Research Department & Divisions
Biology Department
Brookhaven's Biology Department has an extraordinary combination of
strengths in molecular genetics, structural biology, genomics,
enzymology, and biotechnology. Department researchers study a
diverse set of problems in plant, microbial, and mammalian biology.
Current areas of investigation include DNA damage recognition and
repair, plant and microbial genomics and proteomics, enzyme
engineering, the regulation of gene expression, and the exploration
of complex biological structures. See the
historic achievements of
this department.
Center for Functional
Nanomaterials
The Brookhaven National Laboratory Center for Functional
Nanomaterials will provide researchers with state-of-the-art
capabilities to fabricate and study nanoscale materials. Functional
materials are those which exhibit a predetermined chemical or
physical response to external stimuli. The Center's focus is to
achieve a basic understanding of how these materials respond when in
nanoscale form. Nanomaterials--typically on the scale of billionths
of a meter--offer different chemical and physical properties than
bulk materials, and have the potential to form the basis of new
technologies.
Chemistry Department
The Chemistry Department focuses on PET studies of the human
brain, heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis, studies of gas phase
dynamics of reactive species, solar photoconversion and other
chemistries.
Energy Sciences & Technology Department
The Energy Sciences & Technology Department conducts basic and
applied science, research and development, and technology
implementation and deployment to support the DOE objectives of
assuring adequate supplies of clean/affordable energy, reducing U.S.
vulnerability to supply disruptions, advancing alternative and
renewable energy technologies, and increasing energy choices,
maintaining U.S. leadership in energy supply and use; and educating
new generations of scientists.
Collider-Accelerator
Department
The Collider-Accelerator Department
includes the staff who work to improve the Relativistic Heavy
Ion Collider, the Alternating Gradient
Synchrotron, and the Tandem Van de Graaff accelerators,
and the physicists who use these tools in their research. See the historic
achievements of this department.
Medical Department
BNL physicians work with chemists
in the Center for Imaging & Neurosciences to explore the human
brain using medical imaging techniques based on medical radioisotopes.
Other research projects in the Medical Department are aimed at
developing new nuclear medicine treatments and diagnostic agents,
producing medical isotopes for clinical use, and understanding
and treating cancer and heart disease. See the historic
achievements of this department.
Materials Science Department
Major efforts of this
department include the investigation of properties of
superconducting oxides; methods of superconductor characterization
and fabrication; the properties of advanced permanent-magnet
materials; the synthesis of materials for advanced battery and
fuel-cell applications; the
investigation of mechanisms of metal passivation and localized
corrosion; development and investigation of the properties of
cementitious and glassy materials; and advanced methods of electron microscopy to
characterize the nanoscale structure of advanced materials.
National Synchrotron
Light Source (NSLS) Department
The NSLS provides one of the world's brightest continuous
sources of x-ray and UV radiation for scientific research. This light is a beacon for more than
2,300 scientists from BNL, academia and industry annually, who
use it to shed light on everything from the structure of molecules to microchips.
Nonproliferation
& National Security
The mission of The Nonproliferation and National Security Department
is to carry out research and development, provide technical support, and
build prototype systems in order to further U.S. Government initiatives
and policies in Nuclear materials safeguards and security, Arms
control treaty verification, Nonproliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, Material Protection Control and Accountability initiatives
for nuclear materials in Russia and the NIS, and related national
security areas.
Physics Department
BNL physicists pursue experimental and theoretical discoveries
in high-energy, nuclear and solid-state physics, and help design
and build many of the world's foremost physics facilities, both at Brookhaven
and around the globe.
Instrumentation
Division
The Division develops state-of-the-art instrumentation required
for experimental research programs at BNL and maintains the
expertise and facilities in specialized high technology areas
essential for this work. Major areas of effort include
semiconductor, gas, and cryogenic detectors, microelectronics, data
acquisition hardware, micro and nano-fabrication, optical metrology,
and laser and electro-optics. The Division also engages in
collaborative research and technology transfer with selected
industrial partners.
Superconducting
Magnet Division
The BNL Superconducting Magnet Division
constructs magnets for use in particle accelerators such
as the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Superconducting magnets which must
be cooled to temperatures near absolute zero produce stronger magnetic fields
and consume less energy than conventional copper wire electromagnets. Building
on the magnet designs and construction methods developed for RHIC, this Division
is building magnets for use in Europe's Large Hadron Collider and HERA
accelerators.
Environmental Sciences Department
Explores our natural environment, and
turns scientific ideas into practical applications. The image
shown is of the Free
Air CO2 Enrichment ecology research center in North Carolina,
one of many built around the world by Brookhaven scientists to
study the effect of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide on different
ecosystems.
Last Modified: September 25, 2004
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