“New opportunities to shape the fusion field”

The EUROfusion Engineering Grants (EEG) offer outstanding early-career researchers the opportunity to work on key technological challenges for the European fusion programme. EUROfusion talks to UKAEA's Maria Lorena Richiusa about how her 2019 EEG helped shape her fusion career.
Photo of Lorena Richiusa
Lorena Richiusa. Personal photo, used with permission.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

“I have always wanted to be a nuclear engineer. I am currently working as a technical lead within the EUROfusion DEMO Central Team, where I help design the future European demonstration fusion power plant (DEMO). This is part of the international collaboration between UKAEA and the EUROfusion consortium. I also act as a fusion policy advisor at the UK Department of Energy, Security and Net Zero.”

“This all started in 2015 at the University of Palermo, where my master’s degree showed me how interesting fusion could be. A traineeship at Fusion for Energy in Barcelona consolidated my interest in fusion, and in 2017 I applied for a permanent job position at UKAEA to work on JET. My involvement in some DEMO tasks, as well as my consolidated professional background, supported my successful EEG application in 2019, focusing on DEMO First Wall and limiter design and heat load calculations. My PhD allowed me to investigate a research gap that arose from the EEG project.”

How did you end up applying for an EUROfusion Engineering Grant?

“My path was a bit unconventional—I did the work for my EEG before my PhD research, so for me it was not exactly a “post-doc” experience. In 2019 the EEG topic was already defined, and the one on DEMO First Wall and limiter design and heat load calculation overlapped with the DEMO task I was working on at UKAEA. I even thought UKAEA might have intentionally positioned my research for this EEG, but it turned out to be one of those happy accidents. In any case, I applied and won the position!”

How did your EEG influence your career?

“Oh, in so many ways. Having three years of stability in terms of finance and project scope was wonderful, it really let me focus on the research. The EEG was a great way to deepen my knowledge of plasma-wall interactions, which I was already familiar with because of my participation to the JET experimental campaign I felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the JET control room during one of the last experimental campaigns.”

“It is one thing to study computational models of a fusion plasma, but quite another to be there on-site and see how the plasma comes into existence and behaves in real-time. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the JET experience as a visual system operator.”

Does your technical background also come into play as a policy advisor?

“Yes, although I did not expect that at first. But of course when you talk with international research partners and private companies on how the government can support the growth of the fusion sector and stimulate development, it helps tremendously to understand what the bottlenecks and challenges are.”

Finally, any advice for future applicants to the EEG grants?

“Choose a topic you really believe in. You’re at a time in your career where two to three years of specialising in a topic is a big commitment. The field is changing rapidly so you have an exciting opportunity to influence how and where it develops. The selection procedure is very competitive but after that you get tremendous opportunities. Make the most out of them!”

About the EUROfusion Engineering Grants

The EUROfusion Engineering Grants support the education and training of a new generation of fusion engineers in alignment with the European Research Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy. With this grant, EUROfusion encourages excellence and career development of engineers who are already in the fusion programme and aims to attract high quality potential candidates from outside fusion research.

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