Energy Sciences Divisions and User Facilities

The Energy Sciences Area comprises four research divisions: the Advanced Light Source (ALS), Chemical Sciences, Materials Sciences, and the Molecular Foundry. Two of these divisions, the ALS and the Molecular Foundry, operate large-scale DOE Office of Science user facilities, which attract thousands of researchers from the external scientific community each year. Researchers in ESA collaborate across divisions in an environment that promotes integrated fundamental research and provides unique tools to achieve transformational breakthroughs in energy science.

Arial view of a round building with a domed roof with the bay in the background at sunset

The ALS is an Office of Science user facility that serves as one of the world’s premier sources of X-ray, infrared, and ultraviolet light for scientific research ranging from advanced materials and novel chemistry to protein crystallography and 3D biological imaging.

 A woman wearing PPE holds and observes a small capsule at arm's length

CSD is the home of fundamental research in chemistry and chemical engineering at Berkeley Lab, with a portfolio that spans from atomic to macroscopic scales and from the timescales of electron motion to chemical transformations. Research in CSD provides a basis for new and improved energy technologies and for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of energy use.

A man with PPE manipulates a small flat piece of material inside an open-sided microwave oven-sized machine

In MSD, researchers advance the fundamental science of materials within the context of global energy-related challenges, developing techniques to design, discover and understand materials for a wide range of applications, including solar cells, computer chips, and nanoscale devices. Through their core programs and research centers, they cultivate a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to materials research and help train the next generation of materials scientists.

 Mentor and intern working in laboratory in lab coats and with rubber gloves

The Molecular Foundry is a DOE Office of Science user facility for nanoscale science, providing researchers from around the world with access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. Home to state-of-the-art and often one-of-a-kind instruments, the Molecular Foundry has laboratories for materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, and molecular biology.