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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Finding the Catalyst for a More Sustainable Future
NSLS-II scientists use new spectrometer to help identify alternative catalyst materials for affordable hydrogen fuel cells.
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.

University and Stakeholder News

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Professor by Day, Risk Assessor on the Side: MC’s Dr. Jesse Smith ’08 Puts His Coding Skills to Work at ORNL
Smith is part of a team at ORNL putting together a database for the computation of environmental risk from exposure to chemicals and radionuclides.
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UNC-Chapel Hill Researchers Harness the Sun to Produce Clean Energy Alternative
The researchers have developed a unique approach to harnessing the sun’s energy to produce hydrogen gas, a potential clean energy source, from water.
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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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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