Focus on plasma research: International science conference in Greifswald successfully concluded
Greifswald, 15 September 2023 - The 23rd International Conference on Gas Discharges and their Applications (GD2023) ended on Friday in Greifswald, Germany. Around 130 international scientists and industry representatives from 21 countries spent a week exchanging information on the latest developments in plasma research. The conference was jointly organised by the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP), the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and the University of Greifswald.
GD2023 provided a platform for scientific and technical dialogue between different disciplines of plasma research, from basic research to application, especially in areas of energy generation, conversion, distribution, the development of new switching devices, as well as topics in environmental research and technical diagnostics. Current research results were presented in 95 lectures, covering all types of gas discharges, from low-pressure to high-pressure plasmas as well as from thermal to non-thermal plasmas and their transfer into practice.
After 1997 and 2010, the INP is hosting the internationally renowned science conference in Greifswald for the third time. Greifswald is an international centre of plasma research with a tradition of around 100 years in this field of research. It is home to the INP, the largest non-university research institute for low-temperature plasmas in Europe, the IPP, which is working on the development of a fusion power plant based on magnetically confined hydrogen plasma, and the University of Greifswald, which offers a research focus on plasma physics.
The event was opened by Bettina Martin, Minister for Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She emphasised the importance of Greifswald as a science location in international plasma research. Prof. Dr. Ralf Schneider, Prorector of the University of Greifswald, explained the history and current range of scientific offerings in the Hanseatic and university city in his welcoming address.
The chairman of the local organizing committee Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Weltmann, director of the INP, was very satisfied with the course and outcome of the conference: "We are very pleased that we were once again able to welcome many renowned experts from all over the world to Greifswald. GD2023 has convincingly shown how diverse and innovative plasma research is and what potential it offers for solving societal challenges. We are proud to continue and develop this tradition of plasma research in Greifswald."