For Faculty and Researchers

About DOE National Laboratories 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has 17 national laboratories that aim to tackle the nation’s critical scientific challenges. These laboratories possess wide-ranging knowledge and unique capabilities in the form of instrumentation and facilities, working to translate basic research to innovation to address complex, large-scale, multidisciplinary research challenges. This includes ten Office of Science Laboratories, three National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories and four other laboratories.

• More information on the National Laboratories can be found on    DOE’s website.
• For highlights of work being conducted at each of the different DOE labs, check out this podcast:    17 Labs in 17 Minutes.
• DOE National Labs at a Glance: Review the State of the DOE National Laboratories factsheets for each of the 17 labs. 

Collaborating with National Labs at CU Boulder

To facilitate and accelerate collaboration between CU Boulder and the national laboratories, the university maintains formal agreements with several different laboratories. This includes master agreements with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and others. We encourage campus faculty and staff to contact us if a formalized agreement would offer significant benefit to your laboratory collaborations.

DOE User Facilities

The DOE National Laboratories operate a host of facilities that can be used by university researchers to conduct ground-breaking research. These facilities offer opportunities for researchers across the CU Boulder campus, with many facilities having their own summer internship programs to support student engagement.
   Learn more: User Facilities at a Glance. 

CU Boulder community members who have an interest in engaging with these facilities or who have specific needs related to user facilities are encouraged to contact the National Laboratory Partnerships team so we can help identify pathways for access.

Funding Opportunities

• Laboratory Specific Opportunities:
  • Details to come.
• National Requests for Proposals:
  • Details to come. 

Joint Appointments

The DOE National Laboratories are excited to develop long-term collaborative research. Joint appointments offer an opportunity for strengthening research partnerships and can provide university faculty with enhanced access to laboratory facilities and funding opportunities. Similarly, inbound joint appointments to the university allow laboratory collaborators to be more directly engaged in proposal development and management.  

Interested faculty should contact their laboratory collaborators or the National Laboratory Partnerships team to explore joint appointment opportunities.