Basic Energy Sciences

Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Benefits of BES

Funding Opportunities

The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program supports basic scientific research to lay the foundations for new energy technologies and to advance DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security. BES research emphasizes discovery, design, and understanding of new materials and new chemical, biochemical, and geological processes. The ultimate goal is to better understand the physical world and harness nature to benefit people and society.

Major technological innovations don’t just happen. They typically have their roots in basic research breakthroughs over a period of decades. The BES program supports basic research behind a broad range of energy technologies, spanning energy generation, conversion, transmission, storage, and use. Many major innovations can be traced back to basic research supported by BES over the past 40 years. These include, for example, LED lighting; efficient solar cells; better batteries; stronger, lighter materials for transportation, nuclear power plants, and national defense; and improved production processes for high-value chemicals.

The BES program is one of the nation’s largest sponsors of research in the physical sciences. The program funds basic science at nearly 170 universities, national laboratories, and other research institutions in the U.S. BES has also built and supports a national network of major shared research facilities based at DOE national laboratories and open to all scientists. These user facilities help form the backbone of the nation’s research infrastructure. Over 16,000 scientists and engineers make use of these facilities each year.

Learn more about the Basic Energy Sciences mission and operations here.

BES By the Numbers, FY 2018

BES Subprograms

Courtesy Shawn M. Kathmann, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB)

The Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division supports basic research on chemical transformations and energy flow. This research provides the groundwork for the development of new and improved processes for the generation, storage, conversion, and use of energy as well as for other applications.

Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE)

Materials Sciences and Engineering (MSE)

The Materials Sciences and Engineering Division supports basic research for the discovery and design of new materials with novel properties and functions. This research creates a foundation for the development of new and improved materials for the generation, storage, conversion, and use of energy as well as for other applications.

Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

The Scientific User Facilities Division supports R&D, planning, construction, and operation of a nationwide suite of major scientific facilities. These user facilities include large x-ray light sources, neutron scattering centers, and research centers for nanoscale science. They provide state-of-the-art instrumentation to create and measure materials and chemical systems. Tens of thousands of scientists from universities, industry, and government laboratories use them each year.

Reprinted with permission from Baginska, M., et al. 2012. â€œAutonomic Shutdown of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Thermoresponsive Microspheres,â€ Advanced Energy Materials 2(5), 583â€“90. Copyright 2012 John Wiley and Sons.

Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs)

The Energy Frontier Research Centers bring together teams of scientists to perform basic research with a scope and complexity beyond what is possible for individuals or small groups. These centers foster transformative scientific advances to uncover innovative solutions to difficult problems in the energy sciences..

Courtesy Kalia, Nakano, Vashishta, and Shimojo, University of Southern California, at the ANL IBM Blue Gene Q supercomputer with 786,432 processors.

Computational Materials and Chemical Sciences (CMS,CCS)

Computational Materials and Chemical Sciences supports teams of researchers performing basic research to develop software and databases for design of new materials and chemical processes. This research takes advantage of DOE’s current supercomputers and develops software for next-generation exascale computing systems.

Energy Innovation Hubs

Energy Innovation Hubs

The Energy Innovation Hubs mobilize large research teams to overcome major scientific barriers to development of transformative new energy technologies. The two Hubs supported by BES focus on grand challenges in energy: (1) Fuels from Sunlight and (2) Next Generation Batteries and Energy Storage.

BES Science Highlights

Predicting a New Phase of Superionic Ice

March 14, 2018

Possibly residing on ice-rich planets in our solar system and beyond, superionic ice is an exotic type of ice that exists at high temperature and

It’s Not Part of the Problem, but Part of the Solution

March 9, 2018

Rationally designed metal-binding ligands, such as bis-triazine phenanthrolines, have shown great promise for separating actinides over other

Buckyball Marries Graphene

February 28, 2018

Charge transfer at the interface between dissimilar materials is at the heart of almost all electronic technologies such as transistors and

Atomic Movies Explain Why Perovskite Solar Cells Are More Efficient

February 28, 2018

Although perovskite solar cell efficiencies have climbed above the 20 percent mark, the fundamental mechanism responsible for these efficiencies is

Catalysts: High Performance Lies on the Edge

February 28, 2018

In fuel cells, promotion of the reaction of oxygen and hydrogenat the cathode (the oxygen reduction reaction) currently requires the use of

The Shape of Things to Come for Quantum Materials?

February 28, 2018

Most 2-D crystals studied to date are a lattice of hexagons—for example, graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and black phosphorus

Nanocrystals Lock-In the Correct Phase

February 20, 2018

Hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites have emerged as an exciting new material for solar cells with the promise of high efficiency and

Two for the Price of One: Towards Quantum Entanglement with a Single Nanoplate

February 20, 2018

Advances in synthetic chemistry now enable the creation of nanoparticles with many different shapes, sizes, and compositions. One recent advance

Remembering Really Fast

February 16, 2018

Can we build novel memory devices to do data reading and writing at terahertz frequencies so that our personal devices can operate at a much higher

Tuning Quantum Light Sources

February 16, 2018

The ability to integrate fiber-based quantum information technology into existing optical networks would be a significant step towards applications

BES Program News

UCI Scientists Create New Class of Two-dimensional Materials

Fabrication could help unlock new quantum computing and energy technologies.

A Quick Liquid Flip Helps Explain How Morphing Materials Store Information

Experiments at SLAC collected more than 10,000 snapshots of phase-change materials transforming from a glassy to a crystalline state in real time.

Penn Engineers Demonstrate Superstrong, Reversible Adhesive That Works Like Snail Slime

In a new study, Penn Engineers demonstrate a strong, reversible adhesive that uses the same mechanisms that snails do.

Researchers Develop Superconducting Quantum Refrigerator

Physicist Andrew Jordan from the University of Rochester and his fellow researchers have conceived an idea for a superconducting quantum refrigerator.

Energy Department to Invest $32 Million in Computer Design of Materials

Researchers to take advantage of DOE’s advanced supercomputers.

New Research Facility Will Serve ORNL's Growing Mission in Computing, Materials R&D

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and lab officials today broke ground on a multipurpose research facility that will provide state-of-the-art laboratory space for expanding scientific activities at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The new Translational Research Capability, or TRC, will be purpose-built for world-leading research in computing and materials science and will serve to advance the science and engineering of quantum information.

Neutrons Investigate Tomatoes for Insights Into Interplant Chatter

Professors Kathryn and Jonathan Morris from Xavier University are using neutron scattering at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to observe firsthand how these info-chemicals travel along tiny, pipe-like networks called fungal hyphae. Whether the messages move passively along the outside of those fungal networks or the fungi deliberately locate and absorb info-chemicals for transportation remains unclear.

BES Research Resources

BES Workshop Reports

BES Staff Contact Information

Benefits of BES

Funding Opportunities

Contact Information

Basic Energy Sciences
U.S. Department of Energy
SC-22/Germantown Building
1000 Independence Avenue., SW
Washington, DC 20585
P: (301) 903 - 3081
F: (301) 903 - 6594
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