Pablo Bilbao, a former PhD student in Physics at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, has been awarded the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division PhD Research Award for his thesis titled “Kinetic instabilities in extreme plasma physics: laboratory and astrophysical dynamics”, defended in September 2025. Pablo Bilbao’s PhD thesis was one of four theses recognised as outstanding in the field of plasma physics, among applications from 38 member countries.
“Receiving the EPS Plasma Physics Division PhD Research Award 2025 is a great honour and a very significant recognition of the work carried out throughout my PhD”, says the researcher. As a former member of the Group for Lasers and Plasmas (GoLP) at the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN), the alumnus recognises that the GoLP environment was “absolutely crucial” to the success of his PhD, noting that it provides an “extremely dynamic and collaborative atmosphere, characterised by ongoing scientific discussions and strong interactions among theory, simulation, and experimentation”.
Plasma is one of the four states of matter, in which a significant portion of the particles are ionised, accounting for 99% of the visible matter in the universe. Pablo Bilbao’s research focuses on understanding extreme plasma regimes, where “radiation effects, relativity, and, in certain cases, quantum processes” play a fundamental role.
In his thesis, the researcher demonstrated that radiative cooling can “naturally reorganise” the distribution of particles in a plasma, leading to the emergence of instabilities that generate coherent radiation. According to Pablo Bilbao, this approach provides a “simple and robust” explanation for “poorly understood” astrophysical phenomena, such as the origin of coherent radiation in pulsars or fast radio bursts.
Additionally, his research revealed that “similar physical principles” can be reproduced in laboratory settings, using plasma accelerators, or in projects like the Fireball experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), where he collaborated with researchers from the University of Oxford.
“Técnico provided a very supportive environment for international collaboration”, says the researcher, who is currently a Leverhulme–Peierls Fellow at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford. The scientist also emphasises that pursuing his PhD at Técnico was “strongly motivated” by the opportunity to work with Luís Oliveira e Silva, professor and President of the School Council at Técnico, whose scientific guidance “had a fundamental impact on my training”.
Pablo Bilbao hopes that his work will help “build a stronger bridge between astrophysical plasma physics and laboratory experiments”, paving the way for the testing of processes that have only been inferred from observations of the Universe. He highlights the contributions from his colleagues at Técnico, CERN, and Oxford, emphasising that “more than an individual recognition, this award reflects a collective effort”.
