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

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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

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Argonne Training Program Alumni Find Success in Extreme-Scale Computing
The ATPESC curriculum covers everything from emerging hardware technologies and software development to data analysis and AI for science.
PNNL Researchers Contribute to UCAR Best Paper
A paper co-authored by four PNNL-affiliated scientists has been awarded the 2023 UCAR Outstanding Accomplishment Award for Publication.
Experts Say Energy Justice Must Be Part of Fusion Energy and Sustainable Construction
The panel focused on fusion energy as a clean and carbon-free way to generate electricity and on ways to make the concrete industry more sustainable.
ORNL to Produce Critical Industrial Radioisotope IR-192 as Part of DOE Partnership with Private Company
The radioisotope is critical to helping the U.S. government & industry find structural defects & damage to metal parts such as welds, castings & seams

University and Stakeholder News

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Schnee Selected to Serve on National Particle Physics Panel Advising the National Science Foundation and U.S. Dept. of Energy
The head of the South Dakota Mines physics department, Richard Schnee, spent 2023 serving on the national particle physics panel, P5.
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Columbia Chemists Create the First 2D Heavy Fermion
The layered crystal, CeSiI, with heavier-than-normal electrons is a new platform to explore quantum phenomena.
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Climate Change Isn't Producing Expected Increase in Atmospheric Moisture Over Dry Regions
The findings are particularly puzzling because climate models have been predicting that the atmosphere will become more moist, even over dry regions.
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Study Reveals a Reaction at the Heart of Many Renewable Energy Technologies
New insights into how proton-coupled electron transfers occur at an electrode could help researchers design more efficient fuel cells & electrolyzers.
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Recently Featured Articles

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Science Highlights

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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