Mertonian wins European Physical Society Award for Plasma Physic Thesis
Former Merton DPhil student Dr Toby Adkins (2014) has been awarded the European Physical Society Plasma Physics Division PhD Research Award 2024. Toby receives the award for his thesis, ‘Electromagnetic instabilities and plasma turbulence driven by the electron-temperature gradient’.
Dr Adkins described the focus of his research:
My thesis investigates how turbulence develops in toroidal fusion devices, one of the leading candidates for the future of clean energy. The research places particular focus on the role played by electromagnetic perturbations, which have received less attention in the existing literature compared to their electrostatic counterparts. Using a combination of analytical and numerical techniques, I was able to demonstrate the existence of the ‘thermo-Alfvénic instability’, a novel phenomenon that has significant implications for turbulent heat transport in electromagnetic reactor-relevant tokamak scenarios.
Dr Adkins studied for his DPhil in Theoretical Physics at Oxford under the supervision of Professor Schekochihin (Merton) and Dr Colin Roach (CCFE, Culham). During his studies, he was a Merton Graduate Prize Scholar in 2020/21, and received Oxford University Sport’s ‘Most Outstanding Contributions to Sport’ award in 2021 for his work as Captain of the Oxford University Cycling Club. He now holds a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Otago working with Associate Professor Jonathan Squire.
Toby says,
"I am delighted to have received the EPS Plasma Physics Division PhD award. This would not have been possible without the insightful contributions from my supervisors Alex Schekochihin and Colin Roach, as well as the stimulating discussions had with my colleagues at Oxford and beyond. I also want to express my gratitude to Merton for their support during my time as both an undergraduate and graduate student at the College".
Dr Adkins is one of four winners of the 2024 PhD Research Awards. He is the fourth Mertonian to receive the award, after David Hosking (2014) was selected in 2023, Archie Bott (2015) in 2020 and Edmund Highcock (2009) in 2014.
