Expert Group FAQs

Questions about White Papers and Advocacy Groups

What incentive do community members have to write White Papers, or participate in workshops? Why should people bother putting time into this - it seems like all of this has been done before.

A: White Papers are used to make recommendations to FESAC. Workshops are used to improve Initiative Proposals. If we don’t have well-vetted activities or initiatives, it will be difficult to make recommendations to FESAC, which makes it unlikely that FES would choose to pursue them. Therefore, White Papers need to be submitted for all ideas that want to be considered as part of the FES portfolio moving forward.

What is an Initiative Proposal White Paper?

A: A description can be found in the initiative template here. “Initiative proposals will form the basis for recommendations in our strategic planning. Initiatives can include new facilities, theory and modeling activities, programs for aiding workforce development, collaborations on existing or expected future facilities, or any other activity that you believe should be funded by FES to advance fusion energy and plasma science. Proposals can also advocate for continuing or redirecting ongoing activities.”

What is an Informational White Paper?

A: Informational White Papers could be narrowly focused (e.g. explaining why it’s critical to mitigate ELMs, without proposing an initiative to do so), or could be broader ideas (e.g. a roadmap to a compact pilot plant), that don’t correspond to a particular FES activity.

When is the deadline for White Paper submissions?

A: Papers are welcome at any time, but to be considered for presenting at the MFE/FM&T Workshop #1, please submit by June 14.

Are White Papers from previous community workshops going to be automatically evaluated here?

A: No. To guarantee consideration in the APS-CPP process, papers should be re-written/re-submitted. Proposals for initiatives should conform to this template. Informational White Papers do not need to conform to a template.

What is an Advocacy Group?

A: Advocacy Groups write Initiative Proposals (and supporting Informational White Papers) to advocate for a research area. It is *not* composed of PC members ( A PC member can be a member of Advocacy Group but they cannot evaluate proposals from that Advocacy Group)

How do people join an Advocacy Group?

A: Advocacy Groups are not organized or managed by the APS-DPP-CPP. We suggest emailing the primary contact for a particularly Initiative Proposal and expressing interest to get involved.

Questions about Expert Groups

Is an Expert Group supposed to just evaluate White Papers, or do they also solicit and produce White Papers?

A: The Expert Group evaluates Initiative Proposals on technical merit. Here is a document describing the role of the Expert Group. “If significant opportunities or gaps are not addressed by the submitted proposals, the EGs should solicit initiatives to address those gaps.” But, “EGs are not expected to solve deficiencies with proposals or to perform research or engineering studies to assess or advance the basis of a proposal.”

What is an Expert Group vs an Advocacy Group?

A: A description of the CPP organization here. An Advocacy Group writes an Initiative Proposal, and then the Expert Groups evaluate/provide feedback to improve the proposal’s technical merit. Advocacy Groups are not organized by the APS-DPP-CPP.

Can people who are members of the Expert Group be authors on white papers (or members of Advocacy Groups) that they are evaluating?

A: Members of EG can also be in Advocacy Groups, and they can also evaluate white papers even if they are an author. Only PC members need to be careful. According to the document about EGs here, “Participation in EGs does not preclude participation in advocacy groups. PC members who participate in advocacy groups should recuse themselves from writing evaluations of that advocacy group’s proposals, and should deputize another EG member for that purpose. PC members should act to ensure that discussions of proposals are not dominated by advocates of those proposals.”

How many people should be in our Expert Group?

A: The more the merrier!

What if I don’t want to be an Expert Group member but still want to help?

A: You can submit white papers, join an Advocacy Group, provide technical expertise to advance the maturity of Initiative Proposals, and participate in workshop discussions.