View source for Office of Science

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{{Infobox government agency
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| chief1_name          = [[Harriet Kung]]
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| website              = {{URL|https://www.energy.gov/science/office-science}}
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The '''Office of Science''' is a component of the [[United States Department of Energy]] (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences.  The Office of Science portfolio has two principal thrusts: direct support of scientific research and direct support of the development, construction, and operation of unique, open-access scientific user facilities that are made available for use by external researchers.

The Office of Science manages this research portfolio through six interdisciplinary scientific program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics.  The Office of Science also has responsibility for 10 of the 17 [[United States Department of Energy National Laboratories]].<ref name=aboutOS>[http://science.energy.gov/about/ About the Office of Science], DOE Office of Science website. Retrieved August 5, 2011.</ref>

The office is the predominant [[U.S. federal government]] sponsor for research in the [[physical sciences]], including [[physics]], [[chemistry]], [[computer science]], [[applied mathematics]], [[materials science]], [[nanoscience]], and [[engineering]], as well as [[systems biology]] and [[environmental sciences]]. 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 10 Office of Science national laboratories are:  [[Ames Laboratory]], [[Argonne National Laboratory]], [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]], [[Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory]], [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]], [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], [[Pacific Northwest National Laboratory]], [[Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory]], [[SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory]], and the [[Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility]].<ref name=aboutOS/>

The Office is currently led by Acting Director Dr. [[Harriet Kung]].<ref name=Leadership>{{cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/science/leadership |title=Leadership |website=[[United States Department of Energy|DoE]] Office of Science |publisher=[[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] |access-date=March 29, 2024}}</ref>

== Program offices==
The Office of Science includes six interdisciplinary science program offices:
*Advanced Scientific Computing Research
*Basic Energy Sciences
*Biological and Environmental Research
*Fusion Energy Sciences
*High Energy Physics
*Nuclear Physics.<ref name=aboutOS/>

===Advanced Scientific Computing Research===
The Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) supports research and development in [[applied mathematics]], [[computer science]], and integrated network environments. The programs it supports represent the largest and most active computer science research effort within the U.S. federal government.<ref name=aboutASCR>[http://www.science.doe.gov/ascr/About/about.html About ASCR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111213632/http://www.science.doe.gov/ascr/About/about.html |date=2010-11-11 }}, Office of Science website. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref> [[Supercomputer]] facilities supported by ASCR include the [[National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center]] (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and the [[Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility|Leadership Computing Facility]] at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and [[Argonne National Laboratory]] in Illinois. The ASCR supports the [[Energy Sciences Network]] (ESnet), which interconnects more than 40 DOE sites at speeds up to 100 [[gigabit]]s per second.

ESnet is a successor to a network that the Office of Science created in 1974 to connect geographically dispersed researchers through a single network. In the 1980s the Office of Science collaborated with [[DARPA]], [[National Science Foundation|NSF]] and [[NASA]] to convert the agencies' separate networks into a single integrated communications network that became the basis for the commercial [[Internet]].<ref name=AandA>[http://www.science.doe.gov/Accomplishments_Awards/index.htm Accomplishments and Awards], DOE Office of Science website. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref>

===Biological and Environmental Research===
The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) supports research and scientific user facilities in the biological and environmental sciences to support DOE's missions in energy, environment, and basic research. BER initiated the [[Human Genome Project]] in 1986 and has continued to support activity in [[genomics]]-based [[systems biology]] and initiatives related to [[biotechnology]] applications.<ref name=OBERtop/><ref name=OBERabout/> The [[Joint Genome Institute]], formed in 1997, initially conducted sequencing of human [[DNA]] in support of the Human Genome Project. Its current focus is on sequencing the [[genome]]s of [[microbe]]s, [[microbial communities]], [[fungi]], [[plant]]s, and other organisms.<ref>[http://www.sc.doe.gov/ober/BSSD/jgi.html Joint Genome Institute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207050115/http://www.sc.doe.gov/ober/BSSD/jgi.html |date=2010-12-07 }}, Office of Biological & Environmental Research website. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref>  

Environmental efforts include research on the [[global carbon cycle]] and possible mitigation of the impacts of [[climate change]].<ref name=OBERtop>[http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/ober_top.html Office of Biological & Environmental Research website]. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref><ref name=OBERabout>[http://www.science.doe.gov/ober/about.html About BER], Office of Biological & Environmental Research website. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref> When it started in 1978, BER's Climate Change Research Program was the first U.S. research program to investigate the effects of [[greenhouse gas]]es on climate and environment. The Office of Science climate change research program is now the third largest in the U.S.<ref name=AandA/>

===Fusion Energy Sciences===
The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) organization supports efforts to expand the fundamental understanding of [[plasma physics]] and the knowledge needed to develop a [[fusion energy]] source.<ref>[http://www.science.doe.gov/ofes/ DOE Office of Science – Homepage]. Science.doe.gov. Retrieved on 2010-12-15.</ref> This organization supports U.S. participation in the [[ITER]] project through the U.S. ITER Project Office, a partnership of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.<ref>[http://www.science.doe.gov/ofes/ITER.html DOE Office of Science OFES – Homepage]. Science.doe.gov (2003-01-30). Retrieved on 2010-12-15.</ref>

== Research funding ==
More than 90 percent of the Office of Science budget is allocated to research and scientific facilities.<ref name=AAASupdate2009>[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], [http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/doe09s.htm AAAS R&D Funding Update on DOE R&D in FY 2009 Senate Appropriations – Senate Boosts DOE Science and Energy R&D] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128010753/http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/doe09s.htm |date=2010-11-28 }}, retrieved from AAAS Science and Policy Programs website on December 12, 2010</ref> The fundamental research areas in which the Office of Science has programs include physics and other basic energy sciences, biological and environmental sciences, and computational science. Support is provided for research activities in the national laboratories and universities. The office is the principal (or the single largest) source of U.S. federal government support for research in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, fusion energy, materials science, and chemical sciences. The Office of Science is estimated to provide 40 percent of the funding for basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. It is also a major source of funding for government-supported research in climate change, geophysics, genomics, life sciences, and science education.<ref name=aboutOS/>

In [[constant dollars]], Office of Science annual budgets for Basic Energy Science and Advanced Scientific Computing nearly doubled between [[fiscal year]]s 1996 and 2009. Budgets for High Energy Physics and Biological and Energy Research remained relatively constant through that 14-year period. Nuclear Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences budgets were relatively static through most of the period, but had substantial increases in fiscal 2009.<ref>[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], [http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/doeosprog09p.pdf DOE Office of Science Programs, FY 1996–2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101223701/http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/doeosprog09p.pdf |date=2011-01-01 }}, retrieved from AAAS Science and Policy Programs website on December 12, 2010</ref> The increase in the Fusion budget reinstated the U.S. contribution to ITER, which was reduced significantly in the previous year.<ref name=AAASupdate2009/>

== History ==
DOE's Office of Energy Research was a predecessor to the Office of Science.<ref>United States Government Accountability Office (2008), [http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08641.pdf Office of Science Has Kept Majority of Projects within Budget and on Schedule, but Funding and Other Challenges May Grow], GAO-08-641, page 1</ref>

In 2006, the Office of Science was placed under the oversight of the [[Under Secretary of Energy for Science]], a new position created by the [[Energy Policy Act of 2005]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080111021030/http://www.doe.gov/news/3703.htm Secretary Bodman Statement on Dr. Orbach Swearing In as DOE Under Secretary for Science], U.S. Department of Energy news release, June 1, 2006</ref>

===Accomplishments and awards===
DOE lists 76 [[Nobel Prize]] winners as having been associated with Office of Science programs or facilities under DOE and its predecessor agencies.<ref>[http://www.er.doe.gov/Accomplishments_Awards/Heroes/heroes.htm DOE Nobel Laureates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117064143/http://www.er.doe.gov/Accomplishments_Awards/Heroes/heroes.htm |date=2010-11-17 }}, DOE Office of Science website. Retrieved December 7, 2010.</ref>

== Organization ==
The Office of Science is led by a [[List of positions filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation#Committee_on_Energy_and_Natural_Resoruces|Presidentially-nominated, Senate-confirmed Director]] and three senior career federal Deputy Directors.<ref name=Leadership/>

The current acting director of the Office of Science is [[Harriet Kung]]. The current deputy directors are Principal Deputy Director Dr. J. Stephen Binkley, a longtime [[United States Department of Energy|Energy Department]] scientist; Deputy Director for Science Programs Dr. [[Harriet Kung]]; and Deputy Director for Field Operations Juston Fontaine, a longtime [[United States Department of Energy|Energy Department]] manager.<ref name=Leadership/>

== See also ==
* [[Office of Scientific and Technical Information]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://science.energy.gov/}}

{{DOE agencies}}
{{US research agencies}}
{{United States government agencies involved in environmental science}}
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[[Category:Science and technology in the United States]]
[[Category:United States Department of Energy agencies]]
[[Category:Government agencies with year of establishment missing]]
[[Category:Organizations established in the 20th century]]
[[Category:20th-century establishments in the United States]]