Luca Weninger : IEEE NPSS Paul Phelps 2026 award

The IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) is the premier professional association for the advancement of the nuclear and plasma sciences, sponsoring seven technical conferences and three peer-reviewed journals. Luca Weninger was the recipient of the association's 2026 Paul Phelps Award, that recognizes “exceptional promise as a student, postdoc or research associate in any of the fields of NPSS, or exceptional work in those fields”. 

Luca received his Master's Degree in Electronics Engineering from the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) in 2021. He completed his Master's internship in Winter 2020 with our lab's MOPERE group, working on radiation effects in optical fiber-based dosimetry, and continued with the same team for his doctoral studies under the supervision of Professor Sylvain Girard. He defended his PhD thesis on 21 March 2025, with a manuscript entitled "Optical Fiber Dosimetry and Beam Instrumentation". His research focuses on the development and validation of optical fiber-based technologies capable of measuring ionizing radiation. His doctoral project was funded by the RADNEXT project, for which the Université Jean Monnet led the dosimetry work package. Within this project, Luca worked on the instrumentation of numerous irradiation facilities across Europe using optical fibers, including FNG, CNA, CLPU, CERN, ELI, and GANIL. He now continues his research as a postdoctoral researcher in the MOPERE group.

Congratulations Luca!