BSC organises top conference in plasma physics

19 May 2021

The 47th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics will bring together top researchers in the wide field of plasma physics ranging from nuclear fusion to low temperature, astrophysical and laser plasmas. The event, which was originally planned to take place in Sitges, Spain last year, will now happen virtually on 21-25 June 2021.

“We very much look forward to the conference,” said Dr. Mervi Mantsinen, ICREA Research professor, Fusion group manager at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and chair of the local organising committee. “Some of the latest and most important research on plasma physics will be presented and this event promises to be one of the biggest highlights in the plasma physics community this year.”

“We are very satisfied that the European Physical Society has entrusted BSC with the organization of this conference. Nuclear Fusion is one of the great challenges that humanity has at this time, comparable to the design of quantum computers or the functioning of the brain. We believe that this discipline has a lot to offer society in the coming years, to the future of our planet, and we are sure that a congress like this will serve to advance in this field”, says Mateo Valero, director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

The programme will include poster and oral presentations, as well as plenary and invited talks from leading scientists in the field of plasma physics. The confirmed plenary speakers include: Thierry Belmonte, research director at CNRS; Francisco Gordillo-Vázquez, senior researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía; Christoph Helmut Keitel, director at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics; Achim von Keudell, professor at Ruhr University Bochum; Erik Lefebvre, research director at CEA; Marius Millot, research scientist at LLNL; William Morris, chief scientist at CCFE; Richard Pitts, senior scientific officer at ITER; Jose A. Pons, professor at the Applied Physics Department at the University of Alicante; Luis Silva, professor at Universidade de Lisboa; Mateo Valero, director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center; and Marco Velli, professor at UCLA.

The scientific sessions will be divided into four topics: Magnetic Confinement Fusion Plasma, Beam Plasmas & Inertial Fusion, Low Temperature and Dusty Plasmas, and Basic, Space & Astrophysical Plasmas.

Several poster awards will be given at the conference. These include the Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion (PPCF), European Physical Society (EPS) and International Union of Pure and Applied Physics(IUPAP) PhD Poster Prizes, as well as the Kyushu University Itoh Project Prize for 2020 and 2021 for PhD students. Furthermore, the 2020 and 2021 EPS Plasma Physics Division Board PhD Research Awards winners will be acknowledged and they will give an oral presentation of their works at the conference.

The conference is locally organised by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) in collaboration with the International Programme Committee appointed by the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society. This event is sponsored by Huawei, Atoms, Edwards and Hiden Analytical with the collaboration of Ciemat and IOP Publishing.

For more information visit: https://epsplasma2020.eu/