The PSTI Distinguished Researcher Lecture Series will be presented by Dr. Pierre Gourdain during the Spring Quarter . They will be held on Mondays from 1 to 3 pm in the new Physics and Astronomy Building, 4th Floor, Room PAB 4-330 and 4-340. The topic is "Principles of Tokamak Operations"

A joint University of Maryland/UCLA Fusion Science Center has been created by the Department of Energy with Prof. S. Cowley as its director.The central theme of of this new center is "Multiscale Plasma Dynamics". The center is presently inviting applications from highly qualified individuals to join its staff.

For details contact http://cmpd.umd.edu

Plasma Physics Offices
The offices of the Plasma Physics faculty and the research staff have been relocated to their permanent home in the fourth floor of the newly completed Physics and Astronomy (P&A) building, located on the west side of Knudsen Hall. The phone and FAX numbers have not changed and the mailing address will continue to be the same. The contact person for the group is Sharon Wong. Her office is located in P&A room 4-443 and her phone number is 310-825-4789.

Distinguished Researcher Lectures Series (syllabus)
Dr. Pierre Alexandre Gourdain will deliver the "Distinguished Researcher Lectures Series", sponsored by PSTI, during the Spring Quarter of 2005. The topic of his lectures is "Principles of Tokamak Operation". Click here to review the syllabus of his lectures.

Dr. Gourdain's plans to provide an introduction to those features that are central to the practical operation of a tokamak device. The lectures will be complemented by laboratory visits to the Electric Tokamak housed in the STRB. In these visits he will explain how the principles discussed in the lectures are implemented in a real environment. Students, postdocs and research associates are encouraged to take advantage of a rare and unique opportunity to have first-hand exposure to these systems. Attendance is free and open to members of the technical community in the LA basin.

Dr. Gourdain participated in the construction of the Electric Tokamak and has been a key member of the team that has successfully operated the device for several years. He is one of our outstanding researchers whose work is recognized through the PSTI Distinguished Lecturer Series. Previous Lecturers have been Drs. V. Decyk and R. Strangeway.

The exact dates and meeting place for the lectures will be announced later. Those graduate students who wish to receive academic credit can enroll in a 299 course.

Professor Margaret G. Kivelson is the recipient of two of the more prestigious awards given for excellence in research in the field of space plasma physics. She is the 2005 John Adam Fleming medalist chosen by the American Geophysical Union and also she has been awarded the Hannes Alfven medal by the European Geophysical Union. Her work encompasses theory, measurement, data analysis, and mission leadership that address the frontier problems of space plasma research.