Contributing National Laboratories

Ernest Orlando Lawrence founded LBNL, the oldest of the national laboratories, in 1931. Lawrence invented the cyclotron, which led to a Golden Age of particle physics and revolutionary discoveries about the nature of the universe.

Known as a mecca of particle physics, Berkeley Lab long ago broadened its focus. Of our nine Nobel Prizes, five are in physics and four in chemistry. Today, Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram lab where research in advanced materials, life sciences, energy efficiency, detectors and accelerators serves America's needs in technology and the environment.

Berkeley Lab is located on the hillside above one of the world's great universities -- the University of California at Berkeley. Altogether, the lab has some 4,000 employees, of which about 800 are students. Each year, the Lab also hosts more than 2,000 participating guests. Berkeley lab is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).