The EPS announcement for the 2024 Hannes Alfvén Prize provides a summary of the scientific highlights and outstanding theory contributions of Tünde Fülöp and Per Helander who serve as Associate Editors for JPP. The following paragraphs provide further background.

Both Per and Tünde started their extraordinary plasma theory careers as graduate students at Chalmers Institute of Technology, Sweden. As part of their PhD programs their advisors, Mietek Lisak and Dan Anderson, arranged with Dieter Sigmar for them to visit the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center for three months. Per was first and then returned to MIT as a Swedish postdoc upon completion of his PhD. Prior to leaving for his research staff position at Culham Laboratory, he and Dieter made arrangements to collaborate on their excellent and highly influential book. Shortly after Per’s departure from MIT, Tünde started her three month MIT visit. Her thesis research while at MIT also included Per and the three way collaboration between Chalmers, Culham and MIT continued when she returned to MIT as a Swedish postdoc. Their joint efforts on tokamak research continued even as they branched out to pursue the topics for which they have been awarded, and so richly deserve, the Alfvén Prize.

While still a postdoc Per was offered a research staff position by Culham Laboratory, UK where they were aware of his talents from his earlier visit to JET. He spent many productive years collaborating widely and working with the very talented and experienced scientists there, as well as completing his book with Dieter Sigmar. During his extended and highly fruitful career at Culham, Per was selected for his current position as a Max Planck Professor and head of the stellarator theory program at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald, Germany. There he also teaches and advises students at the University of Greifswald.

In the meantime, Tünde returned to Chalmers where her exceptional talents were quickly recognized and she was soon made a faculty member in the Department of Electromagnetics. She continued to impress her colleagues and she soon became an associate and then a full professor in the Department of Applied Physics. At Chalmers her highly successful research effort continued to expand and allow her to train more students (with one of the many even following in her footsteps by visiting MIT as a graduate student and then a postdoc). In 2019, she was elected to membership in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

As Tünde and Per’s research interests expanded, Per realigned his efforts and used his abundant theoretical abilities and experience to lead and inspire the exceedingly successful stellarator theory program at Greifswald and in Europe. Meanwhile, Tünde has continued to concentrate her leadership and vast scientific talents on tokamak research in general and JET in particular by focusing on runaway electrons and disruptions. JPP is honored to have them as members of the Editorial Board. 

From the winners:

“As two Swedish plasma physicists, we are keenly aware of the legacy of Hannes Alfvén. Following in his footsteps, we would like to pass on the passion for plasma physics to future generations. By highlighting our work, this prize makes it easier to do that.” – Tünde Fülöp and Per Helander

Read these JPP papers by Per and Tünde on the same topics as their Alfvén Prize:

Energetic bounds on gyrokinetic instabilities. Part 1. Fundamentals P. Helander, and G. G. Plunk

Generalized collision operator for fast electrons interacting with partially ionized impurities L. Hesslow, O. Embréus, M. Hoppe, T. C. DuBois, G. Papp, M. Rahm and T. Fülöp