Work for Others (WFO)

Sponsored Research

While most research conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory is financially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, funding from other Federal agencies in the form of interagency agreements or grants can also be beneficial and appropriate.  Funding arrangements of this kind can help advance the Laboratory’s own research goals and interests and enable BNL scientists to engage in some of the important research challenges currently faced by other Federal agencies, including research associated with protecting the homeland, countering terrorism, medical challenges, and more.

At BNL, sponsored research initiatives of this kind are conducted through the DOE’s “Work for Others (WFO)” program.  The guiding principles of the WFO process (DOE Order 481.1B) seek to assure that the proposed sponsored research assignment:

• is consistent with or complimentary to the missions of DOE and BNL
• will not adversely impact execution of regularly assigned programs of BNL
• will not place BNL in direct competition with the domestic private sector
• will not create a detrimental future burden on DOE resources  

In some cases, the Office of Intellectual Property and Sponsored Research may be able to help you to identify appropriate funding opportunities provided by other Federal agencies.  In other cases, our office may be able to assist you in the preparation of a complete and responsive grant proposal.  An additional responsibility of our office is to aid investigators and department-based administrators in the process of securing DOE approval for these sponsored program activities.

Whenever you feel we may be of assistance with a Federal WFO initiative, please feel free to drop a line or give a call to Alison Schwarz at extension 3428.

Related Publications

• Management System Description: Work For Others (WFO) at Brookhaven National Laboratory
• How Federal Agencies Obtain Technical Resources and Skills from the U.S. Department of Energy
• How Private Sponsors and Non-Federal Governments Obtain Technical Resources and Skills from the U.S. Department of Energy
• Doing Business with the National Labs (Laboratory Coordinating Council of the U.S. DOE)

Related Forms

• Federal WFO "PIQ" https://sbms.bnl.gov/SBMSearch/ld/ld05/ld05e281.doc
• Non-Federal WFO "PIQ" https://sbms.bnl.gov/SBMSearch/ld/ld05/ld05e291.doc

BNL's Office of Research Administration

The Office of  Research Administration (ORA) at Brookhaven provides support for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human subjects research and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for animal research.

Last Modified: February 4, 2008
Please forward all questions about this site to: Lori-Anne Neiger

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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