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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New Code Mines Microscopy Images in Scientific Articles
Pioneering software EXSCLAIM! automatically searches for and summarizes content of microscopy images from the scientific literature.
A Decade of GoAmazon
The two-year Green Ocean Amazon field campaign gathered ground-based and aerial data, leading to over 160 papers since the campaign’s conclusion.
First-of-its-Kind Integrated Dataset Enables Genes-to-Ecosystems Research
Details range from genetic makeup & gene expression to the chemistry of the soil environment & analysis of microbes that live on & around plants.
How Scientists Are Accelerating Chemistry Discoveries With Automation
A new automated workflow developed at LBNL has the potential to allow researchers to analyze the products of their reaction experiments in real time.

University and Stakeholder News

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New Reactor Could Save Millions When Making Ingredients for Plastics and Rubber from Natural Gas
A new reactor system using natural gas would avert a shortage of a workhorse chemical, propylene, used for automotive parts, cleaning products, & more
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Rice Nuclear Physics Team Tapped to Lead $15 Million Large Hadron Collider Upgrade Project
The prestigious grant will pave the way for a new frontier of scientific discoveries within the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) program.
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UCLA Electrical and Computer Engineer Co-authors Department of Energy Report on Future of Laser Technology
Assistant professor Sergio Carbajo co-led a science panel on novel radiation and particle sources and helped pen a report on laser technology.
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For the First Time, Scientists Take an Atomic Freeze-Frame of Liquid Water
A research team got the first peek of the real-time motion of electrons in liquid water while the rest of the world stood still.
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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