My name is Erik Min. I am a physicist. After six years of study on the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Free University, VU) I graduated on experimental research done at the FOM-institution for Plasmaphysics Rijnhuizen in 1999. After that, I spent half a year working in a house for the elderly ( "De Rietvinck" in Amsterdam), while waiting to be sent out by VSO. In februari 2000 I went to the small rural village of Asankrangwa in Ghana, West Africa to teach physics, integrated science and computers at the Senior Secondary School Asanco. I was sent there by the British volunteer organisation VSO, together with my girlfriend Mariska. A lot about Ghana, Asankrangwa, the school and our experiences can be found on our Ghana pages (all in Dutch).
Currently I am back at Rijnhuizen, doing a PhD research into fusion energy. Nuclear fusion could be an abbundant, clean source of energy, and scientists all over the world are working together to make it a reality. I am specialising in the turbulent transport mechanisms in the plasma at the reactor core. In particular I am working on a computer model to simulate turbulence, and compare simulation results with experimental measurements.
I was born on june 26, 1975 in Hoorn, Noord Holland. I have two younger brothers, Michiel and Rogier. Michiel, the oldest, is also a physicist. He is doing a PhD in the Infrared Group of the Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek of the University of Amsterdam. Rogier is the youngest, and is studying biology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My parents are Simon Min and Agaath Min-Haring. My father is a mathematics teacher at a secondary school in Hoorn, while my mother is feltmaker and works in a handcraft shop.
Physics is just one of my many interests. My greatest passion is the theatre. I'm an enthousiastic amateur actor myself, and apart from musicals and stageplays I played in a theatresports team ("ExpresZo" from Hoorn) for a few years. Recently, I joined the amateur theatre-group "Bruut!!". In Octobre 2002 I played my first performance with them. Together with Mariska I regularly visit one of the many theatres in Amsterdam, check the Amsterdam Uitlijn for suggestions and reservations. Other kinds of art also have my interest, especialy music and literature.