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 equilibrium. 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 at IPP Garching, however, 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 ping-pong 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.
