The LaserFusion Consortium successfully concluded its fourth specialized training event, a 5-day research school on “Physics and Technology of Inertial Fusion Energy,” hosted by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IPP) at École Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, from May 11 to 15, 2026. Approximately 19 postgraduate students from across the consortium’s eight partner institutions participated.

Following previous schools in Bordeaux (foundational physics), Pisa (diagnostics), and Jena (laser technology), the Paris school focused on laser technology and sources with emphasis on the direct-drive inertial confinement fusion scheme.

Programme Highlights

The school combined lectures, seminars and practical sessions. Key lectures addressed high-intensity lasers at LULI2000, broadband incoherent beams, coherent beam combining, innovative laser architectures, a 100 J nanosecond laser platform, fusion reactor design, laser optical smoothing, and plasma diagnostics. Specialised seminars covered fast ignition, target fabrication and injection technology, laser-driven ion acceleration in optically tailored gaseous targets, thermal load impact on gratings, and two-photon polymerization printing of targets.

Hands-on practical sessions included pulse compression, broadband LPI using PIC code, and radiation hydrodynamics using the FLASH code. Participants also enjoyed a gala dinner. An initial evaluation test and a final exam were conducted to assess learning outcomes.

The Paris school adds a fourth pillar to the LaserFusion training pathway, following Bordeaux (2025), Pisa (2025), and Jena (early 2026). Educational materials will be made available as open-access resources.

About LaserFusion: Erasmus+ project KA220-HED-13A477C3, co-funded by the European Union, uniting eight partners: Institut Polytechnique de Paris (host), Hellenic Mediterranean University (coordinator), Université de Bordeaux, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, University of York, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, CNR-INO, and ELI-ERIC.