ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2026
Latest News
Fixing the barriers: How new policies can make U.S. nuclear exports competitive again
The United States has a strong marketplace of ideas on future civil nuclear technology. President Trump wants to see 10 large reactors under construction by 2030 and has discussed making $80 billion available for that objective. Evolutionary small modular reactors based on light water reactor technology are on the market now, and the Tennessee Valley Authority expects a construction permit for a project at its Clinch River Site later this year.
What is the competition?
The ANS Fusion Energy Division (FED) sponsors a student paper competition at each TOFE that awards monetary prizes for outstanding papers. Undergraduate and graduate authors are judged to the same criteria. Depending on the number of applicants, up to three awards will be given in total, and awarded to either undergraduate or graduate students. The certificate presentation will take place at the TOFE conference.
Who is eligible?
Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to submit papers to the competition. The student must be the first author of the paper. The student must have already submitted an abstract to the conference as part of the normal TOFE abstract review process.
When is the deadline?
Papers should be emailed to Lauren Garrison (lgarrison@cfs.energy) by midnight on Monday May 19, 2026.
How to submit your paper for the competition?
Students who wish to participate in the competition should submit their full paper to Lauren Garrison (lgarrison@cfs.energy). The paper can be in .docx or .pdf format. The email should include the subject "TOFE student paper competition." The body of the email should state what university the student is enrolled in.
What type of papers are eligible and how to format papers?
Papers submitted to the competition should be the same style and quality as that which would be considered for publication in a peer reviewed journal. Please use the formatting guidelines of Fusion Science and Technology (FS&T) to format your papers. There is no page limit or requirement, but as a rough guideline, papers are often in the range of 5-15 pages. We hope that any students who submit their papers to the competition will also seek to publish their papers in FS&T in the TOFE special issues. For publication in FS&T, the student will need to submit their paper for publication on the normal TOFE publication deadline and through the journal website, which is separate from this competition. After you submit your paper to the TOFE student paper competition, you can revise it or make any desired changes before you submit it to FS&T for publication.
How are papers judged?
The papers will be reviewed by experts in the field of fusion science and technology. A scoring rubric is used to evaluate the quality and clarity of the writing as well as the scientific merit of the research. We are looking for papers where the scientific method of the research is sound, the writing is understandable with correct grammar, and appropriate references of related works are cited.
Do you have additional questions?
Please contact Lauren Garrison (lgarrison@cfs.energy)
Last modified March 2, 2026, 7:34am MST
