Sibylle Guenter

Sibylle Guenter is a prominent physicist and scientific director at the Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. She has held key leadership roles, including Head of the Research Unit of the EURATOM Association IPP and Chair of the Steering Committee of the European Fusion Development Agreement (2011-2013). Currently, she co-leads the Max-Planck/Princeton Research Center on Plasma Physics since 2012, focusing on tokamak physics and magnetohydrodynamic stability.

Education:

• Bachelor of Physics, Rostock University (1982-1987)
• PhD in Theoretical Physics, Rostock University (1990)
• Habilitation in Theoretical Physics, Rostock University (1996)

Research interests center on plasma spectroscopy, magnetohydrodynamics, and transport phenomena in strongly magnetized plasmas. Her work includes modeling heat transport in fusion reactors, analyzing error field penetration, and studying MHD instabilities in tokamaks, particularly focusing on sawtooth crashes and plasmoid formation.

Scientific awards:

• Elected Member of the National Academy of Science and Engineering of Germany (ACATECH) 2015
• Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Ribbon 2013
• Honorary Professor at Technical University of Munich (TUM) 2006
• Adjunct Professor at Rostock University 2001

Leadership roles extend to international academic bodies: Vice-Chair of the EUROfusion Consortium General Assembly, former Chair of the European Fusion Development Agreement, and member of the International Fusion Research Council (IAEA) since 2004. Her publications reflect expertise in computational plasma physics and fusion technology.