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I spent a week in Greifswald, Germany at the IPP Summer University. We had the chance to hear lectures from great researchers in the field of fusion plasma physics and got to know the two main fusion device types: tokamak and stellarator in depth. The summer school also offered other activities. We had the chance to see the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in person, which was a great experience for me since I wrote my bachelor’s thesis about it. Also, we got behind the scenes looks at some of the auxiliary systems like the gyrotrons of the ECRH.

My internship took place in a laboratory belonging to the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) called the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC). The main purpose of the SPC is to make ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) a success. Then, the following aim is to exploit the results obtained with ITER for use in DEMO (DEMOnstration power plant). ITER will prove that fusion can be made on Earth and DEMO will prove that fusion energy can be commercialized.

The summer school was held at the Culham Science Centre in the UK from July 18 to July 28, 2022. I stayed at William Miller’s building in Oxford. The experience was great. It was an opportunity to get a broad overview of fusion problems as well as an in-depth description of plasma physics. The Professors were all competent and available for discussion and questions.

I did my Internship at the Max Planck institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald. Or, as most of you will probably know it, I did my internship at Wendelstein 7‐X. In my internship I created a tool to aid in the design and optimisation of quasi‐optical transmission lines. In the case of W7‐X it will be used in the future for the relocation of the Collective Thomson Scattering transmission line.

I am extremely glad I decided to attend the 59th Culham Plasma Physics Summer School. It was the richest two weeks I could have ever imagined. The school is organized very well. The schedule was very tight and packed with lectures and problem sessions, but we also had the chance of mingling with the other participants both during organized events and not. I got the chance to learn and go through the physics principles behind fusion and even to visit labs and have a tour of JET and MAST.

Last spring I went to the University of Liverpool to conduct an experimental internship there. I researched whether a low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma could be used to deposit an acrylic acid polymer onto an Indium Arsenide avalanche photodiode. This polymer would function to pacify leakage currents inherent to this type of photodiode which is very useful in applications such as metrology, chemical sensing and space applications. To perform this I learned a lot about semiconductor and plasma physics.

I would describe my summer school experience at the Culham Science Centre as enlightening - from an academic point of view - as well as pleasurable and memorable. First of all, via this wonderful experience I was able to build strong connections with experts in the field of fusion and plasma physics, those being my instructors and fellow students conducting independent research. The lectures were concise, managing to successfully capture the essence of each subject without getting tedious.

From April – June 2022 I performed my Master’s internship project at the Plasma Modelling and Analysis Section at ITER. I was supervised by Guido Huijsmans and Sven Korving who helped me to implement hydrogenic molecules and the associated reaction in the nonlinear MHD code JOREK. Hydrogenic molecules are important where the temperature is low (divertor region) and are an energy and momentum sink of the plasma. These molecules can be puffed into the plasma or are formed by recombination at the wall.

It didn’t take long to realize that other two guys from Greece and I, were by far the youngest ones attending the 59th Culham Plasma Physics Summer School, which was the biggest one ever organized (100+ people). However, I had attended a basic Plasma Physics Course and so I was able to follow the most lectures during the first week. Some of them helped me revise and fill in the gaps of my knowledge at certain topics and of course in others there was presented completely new material to me that I barely knew the existence of it.