The NSSC Outstanding Publication Award is awarded annually by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium to the lead author(s) of an outstanding peer-reviewed paper published in the areas of basic and applied science and engineering supporting the nation’s nuclear security and nonproliferation mission. 

The NSSC Outstanding Thesis Award is awarded annually by the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium to scholars who have completed an exceptional thesis in the areas of basic and applied science and engineering supporting the nation’s nuclear security and nonproliferation mission.

These highly competitive awards honor NSSC Fellows and Affiliates for their excellent contributions to nuclear security science.

NSSC OUTSTANDING PUBLICATION AWARD

An eligible publication is one that has a lead author who is an NSSC Fellow or Affiliate as of the publication date; has been published in a peer-reviewed journal; includes original research data, theory, or synthesis; and is a fundamental contribution to basic knowledge or an application-driven achievement of high consequence in the areas of nuclear security and nonproliferation research and development. Each annual contest starts with the first issue of May and ends with the last issue of the following April.

NSSC OUTSTANDING THESIS AWARD

Any NSSC Fellow or Affiliate who has completed a masters or doctoral thesis in the previous academic year is eligible. The thesis is expected to showcase high originality, significance, quality, and/or outcomes in the areas of basic and applied nuclear security science and engineering. Each annual contest considers theses published in the academic year directly preceding the deadline.

GUIDELINES AND NOMINATION PROCEDURE

These highly competitive awards honor NSSC Fellows and Affiliates for their excellent contributions to nuclear security science. The Awards Selection Committee is composed of members of the NSSC Executive Team. Awards will be announced each year in the Fall and successful candidates will be presented certificates at the annual NSSC Fall Workshop and Advisory Board Meeting. The winning publications and theses are also featured on the NSSC website. 

NSSC Faculty and Lab Mentors are invited to nominate eligible publications and theses led by their Fellows and Affiliates. NSSC Fellows and Affiliates are also encouraged to self-nominate.

Nomination forms for the 2022 NSSC Awards will be available on our website in late Spring/early Summer 2022.

Announcing the Winners of the 2021 NSSC Awards

Mark Straub, University of California, Berkeley

Winner of Best Reviewed Publication 

“Recent Advances in Nuclear Forensic Chemistry” was featured as the cover article in a special issue of Analytical Chemistry. 

Read more about this article here. 

Benjamin Godfrey, University of California, Davis

Winner of Best Original Research Publication

Godfrey was the lead author on the highly regarded publication, “Search for Dark Photon Dark Matter: Dark E-Field Radio Pilot Experiment”, published in Phys. Rev. D. 

Cordell Delzer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Winner of Outstanding Thesis for Radiation Detection

“Fabrication of Specialized Scintillators for Nuclear Security Applications”

Teal Pershing, University of California, Davis

Winner of  Outstanding Thesis for Nuclear and Particle Physics

“The Accelerator Neutrino-Neutron Interaction Experiment” 

Kelly Kmak, University of California, Berkeley

Winner of Outstanding Thesis for Radiochemistry and Forensics

“Investigation of the ²³⁰Th(p,2n)²²⁹Pa Reaction as a Route to ²²⁵Ac”

Hi Vo, University of California, Berkeley

Winner of Outstanding Thesis for Nuclear Engineering

“Influence of Defects’ Mechanical Stability on Microscale Plasticity and Failure”