Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Conventional Fusion FAQ Section 7/11 (Education) From: rfheeter@pppl.gov Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Followup-To: sci.physics.fusion Reply-To: rfheeter@pppl.gov Summary: Fusion energy represents a promising alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear fission for world energy production. This FAQ answers Frequently Asked Questions (from the sci.physics.fusion newsgroup) about conventional areas of fusion energy research. It also provides other useful information about the subject. This FAQ does NOT discuss unconventional forms of fusion (like Cold Fusion). Expires: 1 Dec 1994 0:00:00 GMT Archive-name: fusion-faq/section7-education Last-modified: 30-Oct-1994 Posting-frequency: More-or-less-monthly Disclaimer: While this section is still evolving, it should be useful to many people, and I encourage you to distribute it to anyone who might be interested (and willing to help!!!). ***************************************************************** 7. Educational Opportunities in Fusion Research Last Revised October 30,1994 Written by Robert F. Heeter, rfheeter@pppl.gov, unless otherwise cited. Acknowledgements to everyone are in Section 11. *** Note: Answers in this section are biased towards Americans; I'd appreciate input from people in other nations to make this section as applicable as possible. *** Note #2: These answers are by no means complete or final; I'm hoping y'all will contribute what you know and help me out! *** Note #3: I *have* received some information which has not yet found its way into the FAQ. I'm busy preparing for a conference, so the revision will be delayed until the next posting. *********************** Undergraduate/Graduate Opportunities: *** A. What opportunities are there for interested students? * Undergraduate Opportunities: Academic-year Programs !!!! High school students take note !!!! Unfortunately, fusion research is a relatively small field, so most colleges and universities do not have much in the way of fusion research. Plasma physics is a bit more common, but still not widespread. But it's certainly possible to wind up doing plasma physics at the graduate level without getting much exposure as an undergraduate, at least in the U.S. Exceptions - schools with active plasma/fusion research: In the United States (in no particular order): Caltech, UCLA, Wisconsin-Madison, MIT, Texas-Austin, Princeton, Maryland, Iowa, Auburn, Columbia, Washington (Seattle), UC-Davis (cooperative with Lawrence Livermore), U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (nuclear engineering dept.) and probably some other schools. In Germany - the Universities in: Munich, Juelich, Bochum, Berlin, Stuttgart, Augsburg, and Greifswald. Graduate students can work at the Max Planck Institut fur Plasmaphysik, too. In Britain: Imperial College, London; Oxford University; (elsewhere?) Elsewhere in the EU: Denmark: University of Copenhagen Netherlands: FOM Institute at Rijnhuizen (?, spelling?) Most Russian research is done in Moscow, Leningrad, and Novosibirsk. (help with other countries, anyone??) * If anyone needs help obtaining addresses to contact at these institutions, let me know. If anyone has contact addresses, please send them to me so I can accumulate a list. * Undergraduate Summer Programs: There are, however, undergraduate summer research programs (primarily for students who've completed their junior year) in both Europe and the United States (details on these programs are appended). One can also become involved in fusion / plasma research through summer programs offered at the various U.S. National Laboratories (particularly Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia; possibly Oak Ridge?). Finally, it's also possible to do summer research at the schools which do research, provided you find a way to make the right connections. * Graduate Opportunities: The summer program offered in Europe is targeted for beginning graduate students (perhaps more so than advanced undergraduates); see below for details. The schools listed above which pursue fusion / plasma research also have graduate programs; there are other schools as well. There are several fellowships available to provide financial assistance, as well. (I could really use a couple addresses here, so people know where to go to get the important information. Help anyone???) *** B. I'm an undergraduate interested in becoming a "fusioneer". What should I study? Basic Answer: Fusion researchers come to the field from a number of different disciplines, because the field is small and young and no school has a major in "fusioneering" or "plasma physics". For undergraduates, a major in physics, astrophysics, or electrical engineering would provide a perhaps the best background for studying plasma physics. Nuclear and mechanical engineering are also viable options, particularly if your interest lies more in reactor design and engineering. At this point the majority of graduate opportunities are on the plasma physics side, though this may change as the science evolves and (we hope) more reactor engineers are needed. My opinion is that it is more important to look for research opportunities relevant to the field, and the choice of major is a little less important. *** C. What sorts of experiments are there for high-school students? How can I get the equipment? Has anyone else done this? While there are few fusion experiments that would be feasible at the high school level, there are a number of interesting possibilities for plasma physics experiments. (There are people here at PPPL, and probably elsewhere, who can provide demos and/or assist in developing experiments; if anyone is interested in this, let me know and I'll pursue this further.) There are a couple simple plasma demonstrations which would probably be feasible. If one has access to a microwave oven, one can simply insert a sealed tube containing some sort of low-pressure gas (such as a fluorescent light bulb), and then run the microwave. The microwave radiation will ionize the gas, forming a microwave plasma discharge, if the circumstances are right. (This may not be all that good for the microwave, however.) An easy way to observe the confining effects of a magnetic field would be to build a fairly large magnetic coil (fields of around 30 gauss will give a nice effect) and run a fluorescent light inside. (The Helmholtz configuration, where the coil radius is equal to the coil separation, gives a fairly uniform magnetic field in the region between the coils, and would be better than a solenoid since it would make it easier to see inside. Moving the coils away from each other will generate a magnetic mirror configuration, which also has some interesting physics to it.) This will be best if you can see inside the fluorescent bulb, instead of just seeing the phosphor glow from the glass tube. If one has access to a vacuum pump and a high voltage (2000 V) power supply, it is also possible to build a glow discharge tube instead of using the fluorescent light bulb. Air will give a pretty discharge, but helium and neon and argon are also interesting. I have draftings and instructions for building such a glow tube, which could be built as a high school project for high schools with a small machine shop (courtesy of Tim Bennett at PPPL). *** D. What about those summer programs you mentioned above? I am currently aware of two major plasma/fusion summer programs. * 1. The National Undergraduate Summer Fellowship in Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering (NUF) is a competitive U.S. program, primarily aimed at those completing their junior year in college. A one-week short course (at Princeton, in June) kicks off the program, followed by several weeks of research at various sites nationwide. There is a substantial stipend ($4000 or so) and travel expenses up to $1000 are covered. The application deadline was Feb. 22 of this year, and will probably shift around next year. For further information, contact nuf@pppl.gov (Diane Carroll). * 2. There is also a Plasma Physics Summer School offered at Culham in England (where JET is located). Here is a posting on the program from Geoff Maddison, and some comments from others on the program. From: Geoff Maddison, geoff.maddison@aea.orgn.uk Date: Sat, 26 Feb 1994 18:44:05 GMT > > T H E 3 1 s t C U L H A M P L A S M A P H Y S I C S > ########################################################### > > S U M M E R S C H O O L > ######################### > > 1 1 - 2 2 J U L Y 1 9 9 4 > > C u l h a m L a b o r a t o r y, A b i n g d o n, > O x f o r d s h i r e, U K > > > An International Summer School intended for students near > the start of postgraduate courses. No previous knowledge of > plasma physics is assumed. Since 1985, the Summer School series > has been attended by over 600 students from 47 countries, more > than two thirds coming from outside the UK. > > Culham Laboratory is the primary centre for plasma physics & > nuclear fusion research in the UK; it is located close to the > city of Oxford, and shares a site with the world's > largest magnetic fusion experiment, the Joint European > Torus (JET). > > The School covers a broad curriculum :- > > * Plasma particle dynamics * Plasma waves * Kinetic theory > * MHD * Computational techniques * Astrophysical plasmas > * Laser plasmas * Magnetically confined plasmas * Solar plasmas > * Poster session * Space plasmas * Laboratory visits * Industrial > plasmas * Turbulence & chaos * Diagnostics * Gravitational plasmas > > A copy of the course textbook "Plasma Phyics: An Introductory > Course" (Cambridge University Press, 1993) is given to each > student. > > ACCOMMODATION WILL BE IN A HISTORIC COLLEGE OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY. > > CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 13th MAY 1994 > > (Late applications may be accepted, depending on accommodation.) > > Further details / application forms are available from :- > > Mrs Joan Stimson, > Culham Laboratory, > Abingdon, > Oxfordshire OX14 3DB, Tel: 44 235 463293 > UK. FAX: 44 235 463288 > > or e-MAIL enquiries to: geoff.maddison@aea.orgn.uk > Commentary: * From David Pearson, University of Reading, 1988 (?) attendee: Dear Internet, Yes, go to the Culham Summer School if you can - but read some basic textbooks (or a textbook) first, if you are a beginner. The Summer School is excellent, but I doubt if many people are smart enough to plunge straight into it without knowing some plasma physics first - I certainly wasn't. * Note by Robert F. Heeter: The Culham program appears to be intended for students making the transition from undergraduate to graduate work. The flyer I saw indicated that it was about twelve days long (two weeks of classes and a weekend in the middle), and the cost was on the order of 750 pounds sterling, including housing. *** E. When/where are the major fusion conferences? ** Major Annual Conferences: The following is a list of some major annual conferences, including (where I have the information) the sponsoring organization, the name of the conference, the typical abbreviation for the conference, the season when the conference is held, size of the conference, and some comments. (The current list was provided by Art Carlson; I've reformatted it somewhat.) * American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics: Annual Meeting. (APS, or APS-DPP). Fall. About 1500 contributors. Largest and probably most important conference, covers all of plasma physics. * European Physical Society: European Conference on Controlled Fusion and ... Plasma Physics (odd years) ... Plasma Heating (even years) (EPS). Summer. About 500 contributors. The European equivalent of APS, covers all of plasma physics. * International Atomic Energy Agency: International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research. (IAEA). Fall. Attendence restricted. Politically important. * Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT). Summer. * International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interaction (PSI). Summer. Lots of surface physics and technology. * International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference (Sherwood). Spring. Probably the most important fusion _theory_ conference. (From the secret code name for the original US fusion program.) ** A few dates of upcoming fusion-related conferences. (dates European style, dy/mo/yr) 7-11/11/94 Meeting of the AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY--DIVISION OF PLASMA PHYSICS Minneapolis, MN, USA 2-7/7/95 22nd European Conf. on CONTROLLED FUSION AND PLASMA PHYSICS Bournemouth, UK anybody have a few minutes to update my calendar???