News

Seventeen undergraduate students from the Columbia University Fusion Research Center participated in the third Annual Summer Student Poster Symposium.

Columbia Fusion Research Center students, researchers and faculty hosted the 2025 Perturbed Equilibrium Hackathon July 28–30. 

Columbia Fusion Research Center students and faculty attended the 2025 Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) conference, hosted at MIT from June 23–26.

Cohort of well over 20 undergraduate students participates in summer research at the Fusion Research Center.

Elizabeth Paul, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics, hosted the 2025 Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference as chair of the Local Organizing Committee and member of the Executive Committee.

Margaret Fairborn and Eleanor Winkler, both recipients of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) have decided to pursue their doctoral education at Columbia University’s Plasma Physics Program within the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics.

Elizabeth Paul, Assistant Professor of Applied Physics, has published the monograph "An Introduction to Stellarators: From Magnetic Fields to Symmetries and Optimization" along with her co-authors, Lise-Marie Imbert-Gerard (University of Arizona, Tucson) and Adelle Wright (University of Wisconsin, Madison).

The new center will help address global energy challenges, contribute to sustainable climate solutions, and create a new industry and associated employment.

Dr. Benedikt Zimmermann, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia Plasma Physics, has been awarded the Ph.D. Research Award of the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS) for his doctoral work performed at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. This is the highest recognition for Ph.D. research in plasma physics in Europe.

Five Columbia University Plasma Lab Students attended the inaugural annual Fusion Pioneers: Celebrating Women in Fusion Energy conference. The event highlighted woman-led research in Plasma Physics and supported the advancement of marginalized genders in the workforce.

The United States Burning Plasma Organization (USBPO) awarded scholarships to two Columbia University applied physics doctoral students, Sophia Guizzo and Noah Notis, to attend the 13th ITER International School, held from December 9-11, 2024, in Nagoya, Japan.

Last week, Columbia University students, scientists, and faculty descended in Atlanta, GA to present their research results and interact with colleagues at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics.

Columbia Affiliations