The entities identified possible lines of research at the event

The first IFMIF-DONES workshop was celebrated last March 10, organised by CIEMAT and the University of Granada (UGR) in an online format. The aim was to explore future collaboration between the entities within the framework of the IFMIF-DONES Project. CIEMAT and UGR research groups presented their scope of work to identify possible lines of research in which they could cooperate in a near future, before the political decision on whether the scientific facility is built in Escúzar (Granada) is made.

The workshop gathered an average of 80 attendees. As specified on the agenda, the aims of this event were to present an overview of the IFMIF-DONES project; to identify the challenges and R&D lines of the different systems in IFMIF-DONES; to identify the R&D lines of the University of Granada that could be developed in IFMIF-DONES; and to create an environment of discussion between CIEMAT and UGR to establish new lines of cooperation.

The Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the UGR, Enrique Herrera, announced a postdoctoral plan for this year and PhD grants associated to research lines of interest for both CIEMAT and UGR offered by the University. The workshop began with an analysis of some of the features of the DONES project by Ángel Ibarra, Head of the Fusion Technologies Division at the National Fusion Laboratory in CIEMAT. The possibilities of long-lasting cooperation in new research lines were identified as well as the researchers who would be interested in participating with interesting ideas about the facility and the exploitation of DONES.

The main features of IFMIF-DONES were described by Ángel Ibarra, who also provided an overview of the previous projects that have so far made possible this one-of-a-kind scientific infrastructure (IFMIF-EVEDA, WPENS, DONES Preparatory Phase, DONES-PRIME and DONES-UGR). The event continued with a presentation by CIEMAT researchers of the challenges that had been identified in the different areas of IFMIF-DONES. The researchers of the University of Granada presented the lines of research that could have aspects in common with DONES.

The event ended with a panel discussion moderated by Ángel Ibarra and José Antonio Carrillo, Director for Management at the International Research Projects Office of the UGR. To conclude the event, Ibarra highlighted that interesting ideas for DONES had been bought up which require a thorough analysis, evaluating the development of detail engineering and the necessary modifications in the initial project to implement them. Ibarra invited the attendees to keep in contact for further discussions, promoting cooperation between UGR and CIEMAT.