Dear all,
Welcome to the new TSVV-A mailing list!
Following various discussions throughout the week, please find attached
a revised proposal and budget plan for TSVV-A.
We are now within the 60 PM/y requested by the Scientific Board.
Overall, I have tried to consider the Scientific Board's priorities and
advice, as well as considerations regarding the fair share of reductions.
Please check that the individual PMs are correct, and that you agree
with the (*) statements on page 10 (deliverables).
Please provide any feedback by Monday 3 November at 3 pm at the latest.
Thank you very much for all your help!
Best regards,
Tobias
On 27.10.25 09:36, Tobias Goerler wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> The E-TASC Scientific Board has just shared its assessment of our
> TSVV-A proposal, which is attached for your convenience.
>
> First, the good news - it has been recommended for funding! Thank you
> for all your great contributions and ideas, which led to this outcome.
>
> The only striking request for modification affects the total budget,
> which we need to reduce by 13 PM/Y to meet the board's expectations.
>
> In light of the remarks concerning the potential coverage of PhD
> students through alternative means and the proposals for priorities
> outlined below, I will reach out to the respective groups shortly to
> discuss potential modifications.
>
> Thank you very much for your help and best regards,
> Tobias
>
>
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject: Follow-up on TSVV A Selection and Request for Revised
> Budget/proposal by 04 Nov
> Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:48:17 +0000
> From: LITAUDON Xavier <xavier.litaudon(a)cea.fr>
> To: tobias.goerler(a)ipp.mpg.de <tobias.goerler(a)ipp.mpg.de>
>
>
>
> Dear Principal Investigator of TSVV A, Dear Tobias,
>
> During a meeting on 23–24 October 2025, the E-TASC Scientific Board
> (SB) thoroughly reviewed all proposals submitted in response to the
> EUROfusion Call for Project Proposals for Theory, Simulation,
> Verification and Validation (TSVV) Activities (Ref.: GF/DK-25-62,
> dated 24 June 2025). We are pleased to inform you that your project
> TSVV A has been *recommended for funding for the period 2026–2027*.
>
> As indicated in the call, the expected team size was approximately 5–6
> full-time equivalents (FTEs) per year, corresponding to 120–144
> person-months (PM) over two years (excluding UKAEA resources). This
> estimate was based on average consortium salary levels as of June
> 2025. Considering the actual salary rates of participating
> beneficiaries as of October 2025 and the overall budget limits, *the
> target level of human resources per proposal for 2026–2027 is set at
> 120 PM*. Your current proposal (146 PM/789k€ Consortium Cost) exceeds
> this target by *26 PM*. We therefore kindly ask you to *revise your
> proposal to align with the target level*.
>
> To facilitate these adjustments, your proposal will be re-opened in
> IMS. Please update the resources accordingly and *resubmit the revised
> version by Tuesday, 4 November 2025, 12:00 CET*.
>
> The SB will reconvene on 5 November 2025 to review the revised
> proposals and prepare the consolidated budget to be submitted to the
> EUROfusion Programme Manager for final approval by the EUROfusion
> General Assembly in December 2025. This will allow the activity to
> start as planned in early January 2026.
>
> Below this email, you will find the SB’s *suggestions for
> prioritisation of activities*, as jointly agreed by its members.
> Please note that these are recommendations only — you are, of course,
> the expert best positioned to determine the final prioritisation
> within your team.
>
> As a general guideline, please keep in mind the two key grant
> deliverables for the WP Theory & Modelling:
>
> * *Report on code dissemination, model validation, and comparison
> with experimental data (for both tokamaks and stellarators).*
> * *Report on TSVV research software compliance with EUROfusion
> standards.*
>
> Accordingly, beyond advancing code and physics objectives, your
> project should maintain a strong focus on validation of tools on
> existing EU facilities, rather than extrapolation to EU-DEMO, VNS, or
> privately funded projects (e.g., SPARC/ARC).
>
> Finally, please note the following points:
>
> * If your proposal includes *funding for PhD students*, such
> positions may alternatively be supported under WP Training &
> Education through a dedicated lump sum provided by the EUROfusion
> Consortium.
> * TSVV projects funded during 2021–2025 will be presented in *two
> EUROfusion seminars (via Zoom) on 14 and 28 January 2026*.
> * A *kick-off meeting for all new E-TASC-related activities in
> 2026/27* — including the TSVV and DTE projects as well as the ACHs
> and ENR projects in Theory & Modelling — is planned in Garching
> during the week of *9-13 February 2026* (date to be confirmed).
>
> We appreciate your understanding regarding the short deadline for
> revising your proposal in light of the budget constraints, and thank
> you again for your valuable contribution to the TSVV programme.
>
> Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
>
> Kind regards, *Xavier Litaudon & Frank Jenko as E-TASC co-chairs*
>
> (on behalf of the E-TASC Scientific Board)
>
> Suggestions for setting priorities:
>
> 1.Towards self-consistent, robust and validated gyrokinetic
> simulations of L-H transitions, enabling accurate H-mode pedestal
> profile predictions
>
> ·Flux-driven semi-Lagrangian GYSELA simulations –/high priority/
>
> ·Flux-driven PIC simulations with JOREK-GK – /medium priority/
>
> ·Input power scans with the Eulerian code GENE-X – /high priority/
>
> 2. GK analyses of natural or controlled small/no-ELM regimes and
> their transferability to future fusion devices, including ITER
>
> ·Multiple-scale small/no-ELM pedestal characterisation with GENE
> –/high priority/
>
> ·Full-f, ion-scale, cross-separatrix simulations – /medium priority/
>
> 3. First-principles-based and fast reduced model development of
> turbulent transport in the pedestal region of future fusion devices
>
> ·Assess QL nature of edge turbulence, spectral comparisons with TGLF
> –/high priority/
>
> ·Assessing and extending reduced models for the L-H transition – /high
> priority/
>
> ·Reduced models for electromagnetic modes –/medium priority /
>
> ·Assess reduced ETG models and implementations into GENE-X – /high
> priority/
>
> ·L-H/H-L regimes transition scaling laws based on large GBS based
> parameter scans – /medium priority/
>
>
--
Tobias Görler
Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik
Division Tokamak Theory
Boltzmannstraße 2
D-85748 Garching bei München
Germany
phone: +49 89 3299 1325
fax: +49 89 3299 2580
GnuPG public key:https://tbg.home.ipp.mpg.de/tbg_at_ipp.mpg.de.asc
