Germany’s leading fusion research institute — operating ASDEX Upgrade and Wendelstein 7-X, the world’s most advanced tokamak and stellarator experiments.
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) is Germany’s largest fusion research laboratory, with sites in Garching (near Munich) and Greifswald (in northeastern Germany). Founded in 1960, IPP operates two of the world’s most important fusion experiments: ASDEX Upgrade (tokamak, Garching) and Wendelstein 7-X (stellarator, Greifswald).[1]
Operating since 1991, ASDEX Upgrade is Europe’s largest national tokamak (after the now-closed JET). It pioneered the tungsten-wall concept that was adopted by ITER and has been at the forefront of divertor physics, ELM control, and disruption mitigation research. Key discoveries include ELM suppression by resonant magnetic perturbations.[2]
W7-X achieved first plasma in December 2015 and is the world’s largest optimised stellarator (R = 5.5 m). Its 2021 Nature publication demonstrated that neoclassical transport in W7-X matches theoretical predictions for an optimised configuration — validating 30 years of stellarator optimisation theory. IPP is an associated institute of EUROfusion and a member of the Helmholtz Association.[3]