U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science

1. U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Presentation to the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director November 5, 2002

2. Recent Office of Science Occasional Papers Recent Occasional Papers • Building a 21st Century Workforce • The Beauty of Nanoscale Science • Using Nature's Own Toolkit to Clean up the Environment • Dark Energy—the Mystery that Dominates the Universe • Fusion—Bringing a Star to Earth • Biotechnology for Energy Security • Facilities for Scientific Discovery • Scientific Foundations for Countering Terrorism

3. Office of Science Priorities • Education and the Scientific Workforce • High Performance Computing • World Class research facilities • Enabling ‘Beautiful Science’

4. High Performance Computing • Scientific computing is the third pillar, along with theory and experiment, that supports scientific discovery, and a robust scientific program must have capabilities at the leading edge of scientific computing.

5. Education and the Scientific Workforce • Building a 21st Century Workforce”. • We are all familiar with the fact that almost half of the doctoral degree recipients in science and engineering at our universities are from overseas. As alarming as that is, there is little good new farther back n the pipeline. In 1999, U.S. colleges granted 125,000 social science undergraduate degrees versus only 19,000 in the physical sciences. • We need to attract more students to meet the workforce needs of the future, and the key to doing this is teachers who can interest and inspire their students. • We already fund an undergraduate internship program at our national laboratories for prospective science and math teachers. • I hope to add a professional development program for active teachers, bringing them into our laboratories to both become familiar with how science is actually done, and to work with master teachers to help them transfer their new understanding into the classroom. We would then send them back to their schools with funding to purchase materials and scientific equipment, as well as follow on support from the laboratories, to include a week of “refresher” training the first year.

6. BES Research • In 2001, Basic Energy Sciences (BES) funded research in more than 170 academic institutions located in 49 states and in 13 DOE laboratories located in 9 states. The BES program also supports world-class scientific user facilities, including four synchrotron radiation light sources, three neutron scattering facilities, and four electron-beam micro characterization centers. • The $1.411 billion Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in Oak Ridge will be completed in the middle of 2007. This world class facility will provide valuable research tools for scientists, particularly in the areas of chemistry and materials science.

7. Facility Planning • Matching facilities needs to Office of Science research priorities. • Estimating long-term financial resources. • Prioritizing construction of new facilities and upgrades to existing facilities to meet Office of Science research goals for next 20 years and beyond. • The facility plan will help the Office of Science continue to provide researchers with world class facilities in all areas of BES research. • BESAC’s role in priority setting.

8. FY2003 Budget Request

9. The 2004 Budget and Beyond • Office of Science authorization language exists in the House or Senate. The Senate version of the Energy bill contains some healthy authorization levels for Science, as does the Biggert bill in the House. • Even so, future Office of Science appropriations remain uncertain. • Congress and the Administration must be “sold” on the importance of scientific research in Office of Science.