The Molecular Foundry

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 a national User Facility for nanoscale science serving hundreds of academic, industrial and government scientists around the world each year. Users come to the Foundry to perform multidisciplinary research beyond the scope 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 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s diverse scientific community that includes other user facilities, including the Advanced Light Source (ALS) and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), as well as the Energy Innovation Hubs, such as the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) and Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), and a number of local Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs).

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 outside users, devoting 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 and electron microscopy by developing new capabilities that are made available to users. In this novel feedback model, 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 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 interdependent research facilities that support the four crosscutting scientific themes that are validated by a thorough strategic planning process, 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.

(Taken from The Foundry Website) The Molecular Foundry Homepage