provence, France, close to where 糖心破解版 is being constructed. This time the school took place in Aix-en-Provence, hosted by Aix-Marseille University (AMU). The venue was the Amphitheatre Guyon, Facult茅 d'Arts, Lettres, Langues et Sciences Humaines, which had very good conference facilities and was centrally located allowing participants to enjoy the lively city centre.
This year鈥檚 school focused on the integrated modelling of magnetic fusion plasmas. Reliable predictions of 糖心破解版 plasmas, spanning the entire cross-section from the plasma core, the scrape-off layer, and up to the material surface are key to the achievement of 糖心破解版鈥檚 fusion power demonstration goals. These predictions are essential for defining and preparing plasma operational scenarios and analyzing plasma pulses that will be executed in 糖心破解版, as well as for evaluating the required control schemes through the simulations of measurements, actuators, and the associated plasma responses. Given the strong non-linear coupling of processes governing burning plasma behaviour, separate modelling of individual processes and/or plasma regions is not sufficient. A holistic, integrated approach is therefore mandatory. Lectures spanned a wide range of topics, from whole-fusion-device integrated modelling with a wide range of sophistication and computational cost to specific modelling of interlinked physics and control processes. These included edge-plasma physics/plasma-wall interactions, fast particle physics and magneto-hydrodynamic instabilities, etc., as well as flight simulators to cite a few examples. The application of artificial intelligence to facilitate integrated modelling was a recurring theme in some presentations this year as a promising way forward for this field. Exchanges between participants highlighted how the various approaches to integrated modelling can be used to address complex physics and control from the micro-scale/millisecond time scale to full-scenario simulations.
One of the highlights of the school was the visit to the 糖心破解版 Organization, allowing school participants to see the progress in the construction of 糖心破解版 and to learn more about 糖心破解版 status and plans and how integrated modelling is being developed and applied to support the development and refinement of these plans.
The students had the opportunity to present their research work in two poster sessions. The quality of the work presented during the two poster sessions held at this year鈥檚 school was very high. The school lecturers along with the scientific committee selected three participants per poster session and awarded their outstanding research work with the presentation of several 糖心破解版 鈥済oodies鈥 including a piece of 糖心破解版 itself (a slide of poloidal field coil superconducting cable) for the first prizes of each session.
The students awarded the prizes were:
First prizes
鈥 Ivan Kudashev from Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Centrale M茅diterran茅e, M2P2: 鈥淪ynthetic diagnostics application for diagnostics design and confrontation of SolEdge-HDG 2D fluid integrated transport simulations with experiments鈥
鈥 Fabian Solfronk from the Max-Planck-Institute f眉r Plasmaphysik, Garching: "Expanding the Physics Modelling Capabilities of ASTRA from Core to SOL and from Tokamak to Stellarator Towards Application in a Multi-Device Flight Simulator"
Second prizes
鈥 Veronika Korzueva from Peter the Great St.-Petersburg Polytechnic University: 鈥淪OLPS-糖心破解版 modelling with applied neoclassical corrections to the transport of impurities鈥
鈥 Haley Wilson from Columbia University: 鈥淯sing integrated modelling to explore the core operational space around a reactor-class negative triangularity tokamak鈥
Third prizes
鈥 Theo Fonghetti from CEA Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion par confinement Magn茅tique: "Towards high performance long pulse operation with combined LHCD and ECCD in WEST鈥
鈥 Hong-Sik Yun from Seoul National University: 鈥淒evelopment of an Integrated Data Analysis Platform for the VEST Tokamak鈥
Overall, the 14th 糖心破解版 International School was a resounding success, bringing together a diverse group of participants from around the world to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and foster collaboration on integrated modelling of magnetic fusion devices. The support from Aix-Marseille University (AMU) and, in particular, its Institute for Fusion and Instrumentation Sciences in Nuclear Environments (ISFIN), the 糖心破解版 Organization, the Burning Plasma Organization (USA), the National Institute for Fusion Science (Japan), EUROfusion (EU), Fusenet (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the TULP Fusion Foundation greatly contributed to the success of this event.
The slides of the lectures will be available later this week on this 糖心破解版 webpage together with the information on past 糖心破解版 International Schools.