Hi! I’m Kevin Verhaegh, I’m doing a double master program in Fusion and Applied Physics. The thing that attracts me about fusion is its extreme diversity. It is extremely international (I’ve had the opportunity to both do research at JET in the UK and F4E in Barcelona). It is also diverse in disciplines – physics, mathematics and computer science (modelling), engineering (both mechanical and electrical) – all coming together for one purpose: achieving fusion on earth, mainly for the production of energy.

As my graduation project (in cooperation with the Coherence Quantum Technology (CQT) group at applied physics), I’m studying the interaction of nano-clusters with ultrashort, intense laser pulses in order to accelerate ions to induce fusion reactions: generating a neutron pulse. By having a better understanding of this process theoretically it is possible to tailor the interaction in such a way that an ultrashort neutron pulse can be generated. Ultrashort neutron pulses are a novel concept and show great promise in material science and bioresearch.