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On June 9-10, 2024, the 2nd Congress "Science for Society" was held in the Great Hall of the Warsaw University of Technology under the slogan "This is how science in Poland affects the lives of every person." The Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion (IPPLM) presented its achievements at a special stand, where guests could learn about nuclear fusion and the Institute's scientific activities.

The main research area of the IPPLM is the use of controlled nuclear fusion to produce electricity in a safe and environmentally friendly way. The Institute is involved in diagnostic work, modelling of plasma phenomena, research on the behaviour of plasma impurities and the impact of plasma on structural surfaces.

The IPPLM stand presented 3D models of the experimental ITER tokamak built in Cadarache, France, and a stellarator model. Both of these devices use a magnetic field to keep the hot plasma away from the inner walls of the vessel, allowing fusion reactions to be carried out safely at temperatures as high as 100-150 million degrees Celsius.

Specialists from the Department of Laser Plasma Physics and Applications presented the results of research on laser plasma in the context of energy production from fusion with inertial plasma maintenance. Guests could also watch a film presenting the IPPLM laboratories and purchase numerous educational materials.

During the Congress, the IPPLM Professor Agata Chomiczewska gave an interview to a TVP reporter. A report from the event and a statement by Prof. Agata Chomiczewska can be watched on the TVP3 website in the "Dziennik Regionów" program from June 9, 2024 (beginning of coverage: 9:23).

On the first day of the Congress, the guest of honour was the Minister of Science, Dariusz Wieczorek, who in his speech emphasized the importance of increasing expenditure on research and development and promoting the results of the work of scientists and research institutions. At the end of the meeting, Minister Wieczorek together with the chairman of the Main Council of Research Institutes, Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, presented the participants with occasional statuettes and diplomas.

Photo: IPPLM

The 17^th edition of the Kudowa Summer School of Plasma Physics "Towards Fusion Energy" has been completed. The event, organized by the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion (IPPLM) from June 3-7, 2024, in Kudowa-Zdrój, was attended by 61 people from 11 countries.

The opening ceremony was led by the School's director Dr. Jozef Ongena of the Royal Military Academy in Brussels. The scientific and organizational committees were headed by the IPPLM Professor Monika Kubkowska and Dr. Agnieszka Jardin from the IPPLM.

The program included lectures by 25 distinguished specialists from leading scientific centers such as the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (Germany), Kyoto University (Japan), University of York (UK), UKAEA (UK), CEA IRFM (France), ENEA (Italy), CELIA (France), ELI ERIC (Czech Republic) and ITER Organization.

During the student sessions, 19 participants presented their research results. The best presentations were awarded. Sebastian Thiede of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics won first place. Letizia Melaragni from the University of Tuscia (Italy) and Mateusz Majszyk from the Military University of Technology took ex aequo second place. Third place was awarded to Agnieszka Wojtusiak of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (UK) and Jan Novotny of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering CTU in Prague (Czech Republic). A special prize was awarded to Yurii Martseniuk from the National Science Center Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (Ukraine).

Also honored were participants with doctoral degrees: Agnieszka Jardin, Grzegorz Pełka and Łukasz Syrocki from the IPPLM.

Topics covered various aspects of plasma physics, including fusion energy, plasma experiments, plasma technologies and diagnostics.

The event was co-organized by the Euratom-IPPLM National Contact Point. Among Sponsors of the event were EKSPLA, IRtech Sp. z o.o., LTB Lasertechnik Berlin GmbH, Precoptic, Quantum Design.

The next edition of the Summer School of Plasma Physics will be held in 2026. We invite you to participate in this unique event today!

Participants of the 17th edition of the Kudowa Summer School

Photo: IPPLM

Two projects, which were on the reserve list in the OPUS 25 and Preludium 22 competitions, submitted by IPPLM employees received funding.

Financing additional research projects in competitions was possible thanks to the increase in the budget of the National Science Centre (NCN) in 2024 by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

The project, submitted as part of the OPUS competition, entitled "Experimental studies of the proton-boron (p+B) fusion reaction in the Plasma-Focus device" will be carried out jointly with the H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, PAS. Its purpose is to show the possibility of triggering the p–¹¹B reaction in a Plasma-Focus device and to measure the products of this reaction. The experiments conducted as part of the project will verify the theoretical model and the possibility of using Plasma-Focus for proton-boron synthesis. The developed theoretical model will allow us to determine whether it is possible to obtain partially self-sustaining reactions in Plasma-Focus conditions by trapping protons and alpha particles in a strong magnetic field.

The project as part of the Preludium competition entitled "Anomalous electron transport in partially magnetized E×B plasmas induced by azimuthal oscillations" was received by a team of IPPLM employees from the Laboratory of Plasma Nudge for Satellites. The applicant of the project was M.Sc. Olgierd Cichorek.

The project deals with research on plasma flows in Hall-type thrusters. The principle of operation of Hall thrusters uses the effect of reducing electron mobility in a magnetic field. However, the classical collision theory of electron conductivity predicts significantly lower values of electron conductivity than those observed in experiments. The exact physical phenomena causing the increased conductivity observed experimentally are not known; the excess conductivity was therefore called anomalous electron conductivity. Currently, it is suspected that the key role in the mechanisms of anomalous electron conductivityis played by plasma oscillations propagating in the azimuthal direction, perpendicular to the fundamental, radial component of the magnetic field.

The project involves examining the plasma flow in the Hall thruster in order to find the conditions for generating azimuthal oscillations. For this purpose, an experiment will be carried out with plasma imaging using a high-speed camera. The obtained results will be compared with numerical calculations. The main goal of the project is to determine whether increased values of electron conductivity will occur at thruster’s operating points exhibiting the presence of azimuthal oscillations.

The Laboratory of Plasma Nudge for Satellites	Hall Thruster

We would like to congratulate the winners and wish them success in their research work!

Photos: IPPLM

The next edition of the Science Picnic will take place on Saturday, 15 June 2024, at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw. The theme of the event: Unbelievable!

At the stand of the Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, researchers will explain, using the example of a spectacular glow discharge, what plasma is and what the knowledge about it can be used for. This information will help us understand not only the nature of stars, but also the basis for the operation of future energy sources based on nuclear fusion.

In the next demonstration, the phenomenon of nuclear fusion will be explained in a simple and illustrative way using a device called fusor. Participants, under the supervision of an instructor, will be able to adjust the parameters in the device (e.g. pressure, voltage of the electrodes) that affect the resulting plasma.

The third demonstration will be related to the unusual phenomena that occur when laser light meets matter. These will include the phenomena of absorption, fluorescence, light scattering and the spectacular phenomenon of birefringence, in which a calcite crystal will be used.

The IPPLM stand will be located in the Future Zone, tent number B14.

Link to the interactive map: https://mapapiknikunaukowego.kopernik.org.pl/

We invite you to join us from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There is no charge for the admission to the event.

The Science Picnic, organized by the Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre, is Europe's largest outdoor science-themed event. Its aim is to disseminate knowledge from various scientific disciplines by presenting interesting experiments. The Picnic allows you to understand science, showing it as an extremely exciting and fascinating area of life, and by presenting the researcher’s methods and techniques, it encourages and inspires the participants of this event to undertake independent research activity.

For more information about the 27th Science Picnic please visit: https://pikniknaukowy.pl/

The 2nd 'Science for Society' Congress will be held on 9-10 June 2024 at the Warsaw University of Technology. The event is held under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Science and the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. The congress is held under the motto: 'This is how science in Poland affects the life of every Pole'.

Substantive debates will be accompanied by exhibitions of scientific units illustrating contemporary achievements of science, interviews with experts, and presentations of the most important scientific implementations.

The IPPLM stand will offer an opportunity to learn more about nuclear fusion and the Institute's scientific activities. We invite you on Sunday, 9 June, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Monday, 10 June, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

The event will be streamed online at: https://nauka-dla-spoleczenstwa.pl/.

The Congress program can be downloaded from: https://nauka-dla-spoleczenstwa.pl/program/.

Source: Nauka dla Społeczeństwa