One of the World’s Premier Nanoscience Research Institutions
Supported by the Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) through their Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) program, the Molecular Foundry is one of five national user facilities for nanoscale science that serves over 1000 academic, industrial and government scientists around the world each year. Users come to the Foundry to perform multidisciplinary research beyond the reach of an individual’s own laboratory. By taking advantage of the Foundry’s broad spectrum of core capabilities and expertise, users increase the scope, technical depth, and impact of their research. Moreover, while at the Foundry, users access LBNL’s diverse scientific community that includes other user facilities, including the Advanced Light Source (ALS), National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), and the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), as well as the Energy Innovation Hubs, such as the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), and a number of local Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs).
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The Molecular Foundry features world-class scientists with expertise across a broad range of disciplines and state-of-the-art, often one-of-a-kind, instrumentation. Staff spend at least half their time working with users that are selected through an external, peer-review process. Staff then devote the remainder of their time to internal research activities, which can be augmented with postdoctoral fellows hired using internal or external grant support. Internal research programs advance the frontiers of nanoscale science by developing new capabilities that are made available to users. In this novel feedback model that was created by the Molecular Foundry and its fellow NSRCs, users are strongly engaged to advance Foundry research: many new Foundry capabilities arise out of synergistic projects with users.
Nanoscience can open new frontiers in nearly every field of science including energy, electronics, materials science, and biology. Research conducted with users at the Molecular Foundry defines these new frontiers and develops science and technology strategies to enable them. Organized into seven collaborative research facilities that support the five crosscutting scientific themes, the Foundry provides access to state-of-the-art instrumentation, unique scientific expertise, and specialized techniques to help users address myriad challenges in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
About Our Building
“‘Thinking,’ ‘Exchanging,’ and ‘Making’. These necessary links in creating ground-breaking science inspired SmithGroup’s design for the Molecular Foundry in Berkeley, California. The architects tried to combine these aspirations with the aesthetics of this facility to mirror the advanced nature of the research happening within.”
