EPS Plasma Physics PhD Research Award goes to Greifswald

IPP physicist Dr. Valeria Perseo receives award for her PhD thesis on flows at the edge of fusion plasmas.

May 04, 2022

Dr. Valeria Perseo receives the 2022 European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics PhD Research Award for her doctoral thesis on "Impurity flow measurements with Coherence-Imaging Spectroscopy at Wendelstein 7-X". Each year, the Plasma Physics Division of the EPS honours up to four young scientists from the 38 member countries for outstanding achievements.

The prize is endowed with 1000 euros and will be awarded at the upcoming Plasma Physics Conference of the EPS, which will take place online from the 27th June to the 1st July. This is already the second award for  Valeria Perseo’s doctoral thesis, completed at  the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP): last year she received the Helmholtz Doctoral Award 2020.

Valeria Perseo, born in 1991 in Desio, Italy, worked on the particle flows at the edge of fusion plasmas. To this end, she built and tested two measurement devices based on the principle of coherence imaging spectroscopy. After finding a solution for known weaknesses of the demanding measurement procedure, she operated the systems at the Wendelstein 7-X fusion research facility in Greifswald. With  these systems, particle flows in the outer edge of fusion plasmas can be observed in great detail. Valeria Perseo's work makes it possible to better understand the flow patterns and thus opens up new possibilities for optimising the exhaust of particles and heat of fusion plasmas. This will contribute significantly to increasing the  lifetime of the plasma-facing components in a future fusion power plant.

Valeria Perseo is continuing her research at IPP on the dynamics of the flows, with particular attention to what happens during plasma detachment.

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