Established in 1947 on Long Island, Upton, New York, Brookhaven is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) multi-program national laboratory . Six Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries made at the Lab.

Brookhaven has a staff of approximately 3,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff and over 4,000 guest researchers annually.

The Laboratory's role in support of the DOE strategic mission is to design and operate complex, leading edge, user-oriented facilities; to carry out basic and applied research at the frontier of science; to develop advanced technologies that address national needs; to educate new generations of scientists and engineers, maintain technical capabilities in the nation's workforce, and to encourage scientific awareness in the general public.