Department of Applied Physics
Gas discharges and plasmas have for decades been the main research area at the Department of Applied Physics (Faculty of Engineering) at Ghent University. In the early days fundamental research was carried out on phenomena in low pressure gas discharges. Research on the physics and applications of non-thermal plasmas at higher pressures started in 1990, with investigations on the vibrational kinetics and discharge stability of high power CO2-lasers in the medium pressure range (5-20 kPa). Out of these research activities has emerged the Research Unit Plasma Technology. Since the end of the nineties its focus has been on non-thermal plasmas at atmospheric pressure. Next to the characterisation and modelling of such plasmas, the research unit develops plasma sources for applications such as gas cleaning and surface modification. A recent new topic is the study of non-thermal plasmas in liquids. The department of applied physics is a member of the Centre for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) On the other hand our department also is active in nuclear fusion research where it cooperates with famous institutes like the SCK•CEN (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre), the JET (Joint European Torus). The nuclear fusion research in the "Euregio" is organised within the TEC (Trilateral Euregio Cluster) around the tokamak TEXTOR-94 (Torus Experiment for Technology Oriented Research) in the "Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ)", the largest research institution in Germany. The members of the TEC are the Laboratory for Plasma physics of the KMS Brussels, the FOM-institute for Plasmaphysics Rijnhuizen (NL) and the FZJ. Universities which are member of the Euregional University Club have access to this reputated large scaled experiment, which is an ideal training base for young researchers. At this moment our department focuses on determination and modelling of plasma parameters like the degree of contamination (spectroscopy) and plasma beams (probe measurements), which are very important for the confinement of plasma and the evacuation of plasma particles. Our department also cooperates with institutes in Prague, Montreal, Cadarache, Stockholm, Göteborg and Moscow. Moreover, since this year our department is the coordinator of a new European Master: European Master in Nuclear Fusion Science and Engineering Physics (FUSION-EP )
News
Erasmus Mundus is a European cooperation and mobility program. It wants to save the position of the EU as a "Centre of excellence" by developping and promoting European higher education. Because the EU strives to make the Erasmus Mundus real top Masters very strict criteria were applied during the selection procedure.
Recently, about 120 proposals for a Erasmus Mundus Master were submitted at the EU. Finally only 21 proposals were selected of the 120 submitted, of which 4 are coordinated by Belgian universities.
The fact that 2 masters were assigned to one university is very exceptional, and only possible thanks to the reputation of UGent -Engineerings Sciences in the international education and research field.
By obtaining the two prestigious Erasmus Mundus masters the faculty of Engineering Sciences confirms its international reputation.
Bruggeman and Christophe Leys published in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
