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‘The only thing that is harder than doing fusion, is raising funds for fusion.’ This statement by key note speaker Klaas de Boer resonated well with the nearly 200 participants of the second Dutch Fusion Day, hosted by DIFFER and co-organized by TU/e EIRES and BigScienceNL on May 9, 2025.

How can we store renewable energy to power a fossil-free future? Dr. Süleyman Er, Head of the Chemical Energy department at DIFFER, is leading the development of AI-driven, self-driving labs to fast-track the discovery of materials for green fuels, making clean energy storage smarter and more sustainable.

Future fusion power plants require a careful balancing act to protect their insides from the hot plasma exhaust. DIFFER control engineer Thomas Bosman designed and tuned a control algorithm for this thorny problem in only three experimental shots.

Visitors to DIFFER are often surprised to learn that the Dutch centre for fusion research does not have a fusion reactor of its own. Instead, the institute decided decades ago to specialise in answering a question that each and every participant in the global race towards fusion energy has to face.

On Friday 9 May 2025, the second edition of the Dutch Fusion Day will take place in Eindhoven, organised by DIFFER, EIRES (TU/e) and BigScienceNL. What opportunities lie ahead for commercial parties? How can they move not only nuclear fusion, but also their own business a step further?