TrainingCourses/PlasmaSchools/GOMTRAIC.cz/19/web/feedback

  • NL: I really enjoyed our workshop and once again - thank you for all you do! It really matters.

  • SG: After a few days passed I feel I can write about my impression of GOMTRAIC. It was awesome! I was very interessted in working on tokamak (the working one!). That was very usefull for me - Ive found new relations and now I can say, that Im literally in International Community! But as it said in Russian “В бочке мёда ложка дёгтя”. I haven`t any problem with that, but I think it would be usefull to make a form or table (like a Google or smth else), were participants could take time not to interrapt or wedge in another groups. Know I really want to take a part in SUMTRAIC and invite everyone to join :)

  • JB: It was a great week at the GOMTRAIC. I really liked it that the (theoretical) introduction was quiet short, and the actual projects started really soon. The fact that we could explore the entire development of a research project from theoretics to final presentation, gives a good view of what to expect in the future if you start a career as researcher in fusion. The initial hands-on experience was nice, proving that a simple wire can give you already a first glimpse of the plasma parameters, but it was not practical to do it with 16 people at the same time. Giving each group a dedicated timeslot, while the others are conferring with the project supervisor, could solve this problem. The fact that the machine can be touched and manipulated is a unique experience. I also would have liked to get the background information on the project a little sooner. That way we can already dive into the subject before we arrive at Golem, learn to work with the code and prepare future tasks. A final proposition for improvement, is some kind of live channel to communicate (whatsap, messenger, chat, blog,…) This way last minute communications can be shared and participants can communicate in (near) real time with each other I would also like to propose a future project: Installation of a (limited) ECRH-system to take care of the pre-ionization. Automatisation of the analysis of the outpumped gas. Experiments on ECRH wall conditioning of the machine to improve performance. I don’t think that I can find time in the near future to do it myself, but opportunities may rise some day. I would like to conclude that this course was a great experience organized by a Great Team, I definitely want to come back some time (to sign the other wall :-)

  • NG: By far, there has not been a course where I have felt more as a part of a diverse and collaborative group than here in Prague. Throughout my stay I felt more than welcome and I am grateful for the warm hospitality that you showed to us. I regard it as particularly stimulating to be working with people from such varied backgrounds, and this course has provided us with more than, I think, any of us hoped it will. The knowledge and experience we got by participating will certainly come in handy in our future work, and I do not see anything remotely similar to what you have provided us with offered on any other course. There is no better way to get accustomed to something than to experience it firsthand and be able to, quite literally, touch it with your bare hands. All the people, from the organizers to the participants, were more open and friendly than at any other course I have attended, and the social events further cemented this as an experience we will never forget. If there is anything I would suggest changing - I would recommend extending the course by a day or two, even at the cost of having some other things, for example some of the lunches, scaled down. This is only to ensure that all the groups can finish the practical part of their projects without fighting over the access to the tokamak. But, come to think of it, I guess that is how things work in the real world too, so maybe that is an important thing to learn how to deal with as early as possible! I would like to thank you personally and all the people involved in the organisation of GOMTRAIC for making this one of the most memorable and uplifting experiences I have ever had. I will never forget the good times we had in Prague, and I do hope I will get to see you again soon; in fact, I would be really happy if we could stay in touch, so that I could contact you if I come up with some idea for what could be interesting to try on GOLEM.

  • AV: Hello. First of all, this was my first experience of this type (also the first tokamak I’ve ever seen) , and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Accommodations were really nice and also the social dinner removed the necessity to look for dinner for two days, which is nice. Now to the more constructive comments. On the first day, when we started the measurements, I didn’t mind there was no organized order who and when does their experiments, becouse we are all testing to see, what we will get. But on the second day I felt like (at least for my group) had no structure to it. Like, having a schedule on the second and third day (which was implemented, cudos for that) would probably be beneficial for most of the groups, where they could do their discharges in order without interruption from other team to get comparable results. I also really aprieciated when we did the hands on measurents with fairly simple tools and still got a lot of information about the discharge. The last remark is on the visit to the Compass tokamak. Becouse of the pumps and other machines that make quite a lot of noise it was almost impossible for more the 6-8 people to hear the explanation. The ideal solution would be to split the group in two, for one to do the hands on measurents with the four basic measuring tool and then the other visiting Compass, but I can guess that would be really hard to arrange.

  • NM: Thank you for the opportunity to participate in GOMTRAIC 2019, this was a great opportunity to practically learn about fusion reactors and work with a team of students on a research project.

  • YS: Thank You, Jan Stockel, Pravesh Dhayani and all other lecturers and Golem team for the good reception, for the lectures prepared for us. It was an excellent five days in which we have an opportunity of hands-on experiments on Tokamak Golem. It was wary interesting to measure the main parameters of plasma such as loop voltage, plasma current, toroidal magnetic field, electron temperature. Special thanks to professor Jan Stockel for his excursion to the tokamak COMPAS. I saw how the order should look. The grooming of the rooms is simply wonderful.

  • DW: I’d like to say once again that it was a great pleasure and privilege to participate in GOMTRAIC with each of you. The hands-on experience is a rare opportunity and one I am sincerely glad I was able to have.

  • AB: First of all, I would like to thank you for everything in the past few days. I really appreciate your effort, especially now when you have told me what you two have been through in the past years ( you and GOLEM :) ). As for suggestions, I only have one for now. For RE analysis, maybe it would be a good idea for future participants to make sure that they are getting signals for NIoctopus Data Acquisition System so they can eventually analyze how does magnetic flux changes affect Runaway electrons. If anything else cross my mind I will let you know. Thank you again and please pet the GOLEM for me once, he did the great job. :)

  • DC: As you have requested, I will tell you what are the things I think can be improved, by order of importance.
    1. Lectures on Monday - I think that the task-focused lectures that we had on Monday were not very useful. I would much rather have spent that time solely with my team and my supervisors. We can learn about the work of the other groups either directly from them during the week and the social gatherings or at the end of GOMTRAIC during the presentations. I would replace the lectures with “group kickoff meetings”. These meetings could be in separate rooms (one for each group), and during the meeting, the supervisor should introduce the topic, the task, and the tools, so that on Tuesday morning every team is ready to start working.
    2. Sightseeing - In my opinion, this would have been a great addition to GOMTRAIC. It would be great if you could fit in a small Prague tour (maybe you can find a student that can give this tour and talk about the story of Prague, etc…)
    3. Workplace - I think the Atrium where we spent most of our time was a very good location, the only downside was that time that we had to leave because the atrium had been booked on Wednesday evening, but even then we still had the small room next to GOLEM so it was not a huge problem.
    • Now, the things I liked about GOMTRAIC!

      • Joint departure from the hotel on Monday morning - Good idea.
      • Tasks - Good choice of tasks.
      • Workplace - As I said, the Atrium was a very good location.
      • The number of attendants - Good, between 2 and 4 students per group is a good amount. Also, 16 participants ended up being a very good number of total participants in my opinion.
      • Meals - Very good! Keep it this way if possible. I think 5 breakfasts 5 lunches and 2 dinners is the perfect amount! The days we did not have dinner actually forced us to communicate and we ended up socializing more!
      • T-shirts - Great! Could not think of a better souvenir!
      • And the absolute best… The songbook idea! That was brilliant! Hands down the best way to finish GOMTRAIC.
    • I want to finish by saying thank you so so much. This was really an experience I will never forget! You were the best host we could have wished for and the workshop exceeded all my expectations. Also, on a personal note, thank you for introducing me to Prof. Mlynar, that lunch was of incalculable value to me.