As Programme Manager of EUROfusion, Tony Donné coordinates the research of hundreds of scientists across the continent, guiding Europe's path from JET's final experiments to the design of a demonstration power plant.
Running a fusion programme that spans 30 research institutions, 150 universities, and thousands of researchers across Europe requires more than scientific acumen—it demands political dexterity, strategic vision, and an unflinching tolerance for complexity. Tony Donné has wielded all three as Programme Manager of the EUROfusion consortium, the body responsible for coordinating Europe's entire civil fusion research effort under the Euratom framework.
Donné built his scientific reputation in plasma diagnostics, particularly in the development of advanced techniques for measuring electron density and temperature profiles in magnetically confined plasmas. His work at the FOM Institute DIFFER in the Netherlands (formerly the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen) established him as an authority on microwave and far-infrared diagnostic methods.1 This deep experimental grounding proved essential when he assumed leadership of the broader European programme, where decisions must be informed by what can actually be measured and controlled in a reactor environment.
One of the defining achievements of Donné's tenure was the coordination of JET's final deuterium-tritium experimental campaigns. The DTE2 campaign in late 2021 produced 59 MJ of fusion energy over a sustained pulse, breaking the facility's own 1997 record. Subsequent experiments in 2023 pushed this further to 69.26 MJ.2 These campaigns were not merely record-setting exercises; they provided essential data on tritium retention, neutron shielding, plasma-wall interactions in a beryllium-tungsten environment, and long-pulse plasma control—all directly relevant to ITER operations.3
Beyond JET, Donné has been a central figure in shaping the European roadmap toward a demonstration fusion power plant, known as DEMO. The EUROfusion roadmap, updated under his guidance, lays out a staged pathway from ITER's burning-plasma experiments to a grid-connected fusion reactor by mid-century. This includes the development of breeding blanket technologies, radiation-resistant structural materials, and the remote maintenance systems that a power-producing reactor will require.4
Donné has consistently emphasized the importance of materials research and technology development alongside plasma physics, arguing that the fusion community must solve engineering challenges in parallel with physics questions rather than sequentially. Under his leadership, EUROfusion has expanded its technology programme to address the tritium breeding cycle, high-heat-flux component testing, and superconducting magnet development.
Perhaps Donné's most underappreciated skill is institutional navigation. Coordinating research priorities across dozens of national programmes, each with its own funding structures and political imperatives, requires a diplomat's instincts. His tenure has seen EUROfusion secure substantial funding under the EU's Horizon Europe programme and maintain programmatic coherence even as political pressures and the rise of private fusion companies have complicated the landscape.5
As Europe's fusion programme enters a phase defined by ITER operations and pre-DEMO design work, Donné's integrative approach—connecting plasma physics, materials science, engineering, and policy—will continue to shape the continent's fusion trajectory.