More than 30 years of experience in fusion education at the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Abstract The complexity of making magnetic confinement fusion a suitable source of energy for mankind imposes long lasting investigations. To accompany these efforts, new generations of physicists have to be trained over the years to ensure continuity of the research. These scientists must have very versatile profiles as fusion inquiries are multiphysics (magnetohydrodynamic, plasma-wall interactions, cutting edge technologies...) and require skills in both experimental and theoretical physics. The Institute of Plasma Physics IPP Prague of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IPP Prague) has contributed to the education and training of a non-negligible number of students in this area, one reason being the good accessibility of its fusion facility, the other being its strong connection with universities. This article shows the views and achievements of IPP Prague on education. In particular, we insist on the fact that to keep students in the field they have to be acquainted with practical plasma physics as early as possible (on the bachelor level if possible). We also show that a strong integration of PhD candidates within the scientific staff is an important factor for their training and serves them to be autonomous. Last, we present two experimental 2 weeks training courses, called SUMTRAIC and EMTRAIC, that are annually organized by IPP Prague and that have acquainted more than 300 participants to the practical physics of tokamaks.