On 24 November 2023, the tenth Fusion Day organized by the Austrian Fusion Research Unit took place at the Montanuniversität Leoben. The aim of this annual event is primarily the exchange and networking of scientists of the Austrian fusion research program.
43 participants came from all over Austria to take part in the event, present their latest results and exchange ideas with their colleagues.
The event was opened at 9 a.m. by Professor Friedrich Aumayr, Director of the Austrian Fusion Research Unit and Professor at TU Wien. He welcomed all participants and explained that although this was the 10th Fusion Day, there had already been 28 so-called Association Days before this one. However, due to the founding of EUROfusion and the start of the Horizon 2020 research framework program, the annual meetings of the Austrian fusion research program were renamed in 2014.
Manuel Neubauer from the Department of Science and Research (Office of the Styrian Provincial Government) also welcomed the participants. He was delighted that the Fusion Day was taking place in Leoben this year and emphasized the importance of Styria as a science location.
Johann Riesch from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching (IPP) was invited as this year's guest speaker. In his interesting lecture entitled "Development of plasma facing materials and components at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics", he gave a detailed overview of the work at the IPP in connection with materials that would come into contact with the plasma in a fusion reactor.
The guest lecture was followed by several 20-minute presentations by students and project group leaders, who presented current research results from their working groups. As this year's Fusion Day was organized with the help of the Erich Schmid Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, there was a focus on materials science.
The Austrian fusion research program currently comprises 10 research groups from Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Leoben and Innsbruck.