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About the Office
of Science
The Office of Science is the single
largest supporter of basic research in the physical
sciences in the United States, providing more
than 40 percent of total funding for this vital
area of national importance. It oversees –
and is the principal federal funding agency
of – the Nation’s research programs
in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and
fusion energy sciences.
The Office of Science manages
fundamental research programs in basic energy
sciences, biological and environmental sciences,
and computational science. In addition, the
Office of Science is the Federal Government’s
largest single funder of materials and chemical
sciences, and it supports unique and vital parts
of U.S. research in climate change, geophysics,
genomics, life sciences, and science education.
The Office of Science manages
this research portfolio through six interdisciplinary
program offices: Advanced
Scientific Computing Research, Basic
Energy Sciences, Biological
and Environmental Research, Fusion
Energy Sciences,
High
Energy Physics and Nuclear
Physics. In addition, the Office
of Science sponsors a range of science education
initiatives through its Workforce
Development for Teachers
and Scientists program.
The Office of Science makes extensive
use of peer review and federal advisory
committees to develop general directions
for research investments, to identify priorities,
and to determine the very best scientific proposals
to support.
The Office of Science also manages
10
world-class laboratories, which often are
called the “crown jewels” of our
national research infrastructure. The national
laboratory system, created over a half-century
ago, is the most comprehensive research system
of its kind in the world.
Five are multi-program facilities:
Argonne National
Laboratory, Brookhaven
National Laboratory, Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory. The other
five are single-program national laboratories:
Ames Laboratory,
Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory, Thomas
Jefferson National Accelerator Facility,
Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
The Office of Science oversees
the construction and operation of some of the
Nation’s most advanced R&D user
facilities, located at national laboratories
and universities. These include particle and
nuclear physics accelerators, synchrotron light
sources, neutron scattering facilities, supercomputers
and high-speed computer networks.
In the 2007 fiscal year, these facilities were used by more than 21,000 researchers from universities, national laboratories, private industry, and other federal science agencies.
The Office of Science is a principal supporter of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers early in their careers. About a third of its research funding goes to support research at more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide. In addition, about half the users at Office of Science user facilities are from colleges and universities, providing further support to their researchers.
The Office of Science also reaches
out to America’s youth in grades K-12
and their teachers to help improve students’
knowledge of science and mathematics and their
understanding of global energy and environmental
challenges.
To attract and encourage students to choose an education in the sciences and engineering, the Office of Science also supports the National Science Bowl®, an educational competition for high school and middle school students involving all branches of science. Each year, DOE’s National Science Bowl® attracts over 17,000 students nationwide. At the high school level, it involves more than 12,000 students, and at the middle school level, more than 5,000 students.
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