Why remote?
The event is organized for teachers throughout all of Europe and hosted in multiple locations in Europe. The event consists of a local part and a central part. The language for the local part depends on the location and will be the commonly spoken local language. The language for the central part will be English. For details on the participating locations and on the language used at these location, see International participants.
Due to the current situation throughout the world as a result of COVID-19, the event will be held fully remote. This means that all parts of the event will be available as a live stream using certain free to use applications. As such, an internet connection is necessary to participate in the programme. For a step-by-step manual on the technical requirements, how to download the necessary applications, and how to set-up your connection for participation, see How to connect.
The event starts at 14:00 and ends at 16:30 (CEST) on 02-10-2020. Participation in the Teacher Day is free of charge. The day consists of a local part (in the local language) with participants from the same region and a central part (in English) that connects all participants at all locations. For a detailed overview of the content of the day and the programme, see Programme. To sign up for the event, see Registration.
Why fusion?
The world population is growing steadily and with it the energy demands of humanity grow. At the same time, climate change threatens our way of living. The emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2 needs to be drastically reduced, while at the same time our energy production needs to keep increasing! As a result, renewable ways of producing energy need to be developed and need to become an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaics (PV) or wind turbines are already growing industries. However, efficient energy storage still is lacking: a continuous source of energy is necessary to drive our 24-hour economy and industry. As a fusion power plant theoretically could run 24/7, nuclear fusion may provide a steady baseload of energy production: a fusion reaction produces an incredible amount of energy, the fuel is widely available and there is no risk of meltdowns or chain reactions.
The main obstacle is that it turns out to be very difficult to create a fusion reactor. The most extreme conditions, temperatures from millions of degrees to near absolute zero, need to exist within meters from each other! Fusion is perhaps the greatest engineering challenge mankind ever faced, and scientists and engineers are getting closer and closer to a working fusion reactor! The fusion community needs the best and brightest to overcome the challenge and help make the power of the sun available here on Earth.
What is FuseNet?
The FuseNet Association was founded to be a platform for the coordination of European fusion education in 2010. And that is what we have been doing ever since. Rooted in academia, we are driven by the notion that the students of now will be the researchers, engineers and pioneers of the future. By connecting and facilitating educators and students across Europe, we build on this understanding. We want to make fusion the place to be for bright and motivated people. By connecting academia with industry and supporting student mobility we stimulate fusion students to get in touch with the work field.
Education is our core business. We actively support workshops and educational events across Europe for students of all levels. A portal for all things fusion education, our website provides up-to-date information on interesting workshops and educational events for fusion students. Through our expansive network, we additionally have access to a carefully curated body of fusion-educational materials. Not only do we provide for BSc, MSc and PhD students, we also have a lot of interesting information for teachers at any stage of education: primary school, secondary school and university.
For more information, click here.
