From June 29th to July 3rd, 2026, the 52nd EPS Conference on Plasma Physics was held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Organized annually by the Plasma Physics Division of the European Physical Society and hosted this year by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), the EPS conference is one of the largest and most prestigious plasma physics events in Europe, gathering every year hundreds of researchers from all over the world.
Our group was represented at the event by Mervi Mantsinen, group leader, Hernán Domingo, PhD student, and Juan Manuel Sánchez, research engineer. Attending the conference was an excellent opportunity to follow the latest advances in plasma physics, exchange ideas with the international fusion community, and strengthen connections with researchers and institutions across Europe and beyond.
Both Hernán and Juan Manuel presented their most recent work during the poster sessions. Hernán Domingo presented a poster entitled “Development and validation of a massively parallelised RF wave propagation solver in magnetised plasmas”, showcasing the group’s efforts in developing an HPC module for the simulation of radiofrequency wave propagation in fusion plasmas, EMWAVE. Juan Manuel Sánchez presented a poster entitled “Towards Quantum Plasma Simulation: Benchmarking Variational Quantum Algorithms for Electromagnetic Wave Propagation”, reporting on the group’s exploration of quantum computing as an emerging tool for plasma simulation. The poster sessions triggered fruitful discussions with fellow researchers and provided valuable feedback on both lines of work.
Our group’s participation went beyond attendance and poster contributions. Mervi Mantsinen serves as a member of the Board of the EPS Plasma Physics Division, the body responsible for organizing the annual EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, as well as in the Editorial Board of the Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion journal, where the Focus Collections of journal papers arising from the conference are published.
Beyond the scientific programme, the conference offered plenty of opportunities for networking in the beautiful setting of Edinburgh, whose historical city centre, castle, and lively atmosphere made the week even more memorable.
During the closing ceremony, the 2027 conference was announced. It will take place from 5th to 9th July at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne, organised by the Swiss Plasma Center at EPFL. For more information, check the conference web pages. We look forward to another great event!