7th German Fusion Forum
12-01-2026 - 13-01-2026
On a snowy Monday, people, primarily Germans, interested in the opportunities and challenges facing nuclear fusion came together in Garching, a small university town near Munich with a surprisingly bad public transport connection to Munich airport. The 190 participants would spend two days together to witness an extensive number of presentations covering the need for a new regulatory framework for fusion to the ambitious roadmaps of German fusion startups.
The broad programme of this event made the event assessable for everyone, including those who have never heard of the term Tokamak or Stellarator before. It was interesting to see so many different people being drawn to fusion. From the leaders of large European research programmes such as ITER, IFMIF-DONES and EUROfusion, to industrial companies that can see their technology being used in a future fusion power plant.
The quality of the presentations stood out nicely against the otherwise dull environment of the venue. No effort was wasted on decoration or anything pretentious. This event was pure productivity.
After the German Fusion Forum, I got a bit jealous of the ambition driving the German fusion ecosystem. The Netherlands, of course, is too small to have a similarly large ambition. Instead, I would encourage Dutch companies to keep an eye on our eastern neighbours. Germany has ambition, funding and the skills needed to bring fusion further. BigScience.NL and DIFFER can help you navigate the landscape.
More information about the German Fusion Forum can be found here: https://www.ipp.mpg.de/forumfusion2026-eng
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