  The development of a quasi-linear gyrokinetic transport model for tokamak
plasmas, ultimately designed to provide physically comprehensive predictions of
the time evolution of the thermodynamic relevant quantities, is a task that
requires tight links among theoretical, experimental and numerical studies. The
framework of the model here proposed, which operates a reduction of complexity
on the nonlinear self-organizing plasma dynamics, allows in fact multiple
validations of the current understanding of the tokamak micro-turbulence. The
main outcomes of this work stem from the fundamental steps involved by the
formulation of such a reduced transport model, namely: (1) the verification of
the quasi-linear plasma response against the nonlinearly computed solution, (2)
the improvement of the turbulent saturation model through an accurate
validation of the nonlinear codes against the turbulence measurements, (3) the
integration of the quasi-linear model within an integrated transport solver.
