Staff Stories
#never expected people would be so welcoming;
#India;
#Diagnostics Program;
#Postdoc;
#Welcome Office;
#French Language program;
#living in Provence;
Priyanka Jena is a Post Doctoral Researcher in the Diagnostics Program. She works primarily on visible and infrared diagnostics, with responsibility to support the mechanical design and validation of diagnostics' subsystems and to develop calibration strategies. She also carries out collaborative research work with the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission CEA, the CEA's Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM) and EUROfusion on R&D projects for ITER.
“I am proud to work for ITER, as I am able to contribute to a project that is one of a kind and that will also be a step towards developing a sustainable, renewable source of energy. And the opportunity to work with talented scientists and engineers from different parts of the globe makes me feel grateful.”
With a background in mechanical engineering, Priyanka did her PhD in infrared thermography for material characterization. “Frankly speaking, when I applied for the position at ITER, I didn't know much about it. The project was looking for people who had some background in infrared thermography to contribute to diagnostics.” To understand ITER better, she watched videos and read several scientific articles authored by ITER employees, which she found “really interesting.” Today, she works daily with the authors of those research papers as her supervisor and her manager at ITER!
Priyanka was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere at ITER. Upon arrival, her supervisor came to meet her near the entrance at the ITER Welcome Office. “I never expected that people would be so welcoming!” She was also reassured by how open everyone was to her curiosity. The tokamak machine was something very new to her, and her colleagues encouraged her questions and took time to explain. Everyone seems willing to guide her. “No one knows everything, so when needed, you can just go and talk to colleagues—even your manager or a supervisor will make time for you and give you something new to learn. If you don’t know something, they will teach you, from the basics up. There is no shame in that. That’s the best thing about ITER!”
But the language presented a challenge. “I will not deny the fact that initially, it was difficult for me in Manosque where I resided, as every mode of communication outside ITER was in French." Good communication and open-mindedness were the keys to overcoming the language challenges. Priyanka appreciates the hour-long French training course that is offered to staff by the Welcome Office and that takes place twice a week; she also does a half-hour of individual tutoring with her teachers for extra progress. Her teachers suggested she make local friends outside of ITER through an activity that interests her, for example practicing yoga—something Priyanka has been doing for “quite a long time.” She goes after work near her home. “I am progressing very slowly in learning French, but yes I can manage my life in France somehow now.” Yoga and French lessons have helped Priyanka settle in to her life in Provence.