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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From California Dreams to the APS Beamlines, Grace Avellar Supports the APS Upgrade
Mechanical engineering specialist Grace Avellar oversees the successful installation & tracking of components for beamlines as part of the APS Upgrade
New AI Model Is a Leap for Autonomous Materials Science
The AI model, developed at PNNL, can identify patterns in electron microscope images of materials without requiring human intervention.
Contributing to Community Standards for AI Security, Privacy
Sean Oesch, a leader in cyber technologies, contributed to the OWASP AI Security & Privacy Guide to inform global AI security standards & regulations.
Argonne’s Ilke Arslan Named Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America
Arslan is the director of the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) and the Nanoscience and Technology division at Argonne National Laboratory.

University and Stakeholder News

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Pushing the Boundary on Ultralow Frequency Gravitational Waves
A team of physicists developed a method to detect gravitational waves that oscillate just once every thousand years.
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What Heat Can Tell Us About Battery Chemistry: Using the Peltier Effect to Study Lithium-Ion Cells
The technique allowed experimental measurement of the entropy of the Li-ion electrolyte, a thermodynamic feature affecting Li-ion battery design.
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Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop New Machine Learning Method for Modeling of Chemical Reactions
Researchers have used machine learning to create a model that can simulate reactive processes in a diverse set of organic materials and conditions.
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What Can Tree Sap Tell Us About Climate Change?
Scientists are looking to create a clearer picture of what happens when you combine climate change with urban environments.
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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