The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced July 14 that it has renewed its management and operating contract for DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory with UChicago Argonne, LLC, which manages Argonne for the DOE’s Office of Science.
The new five-year contract, which starts Oct. 1, will continue the productive partnership between the laboratory and the University of Chicago.
Since its founding in the wake of the Manhattan Project during World War II, Argonne has become a leader in innovative science and engineering that addresses pressing national problems — from medicine, to computing and artificial intelligence (AI), to advanced nuclear technologies and batteries.
“As a hub that fosters groundbreaking discovery, Argonne provides an essential service to the benefit of the individuals and institutions that comprise the broader scientific community,” said UChicago President Paul Alivisatos, who is the chairman of UChicago Argonne LLC’s board of governors. “I look forward to continuing this partnership and stewardship as together we enter the next era of discovery and impact.”
Under the current contract with UChicago Argonne LLC, which began in 2006, Argonne has expanded and modernized six DOE national user facilities, which are among the most important scientific resources in the world. Together these facilities support nearly 8,000 researchers each year from universities, industry, government and international institutions, and provide world-class capabilities in X-ray science, supercomputing, nanoscale research and materials science.
Argonne is home to the Advanced Photon Source, the world’s brightest synchrotron X-ray light source, which enables discoveries in public health, microelectronics, energy, manufacturing and national security.
Argonne was also an early pioneer in computing, having built its first computer in 1949, and has since become a national hub for open-science supercomputing and a leader in harnessing AI for scientific discovery. In 2025, the laboratory deployed Aurora, one of the world’s first exascale supercomputers, alongside a new generation of AI systems built to take on some of the nation’s most complex scientific challenges.
“Argonne’s mission has always been rooted in a simple but powerful idea: that the best science, pursued by exceptional people and guided by the public good, can change the world,” said Director Paul K. Kearns. “The strong partnership between the Department of Energy, the University of Chicago, and Argonne has given our researchers the mandate and the resources to prove that idea right — in laboratories, in communities, in industry and in the technologies that power everyday American life. We are enormously proud of that legacy and deeply committed to what comes next.”
Argonne remains at the forefront of nuclear energy innovation, building on eight decades of expertise in the development of next-generation nuclear reactor technologies and recycling of nuclear fuel. The laboratory is widely recognized for next-generation battery and energy storage innovation.
Argonne also is helping the U.S. advance critical quantum technologies and leads Q-NEXT, one of five national quantum research centers, renewed for a second five-year term in 2025. As a driving force in emerging technologies, Argonne strengthens the nation’s scientific and technological competitiveness.
Located in Lemont, Ill., Argonne generates an estimated $2.5 billion in annual U.S. economic impact. The lab employs some 3,800 people and includes 21 research divisions. Its researchers publish roughly 1,700 peer-reviewed articles and secure about 60 patents each year, and staff have earned 150 R&D 100 awards over the laboratory’s history.