The EUROfusion consortium, Europe’s coordinated fusion research programme, has selected nine Bernard Bigot Researcher Grant (ERG) and fourteen Engineering Grant (EEG) recipients from leading institutions across Europe. These prestigious grants recognise scientific excellence, innovation, and diversity — empowering Europe’s next generation of fusion experts to help realise fusion energy.
Fusion energy promises to provide safe, sustainable, and low-carbon baseload power, complementing renewable sources such as solar and wind. Realising this vision means addressing complex scientific and engineering challenges — from understanding plasma behaviour to developing materials that can endure the harsh environment inside a fusion reactor.
Empowering Europe’s Fusion Researchers and Engineers
Named after former ITER Director-General Bernard Bigot, the EUROfusion Researcher Grants support outstanding postdoctoral scientists developing innovative ideas aligned with EUROfusion’s Roadmap to Fusion Energy.
The EUROfusion Engineering Grants attract top early-career engineering talents at the post-master’s and post-doctoral level to work on key technological questions. Both programmes include tailored training to build expertise, foster collaboration, and strengthen the European fusion community.
A Commitment to Excellence and Inclusion
All selections were made through a rigorous evaluation and interview process led by panels of retired fusion experts, ensuring fairness and excellence while promoting diversity and inclusion. EUROfusion is deeply committed to equality — valuing varied backgrounds across gender, nationality, and socioeconomic circumstances.
About EUROfusion
EUROfusion coordinates experts, students, and facilities from across Europe to realise fusion energy according to its Roadmap to Fusion Energy. Co-funded by the Euratom Research and Training Programme, the consortium prepares for experiments at ITER and develops concepts for the European demonstration fusion power plant DEMO.
With this new cohort of talented grant holders, EUROfusion continues to invest in the people who will drive Europe’s clean-energy future.
ERG recipients awarded to start in 2026
| Name (Affiliation) | Topic |
|---|---|
| Caterina Cavallini (RINA, Italy) | Corrosion and Erosion Behaviour of Copper and Stainless Steel Alloys in Alternating Cooling Conditions for Fusion Devices |
| Stefan Dasbach (DIFFER, Netherlands) | Physics-constrained deep learning models for power plant scale exhaust |
| Daniel Fajardo (MPG, Germany) | Accessibility, characterization and modelling of plasmas above the Greenwald limit as a function of the radiated power fraction |
| Cholidah Akbar Fitriani (VTT, Finland) | Evaluating the Mechanical Properties of Neutron-Irradiated CuCrZr Using Small Punch Testing |
| Michael Gerard (MPG, Germany) | Nonlinear saturation of turbulent transport in stellarators through eigenmode interactions |
| Daniel Hachmeister (IST, Portugal) | Physics-informed real time control based on the density profile |
| Giulia Marcer (ISTP-CNR, Italy) | Development of diamond spectrometers combined with AI techniques for absolute neutron measurements in magnetic confinement fusion (D-AI) |
| Lidija Radovanović (TU Wien, Austria) | Modelling the Pedestal in the Quasi-Continuous Exhaust Regime: Towards Predictive Understanding Across Devices |
| Philipp Ulbl (MPG, Germany) | Edge physics predictions based on first principles: SOL power width and ELM-free regimes |
EEG recipients awarded to start in 2026
| Name (Affiliation) | Topic |
|---|---|
| Filippo Timperi (CEA, France) | Training to the integration, commissioning and operation of integrated ECRH systems |
| Maria Morbey (DIFFER, Netherlands) | Influence of synergistic proton and plasma loading on retention in tungsten |
| Daniele Busi (Politecnico di Milano, ENEA, Italy) | Design of Electron Cyclotron Heating launchers for the future fusion reactors |
| Marco Franceschi (ENEA Brasimone, Italy) | Materials compatibility and corrosion in molten PbLi eutectic |
| Guillermo de la Cuerda Velazquez (ENEA, Italy) | Ceramic based coatings as a barrier against corrosion and tritium permeation: deposition upscale and permeation modelling |
| Federico Hattab (ENEA, Italy) | Versatile fuel cycle modelling for plant design and integration |
| Gabriele Colombo (ENEA, Italy) | Development of distributed sensing techniques for quench detection in High Temperature Superconducting fusion magnets |
| Vasiliki Anagnostopoulou (ENEA, Italy) | Development of radiation-hard, real-time detectors for monitoring Runaway-Electrons in tokamaks |
| Marianna Di Pietrantonio (ENEA, Italy) | Development of a Fast DC Circuit Breaker for the protection of superconducting magnets |
| Barbara Mandolesi (University of Rome Tor Vergata, ENEA, Italy) | Fatigue fracture modelling methodology for the DEMO CS steel jacket in a deep cryo-regime based on deterministic and probabilistic approaches |
| Enrico Occhiuto (CREATE, ENEA, Italy) | Integrated Multiphysics Reconstruction for Structural Condition Monitoring in Fusion Devices |
| Andrea Zoppoli (CREATE, ENEA, Italy) | Development of a calibration and compensation strategy for remote handling systems of fusion facilities |
| Biao Lyu (ITES, KIT, Germany) | Numerical modeling of magnetohydrodynamic and thermohydraulic flows in liquid metal breeding blankets: toward fast and accurate simulation workflows |
| Ahmet Kilavuz (MPG, Germany) | Two-Phase Thermo-hydraulic Assessment of Novel Cooling Concepts for Plasma-Facing Components and Coupled Design Study |