Erik Gilson is a Principal Research Physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). He works on experiments relevant to fusion energy science and basic plasma science. Gilson received his undergraduate degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Since coming to PPPL in 2001, Gilson has worked on a wide range of topics, including charged-particle beam nonlinear dynamics, heavy-ion-driven inertial fusion energy, edge physics in tokamaks, and laboratory hydro- and magnetohydro-dynamics experiments with planetary, solar, and astrophysical applications.