NERS PhD Student Oskar Searfus awarded NNIS Graduate Fellowship
The Fellowship is awarded to exceptional students pursuing doctoral research in the field of international safeguards.
Oskar Searfus, a PhD student in the U-M Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences has been awarded the Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards (NNIS) Graduate Fellowship from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The Fellowship is awarded to exceptional students pursuing doctoral research in the field of international safeguards and provides up to four years of appointment and at least one summer of practicum at one of thirteen laboratories around the world, including the NNSA national laboratories and several European Commission Joint Research Centres.
“I am beyond honored to receive this fellowship appointment,” Oskar said. “NNIS fellows go on to make major technical contributions to global nuclear security, and I’m excited to join this cohort of extraordinary doctoral students around the country.”
Originally from San Diego, California, Oskar grew up between there and Durango, Colorado. He graduated from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 2020 with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering. During his time at UNM, he had an internship at Sandia National Laboratories where he became interested in radiation measurements research, which brought him to U-M.
Oskar is the Vice President of the U-M chapters of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (IEEE-NPSS) and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM). He is also a member of the U-M chapters of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and oSTEM/GoSTEM.
In his free time, Oskar enjoys hikes with his dog, Sophie. He also enjoys camping and baking, and hopes to get back into triathlon training this year.
In the future, Oskar hopes to conduct technical research and develop novel radiation sensors to support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Department of Safeguards, either within the National Laboratories system or directly for the IAEA.
“I would really like to thank Prof. Jovanovic for affording me such incredible research opportunities,” Oskar said, “and for his mentorship during this very difficult first year of my PhD.”
“Outstanding students like Oskar are the key ingredient of the outstanding research environment we have at Michigan,” said Prof. Igor Jovanovic, Oskar’s doctoral advisor. “The creative contributions he already made across multiple projects in our team are admired by his colleagues. We look forward to many technical accomplishments from Oskar in the coming years.”