Student Information

SOFE2019 Student Paper Award

The IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) will honor the best student paper presented at the conference. The purpose of this award is to encourage both outstanding student contributions and greater student participation as principal or sole authors of papers, as well as to acknowledge the importance of student contributions to the field of fusión engineering. In order to receive consideration for the Award, students must:

  • be the principal author/researcher and the presenter of either an oral or poster paper at the SOFE2019 conference,
  • express their interest to participate in the competition when registering their abstract,
  • ensure that their supervisor/advisor submits a letter of support to the Chair of the Awards Committee, professor Martin Nieto-Perez (m.nieto@ieee.org).

The Award entries will be judged on grounds of originality, value to the community, and delivery. The NPSS Fusion Technology Standing Committee will select three finalists from the valid entries. The panel will ask these three finalists to present their work in a 10-minute oral presentation to the judges during the FTSC luncheon at the conference. After this, the FTSC will rank the papers, primarily for technical content and originality. Other criteria such as graphic display and clarity of data presentation may be considered. If there is a tie, tie-breaking criteria is as follows: 1) IEEE NPSS members, 2) IEEE members, and 3) non-IEEE members, in that order. Second and third place will receive an honor mention, and the winner will receive a $500 cash award and a commemorative plaque.

The deadline for receiving your Advisor's letter of recommendation is 15 April 2019

2017 award winners Pictured above the SOFE 2017 award winners


Instructions for Student Paper Award Competition.

  • The student must express his/her intention to participate in the Best Student Paper Award by checking the appropriate box during the electronic Abstract Submission process.
  • After uploading his/her abstract, the student's advisor/supervisor should submit a letter of support, preferentially on institutional letterhead, indicating that the student was primarily responsible for the work described in the Abstract, along with a copy of the Abstract to the FTSC Awards Chair, Dr. Martin Nieto-Perez, to the address m.nieto@ieee.org
  • The student will be notified prior to the conference if he has been selected as one of the three finalists. If this is the case, he/she should prepare a 10-minute summary presentation of the work.

Student Travel Grant

A limited number of travel grants are available to encourage students who are IEEE members to attend SOFE 2019.

Only "First Author" abstracts submitted by students are eligible for travel grants. Moreover, the abstract should be original (not published elsewhere).

Applicants should submit the following information by April 15, 2019.

  1. Copy of submitted abstract
  2. IEEE membership number
  3. Proposed travel budget to the conference (cost sharing with other students is encouraged)
  4. Two letters of recommendation, one of which is from the student's advisor, stating the importance of the research to be presented.
  5. Create a single merged pdf file containing all the application material and e-mail it to sofe2019@ieee.org by April 15, 2019.
The SOFE2019 Student Travel Grants are made possible by the support of US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and our SOFE Institutional contributors.

Paul Phelps Continuing Education Grant

The purpose of the Paul Phelps Continuing Education Grant is to promote continuing education and encourage membership in NPSS.

The funds can be used to cover tuition costs and/or travel costs to attend Short Courses. Actual award amounts for individual grants and use of funds for applicable travel expenses are decided by each NPSS Conference.

Eligibility: Outstanding members of NPSS who are either Student Members or unemployed members needing assistance in changing career direction.

Judging criteria: Exceptional promise as a student in any of the fields of NPSS, or exceptional work in those fields by currently unemployed NPSS members with an expectation that attendance to one or more of the Short Courses will result in an improved possibility of obtaining a job in an NPSS field.

This award is presented each year at the NPSS sponsored conference at which the Short Courses are given. Grants can be applied towards expenses prior to the conference. The Paul Phelps Continuing Education Grant is funded by the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society.

To be considered for the Paul Phelps Continuing Education Grant for SOFE2019, please contact Prof. Martin Nieto-Perez, Awards Chair of SOFE2019, by sending an email to m.nieto@ieee.org with an subject "SOFE2019 Phelps grant"

Chinese Student Travel Grants

The IEEE Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society is pleased to announce the availability grant funding to support the attendance of students from Chinese universities at SOFE 2019. Up to $2,500 per student will be reimbursed to help defray the cost of travel and participation fees. Awards will be made partly in the form of waivers of conference fees (registration, mini-course, etc.) and guest room costs at the conference hotel. Any remainder, up to the grant amount, will be provided after the conference based on receipts documenting expenses, such as travel costs. Applications will be reviewed based on merit, and decisions will be communicated to the applicant and the applicant’s advisor by the SOFE student grant coordinator (SOFE2019@ieee.org). Applicants must submit an application package as a single PDF file and e-mailed to sofe2019@ieee.org by April 15, 2019. The application package must contain:

  • A copy of the 1-page abstract of the applicant’s paper to be presented at the conference
  • Applicant’s personal statement, strictly limited to 1 page, containing
    • the expected benefits of attendance
    • past involvement in IEEE activities, if any
    • any other information supporting the merits of the application
  • Description of student status including field of study, degree sought, and expected date of graduation
  • An estimate of expenses to be covered by the grant
  • A 1-page recommendation letter from the applicant’s advisor, verifying student status and providing a commitment to cover the remaining expenses if the grant is awarded.

Graduate and undergraduate who are enrolled full time in an accredited university in the People’s Republic of China, graduation date after June 2019, are eligible.