Berkeley Lab Director Search
UC President Yudof Names Search Committee For New Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Director
University of California President Mark G. Yudof has named an 11-member committee of university regents, faculty and researchers to advise him in the search for the next director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Full story>
In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with “excellence.” It was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics. Since then, 11 scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize, and 55 Nobel Laureates either trained here or had significant collaborations with the Laboratory. Thirteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Berkeley Lab has trained thousands of university science and engineering students who are developing technological innovations for the nation and the world.
Berkeley Lab is a significant contributor to the local and global economies. It employs approximately 4,000 scientists, engineers, support staff, and students, and hosts nearly 4,000 guests, many of whom are visiting scholars or industry partners conducting research at one of the Laboratory’s six national user facilities. As a result of its strong ties with UC Berkeley, approximately 1,000 of its research staff hold joint appointments with UC Berkeley and other campuses (see chart). Its budget for 2008 was approximately $600 million, nearly half of which was provided by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science programs in Basic Energy Sciences and Biological and Environmental Research (see chart). Studies estimate the Laboratory’s overall economic impact through direct, indirect, and induced spending on the nine counties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area to be nearly $700 million annually. Additionally, the overall economic impact on the global economy is an estimated $1.4 billion a year.
Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Office of Science, and is managed by the University of California (UC). It is responsible for conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines including physics, life sciences, and engineering
