Plasma Science Committee

Functioning as a continuing steering committee for the field of plasma science, the PLSC provides guidance on ways to maintain and strengthen plasma science as a discipline. The committee maintains a broad and unified definition of plasma issues to give guidance to decision makers in universities, nonprofit research centers, and government agencies. The committee promotes coordination among institutions involved in plasma science, makes recommendations aimed at education of sufficient personnel in the field, monitors the industrial technology base, and sponsors workshops and symposia as a means of communication among the different branches of the field.

Project Information

• Upcoming Meetings
• Past Meetings
• Committee Members and NRC Staff
• Past Report-writing Activities
• Current Activities
• Publication
• Support

Upcoming Meetings

Past Meetings

Committee Members and NRC Staff

Michael R. Brown, Chair, Swarthmore College
Michael Mauel, Vice-chair, Columbia University
Paul Bellan, California Institute of Technology
Patrick L. Colestock, Los Alamos National Laboratory
William Dorland, University of Maryland
John Foster, University of Michigan
S. Gail Glendinning, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Margaret G. Kivelson, University of California at Los Angeles
George Morales, University of California at Los Angeles
Miklos Porkolab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Andrew M. Sessler, E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (retired)
Amy Wendt, University of Wisconsin at Madison

NRC Staff

Donald C. Shapero, Board Director
David Lang, Program Officer
Teri Thorowgood, Administrative Coordinator

Past Report-writing Activities  

• A Review of the DOE Plan for U.S. Fusion Community Participation in the ITER Program
• Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest
• Burning Plasma: Bringing a Star to Earth
• Frontier in High Energy Density Physics: The X-Games of Contemporary Science
• An Assessment of the Department of Energy's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Program
• Plasma Science: From Fundamental Research to Technological Applications
• Database Needs for Modeling and Simulation of Plasma Processing
• Plasma Processing of Materials: Scientific Opportunities and Technological Challenges 

Current Activities

The Plasma Science Committee has convened the Committee to Review the U.S. ITER Science Participation Planning Process, under the leadership of Patrick Colestock, Los Alamos National Laboratory, to evaluate the DOE plan for U.S. researcher participation in ITER and to recommend next steps in the development of the plan.

Publication 

Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest Released 2007

Support

The Committee is pleased to acknowledge support from the Department of Energy.