IPP Annual Report 2007 - Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik ...

In 2007 there were some retirements
of members of the Board
of Scientific Directors at IPP.
Prof. Behringer left IPP in August.
To elect his successor within a
joint appointment of Augsburg
University and IPP, a colloquium
took place at Augsburg University
on December 11 th . In consequence
of the retirement of
Prof. Fußmann, the cooperation
with the “Humboldt-Universität
zu Berlin” ended in September.
A concept for a new cooperation with the Technical University
Berlin is in progress and is expected to be signed in 2008.
Since fusion-relevant physics and engineering are not the most
prevalent subjects in Germany’s academic landscape, sparking
student’s interest in high-energy plasma physics and other
fusion-relevant fields is a duty and delight. Teaching at universities
therefore has a sound tradition at IPP. In 2007 there
were about 107 contact hours at universities or universities
of applied sciences in Germany or neighbouring countries:
Augsburg, Bayreuth, Bochum, Ghent, Greifswald, Helsinki,
Munich, Padua, Stralsund, Tübingen, Ulm and Vienna.
Lecturing at universities is supplemented by the IPP’s
“Summer University in Plasma Physics”: one week of lectures
Country Postgraduates Postdocs
male female male female
Australia 1
Austria 1
Canada 1
Chile 1
Czech Republic 1
France 1
Germany 30 9 10 1
Greece 1
India 2 1 1
Italy 3 1 1
New Zealand 1
Poland 1 1
Romania 1
Russia 1 2
Spain 1
The Netherlands 1
Ukraine 1 3
United States of America 1
Yugoslavia 1
38 14 26 3
52 29
Table 1: Countries of origin and sex of the 52 postgraduates and 29 postdocs
at IPP (31.12.2007)
Cooperation with Universities
Author: Dr. Axel Kampke
Many important goals in plasma physics and
materials science have to be met on the way to
a fusion power plant. Since this process will
last another generation, IPP attaches great importance
to the training of young scientists. The
close interaction with the universities in teaching
and research is therefore an important part
of the mission of IPP. It has also borne fruit in
recent years. Moreover, the joint projects, which
exist with several universities, form an integral
part of the IPP research programme.
105
given by IPP staff and lecturers
from partner institutes providing
detailed tuition in nuclear
fusion – in 2007 for the 22 nd
time at Greifswald.
The international character of
fusion research is also reflected
in the countries of origin of graduate
students at IPP: one fourth
of the postgraduates and more
than 60 per cent of the postdocs
are from abroad. Table 1 shows
the distribution with respect to
country and sex of the 52 postgraduates and 29 postdocs at
the end of 2007. Due to the restricted time for their work at
IPP the total numbers of supervised postgraduates and postdocs
within 2007 are higher by a factor of 1.3 than the above
mentioned numbers.
In addition, IPP uses specific instruments developed by the
Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association and the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for more intensive
networking with universities on a constitutional basis:
• participation in the DFG Collaborative Research Centre
Transregio 24, “Fundamentals of Complex Plasmas”, at
Greifswald University
• the “International Max Planck Research School on Bounded
Plasmas” at Greifswald in cooperation with Greifswald
University
• a “Helmholtz Virtual Institute” together with the Universities
of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe Research
Centre
• two “Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups” – “Computeraided
Materials Sciences”, headed by Dr. Ralf Schneider,
and “Theory and Ab Initio Simulation of Plasma Turbulence”,
headed by Dr. Frank Jenko – in cooperation with
the Universities of Greifswald and Münster, respectively,
• the “Max-Planck Young Investigators Group” “Turbulence
in Magnetised Plasmas”, headed by Dr. Wolf-Christian
Müller, and
• the “Young Investigators Group” “Zonal Flows”, headed by
last years “European Young Investigator Award” winner
Dr. Klaus Hallatschek.
The young investigators groups got founded a common 500thousand-Euro-Linux-Cluster
by the Helmholtz Association.
In 2006 IPP was successful within the “Excellence
Initiative” of the German government; the proposals for
“Munich Centre for Advanced Photonics” and “Origin and
Structure of the Universe” – both in cooperation with LMU
and TUM – were accepted as “Clusters of Excellence”. In
2007 “Origin and Structure of the Universe” was officially
established in the former “ITER building” of the IPP.