Our Mission

DOE’s Office of Science has a mission to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. We are the nation’s largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and are a major supporter of research in such key scientific fields as physics, materials science, computing, and chemistry. We are also the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research related to energy.

To keep America in the forefront of discovery and innovation, we sponsor research at hundreds of universities, national laboratories, and other institutions across the country. We also build and maintain a vitally important array of large-scale scientific facilities at the DOE national laboratories, which are used by thousands of researchers every year.

About the Office of Science

Video Url
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science is the nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences, the steward of 10 DOE national laboratories, and the lead federal agency supporting fundamental research for energy production and security. Our job is to keep America at the forefront of discovery. This video is an overview of the Office of Science’s mission, people, and resources.
Video courtesy of DOE's Office of Science

Science Headlines

VIEW ALL
Three Argonne Scientists Inducted as Fellows of American Physical Society
Dillon Fong, Katrin Heitmann and Ahren Jasper were recognized for their work in materials science, cosmology and chemistry.
Conducting Safe Science at the Top of the World
The first climate scientist to head DOE's Office of Science, Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, recently visited two ORNL-led field research facilities.
Physicists Ask: Can We Make a Particle Collider More Energy Efficient?
SLAC physicists are thinking about how to make one proposal, the Cool Copper Collider, more sustainable.
Kevin Brown is Paving the Way Toward the Next Generation of Supercomputers
At Argonne, Brown studies the algorithms and architecture that can best serve the huge computational problems supercomputers can handle.

University and Stakeholder News

VIEW ALL
X-Rays Reveal Microstructural Fingerprints of 3D-Printed Alloy
Cornell researchers took a novel approach to explore the way microstructure emerges in a 3D-printed metal alloy.
Learn more
FRIB Hosts Western Michigan University Provost and Colleagues to Discuss Research Collaboration Opportunities
On 6 October, Western Michigan University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Julian Vasquez Heilig and colleagues visited FRIB.
Learn more
The Tertuliano Lab Has a Bone to Pick—and the Tools to Explain How it Breaks
Penn Engineering Assistant Professor Ottman Tertuliano’s lab creates visual data that demonstrates how bones behave under dynamic stress.
Learn more
Scientists Call for Real-Time Forecasting of Tropical Cyclones in Light of Climate Change
The need for quick and “real-time” forecasting of tropical cyclones is more necessary than ever given the impact of climate change on rainfall amounts
Learn more

Recently Featured Articles

Science Highlights

Dept. of Energy Office of Science delivers scientific discoveries, tools for the nation via programs in Advanced Scientific Computing Research; Basic Energy Sciences; Biological & Environmental Research; Fusion Energy Sciences; High Energy Physics; Nuclear Physics. Also supports Accelerator Research; Isotope Research; Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer; 5 national quantum centers; 2 energy innovation hubs. Stewards 10 DOE national labs. 100-plus Nobel Prizes, $8.1 billion budget.

The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Image courtesy of the Department of Energy Office of Science