Hi! My name is Max Winkel and I am pursuing a double master’s program, combining the MSc
Science and Technology of Nuclear Fusion and MSc Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of
Technology, the Netherlands. As a part of the program, we have the opportunity to do a ~3
month internship in an international environment. Using the network of our professors, this
environment turned out to be the MHD and fast particles research group at the Max Planck
Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching, Germany.
At IPP Garching, I have been investigating the vertical plasma stability in a novel concept
tokamak configuration that has been given the name ‘Blowfish’ (BF), using the non-linear
coupled MHD code JOREK-STARWALL. The configuration has approximately the same machine
size as the existing tokamak ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) and was hypothesized to offer more vertical
stability. With our analysis, we demonstrated that the main benefit of vertical stability in BF
compared to AUG is limited to the scenario of a hot plasma in equilibri um. This benefit is not
observed for a cold vertical displacement event in a post-thermal quench scenario. In that
situation, additional passive and active stabilization mechanisms are necessary.
Having no prior experience in working with a high-fidelity code and HPC systems, this was a
challenging task in the beginning. The excellent guidance from my supervisors and research
environment however at IPP Garching, provided me with all the tools to get into a state of
productivity rather quickly, for which I am still very grateful.
Despite the hard work and steep learning curve during this internship, there was plenty of time
for social activities as well. A vibrant community of PhD students, graduate students, and
interns became both my colleagues and friends. Lunches in the excellent cafeteria, daily pingpong sessions (IPP is clearly an abbreviation for 'Institute of Ping-Pong'), and social runs along
the river Isar provided refreshing breaks from work.
Outside working hours, I enjoyed visiting the local ‘Volksfest’ (similar to Oktoberfest), Christmas
markets, hiking in the Alpes, meeting in the city centre of Munich for drinks, pool, museums etc.
– all easily accessible by train or subway with the cheap (49 euro/month) Deutschland ticket.
My time at Garching was super rewarding, and leaving after three months was bittersweet. All of
this was of course not possible without funding from FuseNet that enabled me to do this unpaid
internship abroad. The internship has absolutely changed my perspective on doing research;
from individual and stressful to collaborative, exciting and stimulating to make a valuable
contribution in the exciting world of nuclear fusion.
To close, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to FuseNet. For any student planning an
internship, consider IPP Garching! 10/10 Recommend

