Theory of Fusion Plasmas

Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop, since 1988

"Piero Caldirola" International Centre for the Promotion of Science and International School of Plasma Physics

Location: Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy

The Joint Varenna–Lausanne Workshop is a biennial scientific meeting devoted to the theory of magnetic-confinement fusion plasmas, bringing together senior, early career, and student researchers to review and discuss advances in the theory of magnetic confinement systems. Organized and sponsored by EPFL's Swiss Plasma Center, together with the Piero Caldirola International Center for the Promotion of Science and International School of Plasma Physics, the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, and the Istituto per la Scienza e la Tecnologia dei Plasmi. The workshop features invited talks and contributed poster presentations, and publishes contributions in refereed special issues of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

Workshop Focus

Theory of Magnetic Confinement Systems

  • Anomalous Transport (Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Microinstabilities)
  • RF Heating and Current Drive
  • Non Axisymmetric Configurations
  • Macroinstabilities and Magnetic Reconnection
  • Theoretical Aspects of Plasma-Edge Physics and Divertors
  • Theoretical issues related to burning plasmas

Next Meeting

September 21 – 25, 2026

Important Deadlines

Applications & Abstract: June 26th, 2026
Payment: July 31st, 2026
Paper draft (poster presenters): September 14th, 2026

Papers and Proceedings

Published in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion following the conference. Papers are refereed (partially) open by participants, a long-standing tradition of the Varenna conference.

The issue will be edited by P. Helander and J. P. Graves, and papers will appear online shortly after acceptance.

Please use the PPCF author guidelines and templates, and when submitting, select the special issue titled: "Special issue on the 2026 joint Varenna–Lausanne International Workshop on the Theory of Fusion Plasmas.

View of Villa Monastero

View of Villa Monastero

View of Lake Como

View of Lake Como

Invited Speakers 2026

The following speakers have been invited to present at the 2026 Varenna-Lausanne Workshop, September 21–25, Varenna, Italy.

Acton, Georgia
IPP Greifswald, Germany
Predicting zonal flows in stellarators
Korger, David
IPP Garching, Germany
A nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the description of geodesic-acoustic-modes in tokamaks
Burby, Jack
Austin University, Texas, USA
A statistical equilibrium model for stellarators
Liu, Shiyang
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Development of the Gyrokinetic-MHD Hybrid Code cuGMEC and Its Nonlinear Simulations of Alpha Particle-driven Alfvén Eigenmodes in ITER
Cai, Huishan
USTC, Hefei, China
Multiscale gyrokinetic simulations of the interaction between turbulence and fishbones
Maiden, Felicity
UKAEA, UK
The theory behind solenoid-free microwave driven start-up in tokamaks
Choudhary, Sagar
Institute for Plasma Research, India
Gyrokinetic Transport in flat-Temperature Tokamak Plasmas
McClenaghan, Joey
General Atomics, USA
Pedestal Stability and KBM/MTM Transport Limits in Tokamaks using QLGYRO
Costello, Paul
IPP Greifswald, Germany
Constrained optimal modes: tightening thermodynamic bounds on the linear growth rate of microinstabilities
Rivals, Nicolas
CEA, France
Understanding of the X-Point Radiator regimes in tokamaks through an example in the WEST device
De Gianni, Ludovica
CEA, France
Understanding Trapped Electron Modes in negative triangularity
Sengupta, Wrick
Princeton University, USA
Periodic Korteweg-de Vries soliton potentials generate quasisymmetric magnetic field strength in both vacuum and finite plasma-beta equilibrium
Devin, Emma G.
PPPL, USA
Emergence of persistent advection-diffusion transport structure and nonlinear amplitude evolution of strongly driven instabilities
Schekochihin, Alex
University of Oxford, UK
Tutorial: "As simple as possible but not simpler": physics of turbulence and transport via reduced fluid models
Ekmark, Ida
Chalmers, Sweden
Runaway electrons in quasi-axisymmetric stellarators
Sun, Haomin
EPFL, Switzerland
The unusual dynamics of turbulent transport in spherical tokamaks with large field line pitch angle
Fitzgerald, Michael
UKAEA, UK
Conservation and destruction of alpha particle invariants in optimized stellarators
Thienpondt, Hanne
CIEMAT, Spain
Thresholds for turbulent heat transport in Wendelstein 7-X: Insights from massive gyrokinetic simulations and experimental measurements
Foster, Thomas
PPPL, USA
Alpha-particle orbits near rational flux surfaces in stellarators
Velasco, José Luis
CIEMAT, Spain
Tutorial: New avenues for stellarator design enabled by piecewise omnigenity
Goodman, Alan
IPP Greifswald, Germany
Searching for SQuIDs: Developments in the optimisation of Stable Quasi-Isodynamic Designs
Wang, Jialei
NIFS, Japan
Comprehensive simulations of bursting shear Alfvén waves in tokamaks and their control via phase space engineering with ICRF waves
Jurašić, Philipp
Proxima Fusion, Germany
Designing stellarator island divertors by controlling the island flux
Zhang, Kaiyu
IPP Garching, Germany
Turbulence in the Quasicontinuous Exhaust Regime

Abstracts

Abstracts are required to be less than 3000 characters, including references. Once your abstract is finalised, please submit through this form.

Posters

Poster boards are made of cork and measure 150 cm (width) × 100 cm (height). Printing in A0 landscape format is ideal.

Posters printed in A0 portrait format will fit, but approximately 20 cm at the bottom cannot be attached to the board; please note that this portion may curl after being rolled in a carrying tube. Pins will be provided for attaching posters.

Electronic copies do not need to be submitted to the conference, and authors are free to choose their own formatting.

Registration Fee and Payment Details

The fee covers admission to the workshop and social events, where students enjoy a reduced cost.

Full Fee
€600
Student Fee
€350
Please pay via this website

Varenna–Lausanne 2026 Conference Committee

The Scientific Committee selects speakers based on scientific excellence, while aiming to ensure a balanced program that reflects diversity in geographical location, professional background, and gender. The following lists show the current members of the Scientific Committee, in alphabetical order.

D. BORBA (Lisbon, Portugal)

E. BELLI (California General Atomics, USA)

I. CALVO (Madrid, Spain)

L. FIGINI (Milan, Italy)

G. FU (Zhejiang, China)

T. FÜLÖP (Chalmers, Sweden)

X. GARBET (Cadarache, France and NTU, Singapore)

R. GANESH (Bhat, IPR, India)

J.P. GRAVES (EPFL, CH and York, UK), Scientific Director

C.J. HAM (Culham, UK)

P. HELANDER (Greifswald, Germany), Chairman

S. HUDSON (Proxima Fusion, Germany)

M. HOLE (Canberra, Australia)

Y. KISHIMOTO (Naka, Japan)

M. MURAGLIA (Marseille, France)

R. MACKENBACH (EPFL, CH)

S. L. NEWTON (Culham, UK)

V.P. PASTUKHOV (Moscow, Russian Federation)

E. POLI (Garching, Germany)

F. PORCELLI (Torino, Italy)

O. SAUTER (EPFL, CH)

D. TSKHAKAYA (Prague, Czech Republic)

F. WAELBROECK (Austin, USA)

H.R. WILSON (UKIFS, UK)

A. WRIGHT (Wisconsin, USA)

F. ZONCA (Frascati, Italy)

Past Proceedings and Conferences

Explore the history of the Varenna-Lausanne Workshop, including past proceedings, abstracts, and conference materials from previous years.

View Past Proceedings & Conferences