IPP Director Tim Happel becomes TUM Professor

His new chair will strengthen collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and the Technical University of Munich

Since 1 April 2026, IPP Director Prof. Dr Tim Happel has held the newly created Chair of Plasma Dynamics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). This further strengthens the long-standing collaboration between IPP and TUM in the field of nuclear fusion.

Prof. Happel has been a scientific member of the Max Planck Society since 2024 and heads the Plasma Dynamics Division at the IPP in Garching. There, he develops an understanding of the small-scale dynamic processes in plasma, which often underlie large-scale parameters such as efficiency or material load. This enables predictions to be made regarding the feasibility and economic viability of a future fusion reactor.
 

Prof. Happel studied physics at the University of Kiel and moved to the Spanish fusion research laboratory at CIEMAT in Madrid to pursue his PhD. He has been working at the IPP since 2011.