University Research | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

What Causes Nuclear Waste Glass to Dissolve?

Researchers from the University of Houston, the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh are working to discover what causes nuclear waste glass to deteriorate, and how to slow or stop the process.

Harvesting Solar Fuels Through a Bacterium's Unusual Appetite for Gold

A bacterium named Moorella thermoacetica won’t work for free. But UC Berkeley researchers have figured out it has an appetite for gold. And in exchange for this special treat, the bacterium has revealed a more efficient path to producing solar fuels through artificial photosynthesis.

Scientists Present New Clues to Cut Through the Mystery of Titan's Atmospheric Haze

A research collaboration, involving scientists in the Chemical Sciences Division at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor Ralf Kaiser, has zeroed in on a low-temperature chemical mechanism that may have driven the formation of multiple-ringed molecules—the precursors to more complex chemistry now found in the moon’s brown-orange haze layer.

Purdue Team Receives $2.5 Million to Develop Quantum Computing Technologies

A team of Purdue researchers led by Sabre Kais, a professor of chemistry, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance technologies in quantum information science.

Department of Energy Supports Research on Microplasmas

A new grant from the Department of Energy is enabling Dr. Stephen Remillard of the Hope College physics faculty to explore how microplasmas function — understanding that is meant to improve their value in applications ranging from the design of small radio components, to plasma display panels, to surgery.

Chemists Awarded $3.6 Million to Study Quantum Computing

A group of Northwestern University chemists and engineers have been been awarded $3.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to support their work of creating better qubits, the smallest unit of a quantum computer.

Study Opens Route to Flexible Electronics Made from Exotic Materials

MIT researchers have devised a way to grow a single crystalline compound semiconductor on its substrate through two-dimensional materials.

New Options for Breast Cancer Drug Development Found in Estrogen Receptors

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have uncovered a previously uncharacterized, bridge-like structure within the human estrogen receptor that could serve as a valuable new drug target.

Professor Benjamin Safdi Awarded DOE’s Early Career Award

Theoretical physicist Benjamin Safdi has been awarded a 2018 Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award. The five-year grant provides funding to support his research on the particle nature of dark matter. “

Grants for Quantum Information Science

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $218 million in new grants for “Quantum Information Science” and researchers with the Center for Quantum Mathematics and Physics (QMAP) at UC Davis are among the recipients.

A New Path to Solving a Longstanding Fusion Challenge

A class exercise at MIT, aided by industry researchers, has led to an innovative solution to one of the longstanding challenges facing the development of practical fusion power plants: how to get rid of excess heat that would cause structural damage to the plant.

Physics Graduate Student Takes Her Thesis Research to a Department of Energy National Lab

For 12 months, Ashlyn Burch, a University of Alabama at Birmingham physics student will work at Sandia National Laboratory, high in the semi-arid Western city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, supported by a U.S. Department of Energy Science Graduate Student Research award.