Dear readers,  

My name is Alice Buzzoni, and I am a student of Nuclear Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to attend the ITER summer school.  

I must mention the quality of the lessons and the exceptional preparation of all the lecturers. Although I haven't had much experience with modeling during my university studies—and perhaps this is the reason—having the chance to attend such beautiful and engaging lessons from some of the leading experts in this field has been truly exciting.  

However, I would like to focus on the overall personal experience I gained. This summer school truly impacted me in a personal way.  

Participating in such a large event made me feel part of a genuine community where cooperation exists across 39 different nationalities. I had the opportunity to speak with people from many countries and exchange experiences and interests in the field of fusion, but also to connect with them on a more personal level. Additionally, as a student about to graduate, the poster session was a unique opportunity to talk with many individuals who have recently started their PhDs and were, until recently, looking for a position in research—just like me now. This experience broadened my perspective and gave me a bit more confidence in entering such an international work environment.  

Furthermore, I would like to share from a personal perspective how my visit to ITER was. Being in the field of fusion makes your heart beats faster when you see with your own eyes the largest project mankind has ever undertaken, live. I firmly believe that ITER is the most fascinating project of our times, and it represents a global collaboration that I consider essential for the advancement of today’s most pioneering technology.  

As long as these advancements are studied in books or developed within smaller parts of larger projects, we sometimes risk forgetting how much progress we are truly making as a community. Having the opportunity to see, with my own eyes, a project of this size, under construction, was both humbling and reassuring.  

In conclusion, I want to thank FuseNet from the bottom of my heart for supporting my experience.  

Alice Buzzoni