Magnetic confinement fusion research on US university campuses is in crisis, according to a recent white paper by the University Fusion Association (UFA). The report focuses on two worrisome trends: Funding is down, and faculty members are getting older and shrinking in number. The white paper “gets beyond the anecdotal level to become a statement of the challenges facing the community collectively,” says UFA vice president John Sarff of the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
The UFA surveyed the 14 institutions that between them get roughly 80% of all funding for university-based fusion and plasma physics provided by the Department of Energy’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), the field’s main funder. At those institutions, the average age of faculty in fusion and plasma research is 56, up from 53 a dozen years ago. Some 30% of current faculty were reported likely to retire in the next five years. Overall, the survey...
