Congress' Budget Delay Stymies Science Research
By William J. Broad

The failure of Congress to pass new budgets for the current fiscal year has produced a crisis in science financing that threatens to close major facilities, delay new projects and leave thousands of government scientists out of work, federal and private officials say. “The consequences for American science will be disastrous,” said Michael Lubell, a senior official of the American Physical Society, the world’s largest group of physicists. “The message to young scientists and industry leaders, alike, will be, ‘Look outside the U.S. if you want to succeed.’ " Full story.

Stalking Discovery From Infinitesimal to Infinite
By Adrian Cho

Roe

In recent years, researchers have begun explorations at the boundaries between particle physics, astrophysics, and astronomy. They are lurking in caves trying to detect particles of the dark matter, sinking detectors into South Pole ice to sense neutrinos, building gamma ray telescopes to view the cosmos, and tracking supernovae to decipher the dark energy. All these endeavors fall under the nebulous rubric of particle astrophysics. "Having realized that quarks and leptons are only 5 percent of the universe, I think it's only natural to ask what the other 95 percent is," says Berkeley Lab physicist Natalie Roe. "So dark energy and dark matter are natural targets for particle physicists." Full story.

LRDP Brown Bag
Lunch this Friday

Lab employees interested in learning more about Berkeley Lab’s 2006 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), which will be issued for public comment on Jan. 22, are invited to attend a brown bag lunch this Friday at noon in the Building 50 auditorium. The 2006 LRDP establishes a framework of land-use principles and policies to guide future growth and change at Berkeley Lab through 2025. Lab staff instrumental in developing the LRDP will be on hand to talk with employees and answer questions about the comprehensive planning document. Attendees are encouraged to bring their lunch. Go here for more information on the LRDP.

Continuing Resolution
And Possible Lab Impacts

Chu

Congress is considering an unprecedented full-year “continuing resolution (CR)” for FY07 – that is, funding Federal government agencies, including the Department of Energy, at FY06 levels. If this occurs, it would have some serious implications for Berkeley Lab programs, especially those dependent upon operation levels projected in pre-election Federal budget proposals.

Since the specific details and fate of the CR are still uncertain, so are our prospects under this zero-growth budget scenario. But, not surprisingly, if scientific programs, user facilities, construction projects, and major equipment purchases are held to FY06 funding, our base budget would drop by about 5 percent. And this does not account for new projects, proposals made in response to earlier FY07 budget calls, and construction. In the worst case, impacts could include reductions in the operating time of our major user facilities, reductions in materials acquisitions, cuts in travel, and reductions in staff levels.

Suffice it to say that a CR for FY07 will have a debilitating effect upon the momentum of key projects and our ability to maintain continued excellence in research and operations. My staff and I are actively working to inform our constituencies and to respond appropriately as the situation develops. From a contact I had with President Dynes in December, he and his colleagues from Caltech, Stanford and USC sent a strong message to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi last week urging that the CR include support for American innovation and competitiveness, in particular to “provide the Department of Energy the flexibility to reprogram funds to permit the implementation of the initiatives that received so much bipartisan support in the 109th Congress to strengthen our scientific research and to foster innovation.” Read the entire letter here.

DOE Under Secretary Ray Orbach and his staff in the Office of Science are doing all they can to impress upon the Congressional leadership the importance of maintaining and strengthening our nation’s technological and research infrastructure. You can read Dr. Orbach’s statement here.

I will keep you informed as new and significant information becomes available.

Research, Development Proposals Now Accepted

A call for proposals for Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) projects for FY08 has been issued. Proposals are due to division offices by March 14. The LDRD program constitutes one of the principal means to seed innovative science and new research directions. The complete Call, with  Director's memo, instructions, and forms are available here.