On what seemed like a regular class day, I suddenly got an email that changed everything—
I had been accepted to undergo my master's thesis internship at the Swiss Plasma Center
(SPC), one of the world’s leading institutes in Plasma Physics. A few months later, I packed 
my bags and headed to Lausanne (Switzerland) to start my project on the characterization 
of helicon waves in the TORPEX toroidal plasma device. I had never even heard of helicon 
waves before this. I learned they are essentially bounded whistler waves that can 
propagate in magnetized plasmas in the lower hybrid range of frequencies.

Before diving into the experiments, I had to get up to speed with the theory. I spent a lot of 
time reading and conducting a literature review to grasp the basics of what I’d be working 
on. Most studies on helicon waves focus on linear cylindrical devices, and there’s a 
surprising lack of research on their behavior in toroidal geometries. This gap in the 
literature makes my work on TORPEX particularly special since it’s one of the few devices 
where such experiments can be performed.

The first task was to design a diagnostic tool called a magnetic B-dot probe—a concept I 
had never encountered before. It’s basically a coil that, when placed in a plasma, 
measures magnetic fluctuations through the concept of Faraday’s law. Once I got that 
figured out, the real fun began with the experimental campaigns. TORPEX is a pretty sizable 
device, with a 1-meter major radius and a 20-centimeter minor radius, and it took me a 
while to get comfortable operating it. However, after some trial and error, and a lot of 
training and support from my supervisors, I was able to run my experiments autonomously.

A crucial part of this internship was developing an experimental method to measure the 
toroidal helicon wavelengths. It took a lot of trial, error, and perseverance, but we finally 
succeeded in making, to our knowledge, the first-ever measurements of helicon 
wavelengths in toroidal geometry. This was a huge milestone! Alongside the hands-on 
experiments, I also ran simulations using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, which was 
another learning curve, but one I enjoyed tackling.

Throughout my time at SPC, I was guided by a supportive supervisor and surrounded by 
people who were always happy to help. The atmosphere was relaxed and positive, which 
made my experience all the more enjoyable. I met amazing people worldwide, made new 
friends, and had so much fun while learning. If you ever get the chance to do an internship 
at SPC, I’d say go for it without a second thought