Workshop report: Sustaining the combustion research community: ensuring the field doesn't burn out

This report describes the organization, discussion topics, and outcomes of a two-day workshop for US-based early career faculty researchers and researchers working in the area of combustion and fire, held in April 2017 in College Park, Maryland, USA. Using an unconference format, the 38 participants discussed issues facing the field clustered into two thrusts: cultural and technical. The discussion topics included attracting and retaining a more diverse community, public engagement, improving educational outcomes, hostile and confrontational climate, publishing (open data, open access, open software), collaboration, what does “combustion science” encompass?, and balancing fundamental and applied research. We make recommendations to the community to address each of the issues, summarize progress made to date, and describe plans for future activities. We also discuss some changes made in the community since the workshop.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the U.S. government or the authors’ employers. Furthermore, this report only serves to document the discussions and recommendations made by the US-based workshop participants, so it necessarily reflects their views. It does not seek to fully review all efforts by the combustion community or associated professional society, The Combustion Institute.