Varenna-Lausanne Workshop - Theory of Fusion Plasmas

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 both 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

2028 (dates to be announced)

Papers and Proceedings

Both invited talks and contributed posters are published in the same special issue of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion following the conference. Papers are refereed (partially) 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.

PPCF submission deadline for the 2026 special issue: April 30th, 2027.

Submission details and deadlines for the 2026 special issue are available on the 2026 workshop archive page.

Varenna–Lausanne 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)

Workshop Focus

Next Meeting

Papers and Proceedings

Varenna–Lausanne Conference Committee

Past Proceedings and Conferences