Fusion in the era of burning plasma studies: Workforce planning for 2004-2014

Edward Thomas, George Morales, Michael Brown, Troy Carter, Donald Correll, Kenneth Gentle, Andrew Post-Zwicker, Ken Schultz, Don Steiner, Earl Scime

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

This is the final report of a panel set up by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) in response to a charge letter from Dr. Raymond Orbach (Appendix A), asking FESAC to "addressed the issue of workforce development in the U.S. fusion program." This report, submitted to FESAC March 29, 2004 and subsequently approved by them (Appendix B), presents FESAC's response to that charge.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)139-172
Number of pages34
JournalJournal of Fusion Energy
Volume22
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2003

Funding

Additionally, the APS Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP) and the DOE have several programs to promote interest in plasma physics and fusion especially among undergraduates. The APS-DPP holds a special undergraduate poster session at their annual meeting complete with awards for the best presenters. There were over 40 undergraduate participants at the 2003 meeting. The APS-DPP also fields a slate of ‘‘Distinguished Lecturers’’ who are available to physics departments around the U.S. who are interested in a plasma physics colloquium. The DOE supports the National Undergraduate Fellowship program to expose undergraduates to plasma physics and fusion research over a summer. The DOE Plasma Physics Junior Faculty program has supported several young faculty members at primarily undergraduate institutions. Over the past decade, the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) has continued to support a limited number of graduate and postdoctoral fellowships in fusion science. OFES has also developed new programs such as the Plasma Physics Junior Faculty Fellowship, the Innovative Confinement Concepts program, the partnership with National Science Foundation to support basic plasma science, the partnership with National Science Foundation (NSF) to support plasma related National Science Foundation Frontier Centers, and the OFES-supported Fusion Science Centers. These pro-active policies by OFES have led to a revitalization in basic plasma physics research and the initiation of a diverse range of small and medium-sized basic plasma physics groups around the country. OFES’s development of these programs was in response to the recommendation of the National Research Council’s Plasma Sciences Committee. This Panel believes that it is time for OFES to build on the successes of these programs and to sustain a national burning plasma fusion science program in the U.S. through a carefully balanced combination of short-term and long-term strategies. This list of strategies, each of which carries equal importance, includes: • Encourage major university fusion laborato-ries and national laboratories to develop partnerships and alliances with regional minority serving institutions (MSIs) to expand the diversity of the fusion commu-nity. This could include undergraduate and graduate student research opportunities, lec-tureships at MSIs, and support of scholar-ships in plasma and fusion science (e.g., the recently established Robert Ellis Fellowship program that is sponsored by PPPL and managed through the National Society of Black Physicists).

Keywords

  • Fusion energy
  • Fusion science
  • Fusion workforce

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