For the first time in the history of Russian tokamaks, NRC MEPhI held an open online workshop on hot plasma physics based on the MIFIST-0 educational and research tokamak.

The workshop was held in a test mode, and the first participants were students from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, led by Professor Hermann Vogel. Using remote participation tools, the young researchers spent two days learning about the design and operation of the MIFIST-0 tokamak and conducting research on the effects of operating pressure and gas type on discharge parameters. A joint publication is planned based on the results of the work.

Students conducted their work on the tokamak through the online platform tokamak.mephi.ru, which includes educational services, knowledge bases, and tools for remote participation and access to experimental data. Thanks to the advanced information infrastructure and the complete automation of the MIFIST-0 tokamak, which uses the best practices and global industrial standards, students were able to quickly familiarize themselves with the principles of tokamak control and data management, and the experience gained by students can be further transferred to larger installations.

Stepan Krat, Head of the MIFIST Tokamak Laboratory, emphasized: "For students from any university in the world, getting to know how a tokamak works and conducting their own experiments is an amazing opportunity to experience science firsthand. We plan to continue such workshops for students from both Russian and foreign universities. We are also planning to present our work at various schools and conferences, and publish our findings in high-impact scientific journals, which will help our colleagues learn about our offerings (this is how we were contacted by a representative from a Chilean university)."

On the part of NRC MEPhI, the workshop was led by a young lecturer of the Department of Plasma Physics, Alexander Prishvitsyn. In the future, it is planned to hold online workshops on the MIFIST tokamak on a regular basis – both for Russian students and for students of foreign universities. Applications for participation are accepted by mail tokamak@mephi.ru (link for sending email).

We publish students' feedback on the workshop:

Student Claudio Huerta:

The most valuable aspects were the experimental data obtained in real time and the operation of the tokamak. It allowed us to work with real data and better understand the theory along the way, such as recognizing when there is plasma using the current or the emission spectrum. Additionally, I felt the control panel also played an important role: being able to see the different components involved in plasma formation in action was fascinating and engaging to me. What I liked the most was getting a glimpse of how work is done in a tokamak, as well as learning new concepts. I would recommend this workshop, as it brings you closer to a real plasma and gives you the opportunity to work with it.

Student Vicente Sepúlveda:

Accessing the experimental data through the Mehpist platform is very convenient due to its good organization. Being able to interact in real time with the data to make adjustments is fascinating and allows for a deeper understanding of tokamak behavior along the way. I would 100% recommend this workshop to other students interested in plasma physics in general.

If you want to do in-person laboratory work and conduct real research, you can apply to the Department of Plasma Physics at MEPhI.