I was wondering how this place compares to other institutions such as top American and Canadian schools, both in terms of work environment and prestige.
Hi Reddit, we're a team of plasma physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics that has 2 branches in Garching (near Munich) and Greifswald (in northern Germany). We've recently launched our fusion experiment Wendelstein 7-X in Greifswald after several years of construction and are excited about its ongoing first operation phase. In the first week of February, we created our first hydrogen plasma and had Angela Merkel press our big red button. We've noticed a lot of interest on reddit about fusion in general and our experiment following the news, so here we are to discuss anything and everything plasma and fusion related!
Here's a nice article with a cool video that gives an overview of our experiment. And here is the ceremonial first hydrogen plasma that also includes a layman's presentation to fusion and our experiment as well as a view from the control room.
Answering your questions today will be:
Prof Thomas Sunn Pedersen - head of stellarator edge and divertor physics (ts, will drop by a bit later)
Michael Drevlak - scientist in the stellarator theory department (md)
Ralf Kleiber - scientist in the stellarator theory department (rk)
Joaquim Loizu - postdoc in stallarator theory (jl)
Gabe Plunk - postdoc in stallarator theory (gp)
Josefine Proll - postdoc in stellarator theory (jp) (so many stellarator theorists!)
Adrian von Stechow - postdoc in laboratory astrophyics (avs)
Felix Warmer (fw)
We will be going live at 13:00 UTC (8 am EST, 5 am PST) and will stay online for a few hours, we've got pizza in the experiment control room and are ready for your questions.
EDIT 12:29 UTC: We're slowly amassing snacks and scientists in the control room, stay tuned! http://i.imgur.com/2eP7sfL.jpg
EDIT 13:00 UTC: alright, we'll start answering questions now!
EDIT 14:00 UTC: Wendelstein cookies! http://i.imgur.com/2WupcuX.jpg
EDIT 15:45 UTC: Alright, we're starting to thin out over here, time to pack up! Thanks for all the questions, it's been a lot of work but also good fun!
Several International Max Planck Research Schools in Germany with an astrophysics focus are currently looking for PhD students to join their programs next year. Positions are awarded on a competitive basis. Selected applicants will be fully funded for three years.
IMPRS Solar System, Goettingen
Hi, I was wondering if anyone who has done a PhD at MPI could share their experience
I am coming from the US btw
I'm on the path to joining the MPI-CBG for a PhD position, so I'd like to hear about any experiences or thoughts (any information really) about the institute/programme and even the about living in Dresden, Germany.
Thanks!
The International Max Planck Research School for Solar System Science at the University of Goettingen invites applications for fully-funded PhD positions in the areas of planetary science, solar and stellar physics ... Apply to IMPRS Solar System School
The deadline to apply for a start in the academic year 2018 is 15 November 2017.
