Request for Applications (RFA) for
Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research & Development
Student Competition

Subject: Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research & Development – RFA
Issue Date: October 4, 2023
Application Due Date: November 29, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. ET
Point-of-Contact: Tyler Newitt
Telephone No.: (208) 526-4990
Facsimile No.: (208) 526-1844
Email: neup@inl.gov

FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

Contents
1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

2

Eligibility Information ............................................................................................................. 4

3Award Description ................................................................................................................... 6

4

5

3.1

Open Competition Award of Excellence (Undergraduate and Graduate Students)...................... 6

3.2

Competition for Graduate Students Attending Minority Serving Institutions or Belonging to a
Disadvantaged Community ......................................................................................................... 7

3.3

Open Competition Special Recognition ....................................................................................... 7

3.4

Competition for Undergraduate Students Attending Minority Serving Institutions or Belonging
to a Disadvantaged Community .................................................................................................. 7

3.5

Undergraduate Competition.......................................................................................................... 7

3.6

Travel and Conference Opportunities ........................................................................................... 8

Application Submittal Requirements....................................................................................... 8
4.1

Application Due Date ................................................................................................................... 8

4.2

Application Schedule .................................................................................................................... 8

4.3

Late Applications .......................................................................................................................... 8

4.4

Application Preparation Instructions ............................................................................................ 8

Application Instructions .......................................................................................................... 9
5.1

Interpretations and Exceptions ..................................................................................................... 9

5.2

Rights Reserved by NE................................................................................................................. 9

5.3

Application Validity Period .......................................................................................................... 9

5.4

Discrepancies in the RFA ............................................................................................................. 9

6

Deliverables and Obligations................................................................................................... 97

Application Review and Selection Process ........................................................................... 10
7.1

8

Evaluation Criteria ...................................................................................................................... 10Award Administration Information ....................................................................................... 10
8.1

Notification of Award ................................................................................................................. 10

8.2Award Conditions ....................................................................................................................... 10

Appendix A: Rules for Award Winners........................................................................................ 11ii

FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

1

INTRODUCTION

This Request for Applications (RFA) is for the Innovations in Nuclear Energy Research andDevelopment (R&D) Student Competition—referenced from this point forward as theInnovations Student Competition—as administered by the Department of Energy (DOE) Officeof Nuclear Energy (NE). The purpose of the program is to recognize and award publishedgraduate and undergraduate students for innovative nuclear energy research. Published works
include those published though journal publications and conference proceedings. Questions
regarding this RFA should be submitted to neup@inl.gov.
This competition is a continuation of the “Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards
Program” that was supported from 2010 to 2022 by the Office of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Supply
Chain within the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy and administered by the
University Research Alliance. For purposes of eligibility, the “Innovations in Nuclear
Technology R&D Awards Program” and the “Nuclear Energy Research and Development(R&D) Student Competition” are the same.
The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) mission is to advance nuclear energy science and technology
to meet U.S. energy, environmental, and economic needs. NE has identified the following goals
to address challenges in the nuclear energy sector, help realize the potential of advanced
technology, and leverage the unique role of the government in spurring innovation:••••

Keep existing U.S. nuclear reactors operating
Deploy new nuclear reactors
Secure and sustain our nuclear fuel cycle
Expand international nuclear energy cooperation

Collectively, all NE-sponsored activities support the Department’s priorities to combat theclimate crisis, create clean energy jobs with the free and fair chance to join a union and bargain
collectively, and promote equity and environmental justice by delivering innovative clean energy
technologies for nuclear energy systems.
All applications submitted under this RFA must demonstrate a strong tie to this mission.
Applications focused specifically in areas not of interest to the NE mission, such as fusionenergy, medical physics, nuclear forensics, or environmental management, will not be reviewed
or considered.
The Innovations Student Competition is designed to:• Award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative nuclear energy research as
demonstrated through journal publications and conference presentations.
• Demonstrate the commitment of the Office of Nuclear Energy to higher education in
nuclear disciplines relevant to the NE mission.
• Support communication among students and U.S. Department of Energy representatives.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

Under this RFA, NE is seeking applications under five competitions, described in detail in
Section 3:
1. Open Competition Award of Excellence (undergraduate and graduate students)
2. Competition for Graduate Students Attending Minority Serving Institutions or Belonging
to a Disadvantaged Community
3. Open Competition Special Recognition
4. Competition for Undergraduate Students Attending Minority Serving Institutions orBelonging to a Disadvantaged Community
5. Undergraduate Competition
Applicants may be eligible for multiple categories and may compete in all of them; however,applicants are only eligible to win one award per year.
All information and instructions required to respond to this RFA are accessible at neup.gov.
Applications are due by November 29, 2023, at 5:00 pm ET. Students must apply
electronically at neup.gov. No hard copy applications will be accepted. NE anticipates making
award announcements in Spring 2024.

2

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

It is critical to our nation’s economic leadership and global competitiveness that the U.S.
educate, train, and retain scientists and engineers from varying backgrounds. Applications will
be accepted from all U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents pursuing nuclear science andengineering disciplines, including relevant social sciences.
To support the goal of building a clean and equitable energy economy, NE strives to contributeto the President’s goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to
Disadvantaged Communities (DAC) (the Justice40 Initiative)1. The goal is to spur economic
development and job creation in DACs throughout the U.S., through effective teams and/or
partnerships with institutions, located in a disadvantaged community that may receive funding
support from the project.
In support of the Justice40 Initiative, the White House has developed the Climate and Economic
Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) tool to identify DACs. CEJST can be found athttps://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5.
In addition, NE strives to ensure that it is fully committed to broadening the inclusion andcontribution of those communities that have been historically underserved within its programs.

1

The Justice40 initiative, established by E.O. 14008, sets a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal
investments flow to disadvantaged communities. The Justice40 Interim Guidance provides a broad definition ofdisadvantaged communities (Page 2): https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/M-21-28.pdf.

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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

Students attending Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Collegesand Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), or institutions locatedin a disadvantaged community, are highly encouraged to apply to this RFA.
Information on MSIs can be found at:https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html#tips. This information
predominately covers institutions that have been awarded grants through the Department of
Education and does not include all institutions that may meet the definition of an MSI. This
resource is not an exhaustive list of MSIs.
For purposes of identifying MSIs in NE’s application system, NE is using a directory based offof 2023 U.S. Department of Education data compiled by Rutgers University’s Center for MSIs,
which can be found here:
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/2023eligibilitymatrix.xlsx. This list is also not
an exhaustive list of MSIs but will be used as a starting point for auto identifying MSIs.
If applicants believe that their institution qualifies as an MSI and is not listed, please contact
neup@inl.gov with an explanation for how the university meets the conditions of being
considered an MSI.
Competition Eligibility Restrictions:
1. Applicants must be the first author or the principal student author of the submitted
publication.
a. Students applying as undergraduate students may be secondary authors; however,
the application will not be considered for the Open Competition Award of
Excellence.
b. Any paper may only be submitted by one applicant.
2. Applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students. An undergraduate is defined as a
student who had not yet completed their bachelor’s degree when the publication was
submitted for publication or presentation.
3. Applicants must be studying in a nuclear energy relevant discipline.
4. Applicants must submit an online application form and a journal publication that supports
nuclear energy research that was published between December 2022 and November
2023. A conference presentation may be submitted; however, it will not be scored as highas a journal publication. Publications that have been accepted by a journal or conference,but have not yet been published or presented, are eligible.
a. Conference presentations must be from conferences with peer-reviewed
proceedings. This excludes conferences such as the ANS Student Conference.
5. Applicants must have been a student at the time the publication was submitted and must
be a student at the time of application submission (November 29, 2023).
6. Applicants must be part of an ongoing research program or a research program that wascompleted in the previous 24 months.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

7. Applicants who have been awarded previous Innovations Student Competition awards are
eligible for additional awards under the following conditions:a. Applicants can only be awarded one award each year.
8. Applicants who were awarded a previous Innovations Student Competition award andmeet the conditions above must submit a different publication containing significantly
new information and state the following in the "Further Explanation" section of theapplication: "I was awarded a ‹competition› award in ‹year› with my publication ‹title›
which was published/presented on ‹date› in ‹journal/conference›. This publication issignificantly different from the award-winning publication in the following ways:” andthen describe the differences.
9. Applicants may re-submit a publication submitted in a previous year as long as the
publication did not win an Innovations Student Competition award and still meets thisyear’s eligibility requirements.
10. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
11. Applicant degree seeking institution must be a U.S. institution, including U.S. territories.

3

AWARD DESCRIPTION

Five competitions are available in the Innovations Student Competition. Each publication will be
evaluated in each competition for which it qualifies. Students may submit more than one
publication, but no student may receive more than one award per year. Awards vary according toaward level. Some awards may include travel or conference opportunities.
Successful students will be provided an honorarium as part of the award package. Travel
expenses may be covered for students to present at a national conference, typically at theAmerican Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting.

3.1 Open Competition Award of Excellence (Undergraduate and Graduate
Students)
NE expects to award approximately six $3,500 Award of Excellence award packages. Travel andconference opportunities may accompany this award. Award of Excellence recipients will havean opportunity to present their publication at the annual ANS Winter Meeting as well as othernational meetings.
All submitted publications from eligible students at all universities are eligible for thiscompetition, excluding undergraduate students who are not lead authors. The intent is to provide
awards for well-qualified publications in the following categories:•

Reactor Development and Plant Optimization (including advanced reactor design anddevelopment; improving economics of construction and operations; flexible operations;and implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning)6

FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications•

Flexible Energy Systems (including non-electric and industrial heat applications;
thermal storage integration; remote deployment and dedicated power supplies, and siting)•

Fuel Cycle Technologies (including advanced fuels; aqueous separations; molten salt
separations and solution chemistry; advanced waste form development; and fuel cycle
options and systems analysis)•

Spent Fuel Disposition (including storage, transportation, disposal of commercial spent
nuclear fuel, and behavior of actinides and radionuclides under generic repository
conditions; light water reactor core, structural, and cladding materials; advanced reactor
core, structural, and cladding materials; advanced manufacturing technologies; andmaterials for fuel recycling applications)•

Nuclear Engineering (including reactor physics, thermal hydraulics and heat transfer,and nuclear chemistry)•

Energy Policy and Social Sciences (including environmental justice, consent-based
siting, decision support simulators, which may include game theory, economic modeling,
and applied mathematics)

3.2 Competition for Graduate Students Attending Minority Serving Institutions orBelonging to a Disadvantaged Community
NE expects to award approximately five $3,500 graduate awards for publications from eligible
students who attend a Minority Serving Institution or who are members of a disadvantaged
community. Travel and conference opportunities may accompany this award.

3.3 Open Competition Special Recognition
NE expects to award approximately six $2,500 at-large awards for applicants that did not receive
Open Competition Award of Excellence awards. Travel and conference opportunities may
accompany this award.

3.4 Competition for Undergraduate Students Attending Minority Serving
Institutions or Belonging to a Disadvantaged Community
NE expects to award approximately five $1,500 undergraduate awards for publications from
eligible students who attend a Minority Serving Institution or are a member of a disadvantaged
community. Travel and conference opportunities may accompany this award.

3.5 Undergraduate Competition
NE expects to award approximately five $1,500 awards for publications from eligible
undergraduate students at all universities. Travel and conference opportunities may accompany
this award.
Applicants could be eligible for multiple different categories and could compete in all of thembut would only be eligible to win one competition per year.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

3.6 Travel and Conference Opportunities
Details about potential travel and conference opportunities will be provided to award recipients.
Open Competition Award of Excellence and MSI/Disadvantaged Community Graduate Awardwinners may have an opportunity to present their publication at the annual ANS Winter Meetingor similar type meeting. Note that all travel will be paid in accordance with current Federal
Travel Regulations. Invited students should book travel arrangements directly with theInnovative Nuclear Research Integration Office.
Note: The U.S. Department of Energy, the federal government, and Battelle Energy Alliance are
not obligated to make any award as a result of this announcement.

4

APPLICATION SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Application Due Date
Applications are due by November 29, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

4.2 Application Schedule
Issue Request for Applications
Application Deadline
Award Announcement & Winning Authors Notified
Open Competition Award of Excellence and Graduate
MSI/Disadvantaged Community Competition submit
summaries to ANS Winter Meeting
American Nuclear Society 2024 Winter Meeting

October 2023
November 29, 2023
Spring 2024
July 2024
November 17-21, 2024

4.3 Late Applications
Applications received after the designated date and time will not be accepted.
Note: It is the applicant’s responsibility to confirm—prior to the application deadline—that all
requirements have been met and materials submitted. If a requirement has not been met, theapplication will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.

4.4 Application Preparation Instructions
Complete applications must be submitted electronically through neup.gov before the deadline
established above. To apply, students will need to create an account at neup.gov. Students reapplying should use their existing account. Once logged in, applicants will need to click on the“Applications” tab located at the top, left hand corner of the page. To begin an application, clickon the “Create New Application” link for the FY 2024 Innovations Student Competition.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

In addition to the information required on the application submittal form, a template withpublication information and the professional publication must be uploaded to the application.
Submitted publications must have been published in a journal, presented at a conference, or havebeen accepted for publication or presentation at the time of application. The student’s standing incollege at the time of publication acceptance determines their graduate/undergraduate status for
the Innovations Student Competition. Also, applicants must have been a student at the time thepublication was submitted and must be a student at the time of application submission(November 29, 2023).

5

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

5.1 Interpretations and Exceptions
Students shall submit applications in compliance with the RFA requirements. Any application
not adhering to RFA requirements may be considered non-responsive. The student may obtain
NE concurrence/clarification regarding its interpretation to classify the student’s application ascompliant with, or an exception to, the RFA requirements by contacting neup@inl.gov. Any
exception must be approved by NE and documented as part of the application.

5.2 Rights Reserved by NE
NE reserves the right to accept or reject any application with or without prior discussion with thestudent and to disregard minor irregularities in applications received. NE reserves the right toconduct any necessary pre-award survey and analysis to evaluate a student’s capabilities tocomply with the requirements of this RFA.
The U.S. Department of Energy, the federal government, or Battelle Energy Alliance is not
obligated to make any award as a result of this announcement.

5.3 Application Validity Period
An application shall remain firm for 365 days after the application due date.

5.4 Discrepancies in the RFA
Should a student find discrepancies in, or omissions from, the RFA, its attachments or related
documents, or should the student be in doubt as to the meaning of any requirements, the student
shall notify NE by contacting neup@inl.gov and obtain correction or clarification prior to
submitting an application.

6

DELIVERABLES AND OBLIGATIONS

No reporting criteria are required for the Innovations Student Competition awards. If awarded,
upon accepting the award, the student must provide information to process and publicize theaward, including necessary tax information for the honorarium and a photo for publication
purposes.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

7

APPLICATION REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

Publications will be reviewed by a panel of nuclear energy experts in the following manner:
1. All eligible publications will be evaluated for the Open Competition Award of
Excellence.
2. Publications that do not receive an award in the Open Competition Award of Excellence
will, if qualified, be evaluated in the other competition categories where they are eligible.

7.1 Evaluation Criteria
Publications will first be evaluated to determine that they are relevant to the Office of Nuclear
Energy’s mission. If deemed relevant, the publication will then be evaluated using the following
criteria:• Innovation (45%) – publication’s importance, novelty, impact, questions answered.
• Communication Skills (15%) – student’s skill at disseminating research results; writing
clarity.
• Applicant’s Role in the Research (25%).
• Quality of the Journal or Conference (15%).

8

AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

8.1 Notification of Award
Notification of the Innovations Student Competition award will be made by email to the student
and by a press release on the neup.gov website. A personal photo will be requested of theawardee for publicity of the award.
Students whose applications are not selected for an award will also be notified of that decision
via email.

8.2 Award Conditions
An Innovations Student Competition award consists of an official award letter, official award
certificate, honorarium, and display of awardee’s picture and awarded publication on theneup.gov website.
Awardees will be notified of timing to register and submit awarded publications at the annual
ANS Winter Meeting.
If selected, the student must accept or decline the award within 14 days of notification. Failure tocomply with the deadline may result in revocation of the award offer. Awardees will need tosupply their photo and necessary tax information in order for their honorarium to be released.
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FY 2024 Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Request for Applications

APPENDIX A: RULES FOR AWARD WINNERS
Intellectual Property and Copyright
The award-winning work may not infringe, misappropriate, plagiarize, or otherwise violate any
intellectual property rights, statutory or common law copyrights, proprietary rights privacy
rights, moral rights, or any other rights of any third party or entity.
The Innovations in Nuclear Energy R&D Student Competition Award does not transfer
intellectual property rights to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The author may not claim or imply that the research results are endorsed by DOE’s Office of
Nuclear Energy. The Office of Nuclear Energy must be referenced if the research project was
funded in full or in part by the Office of Nuclear Energy.
U.S. Department of Energy Logo
The U.S. Department of Energy logo or official seal are not to be used in the presentation or
publication of the research unless the project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Third Party Approval
Applicants submitting co-authored papers for award consideration must have the endorsement of
the faculty author(s) or the agreement of all co-authors.
Publicity
The U.S. Department of Energy and its agent, Battelle Energy Alliance, may publicize the award
using the applicant’s name, likeness, and such details as warranted to publicize the program andthe awards. Applicant’s likeness and award details will be published on the neup.gov website
and may be submitted for publication via other publicity vehicles.
Defamation
Award winning authors may not be defamatory or libelous in any manner toward any person orconstitute or result in any misappropriation or other violation of another person’s publicity rights
or right of privacy.
National Meeting Presentations
Award recipients may have an opportunity to present their publication at the annual ANS WinterMeeting as well as other national meetings.

11