Sunrise at SLAC

SLAC+Stanford

Stanford University operates SLAC for the DOE Office of Science. Our strong ties with Stanford go all the way back to the lab’s founding. We sit on Stanford land, our people are Stanford employees and our faculty teach and mentor Stanford graduate students, helping to train the next generation. Our growing partnership with Stanford is crucial to carrying out our scientific vision.

SLAC 

Founded in 1962 with a 2-mile-long linear accelerator used for revolutionary high-energy physics experiments, SLAC has evolved into a multi-program laboratory whose mission leverages its intellectual capital, unique relationship with Stanford University and location within Silicon Valley. As one of 17 Department of Energy national laboratories, we are part of the most comprehensive research system of its kind in the world.

A spectrometer at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource

In addition to managing the lab for the DOE Office of Science, Stanford is an important source of intellectual power for the lab's research and operations. Stanford has made major investments in SLAC and provides key services.

Early morning in the quad, Stanford University

SLAC operates three DOE Office of Science “user facilities” that host thousands of researchers from around the world each year. The research we carry out, and the technology we invent and develop, support the DOE mission of ensuring America’s security and prosperity by addressing the nation’s energy, environmental and nuclear challenges.

 Department of Energy headquarters building
By the numbers

SLAC at a glance

Arrillaga Science Center building
Arrillaga Science Center building. (Jacqueline Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Where research happens

Joint institutes and centers

We run four joint research centers with Stanford that have operations on both campuses. They promote interactions between SLAC and Stanford and are an important source of training for young scientists.

Joint institutes & centers

KIPAC is a Stanford independent laboratory whose members work in the Stanford Physics and Applied Physics departments and at SLAC. It brings the resources of modern computational, experimental, observational and theoretical science to bear on our understanding of the universe at large.

Hannah Pollek (right), and Travis Lange at the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) raft installation.

A partnership between SLAC and the Stanford School of Engineering, SUNCAT explores challenges associated with the atomic-scale design of catalysts for chemical transformations of interest for energy conversion and storage.

Illustration showing a book with layers of atoms on its pages

SIMES studies the nature, properties, interactions and synthesis of complex and novel materials, and doubles as the Materials Science Division of SLAC.

cover art illustration

The Stanford-SLAC Cryo-Electron Microscopy facility at SLAC, built and operated in partnership with Stanford University, is equipped with multiple state-of-the-art instruments for cryo-EM (cryogenic electron microscopy), a groundbreaking technology whose rapid development over the past few years has given scientists unprecedented views of the inner workings of the cell.

A high resolution 3D ribbon diagram showing the structure of part of an RNA molecule

Stanford PULSE Institute  is a Stanford independent laboratory and SLAC research center. It uses SLAC’s LCLS X-ray laser as a primary tool for advancing the frontiers of ultrafast science.

UED electron camera takes snapshots of dynamic ripples.
Tour for graduate students at SSRL.

What SLAC contributes to Stanford

SLAC’s unique facilities and expertise in key areas of science and technology complement what’s available at Stanford, accelerating research on both campuses. SLAC also plays an important role in teaching and mentoring Stanford students.

Scientific facilities

Number of students enrolled by department.

Faculty and teaching

SLAC provided $19 million toward the scientific studies of 430 Stanford graduate students and postdocs in the fiscal year of 2020 (FY2020), along with unique research opportunities in our laboratories. Our faculty taught 12 courses in four Stanford departments in the 2019-20 academic year.

SLAC faculty website

By the numbers

SLAC faculty stats

Panofsky fellows

Panofsky Fellowship

SLAC recently expanded its prestigious Panofsky Fellowship for early-career scientists to encompass all areas of science performed at the laboratory. These 5-year fellowships are intended to attract high-quality, innovative young scientific staff who could potentially lead new science programs at the laboratory.

What Stanford contributes to SLAC

Stanford has made numerous investments in the lab and provides key services such as the SLACafé and the Stanford Guest House. This makes our operations more efficient and lowers the cost of running SLAC.

SLAC+Stanford contribution map

Stanford contributions

Scientific facilities

Kavli Building

Arrillaga Science Center

SSRL Beam Lines 11-1 and 12-1

Stanford-SLAC Cryo-EM (Partial Stanford funding)

Stanford Research Computing Facility

MFX experimental station at LCLS

Detector Microfabrication Facility (in Arrillaga Science Center)

General facilities

Stanford Guest House

Arrillaga Recreation Center at SLAC

Arrillaga Family Main Quad 
 

Services/programs

Marguerite Shuttle

SLACafé

Occupational Health Center

BeWell

Employee benefits

General counsel

Immigration and visa support

Leased space on main campus

Office of Sponsored Research

Payroll

Stanford+SLAC research news

News Brief

A SLAC study shows a process called atomic relaxation offers a new way to explore quantum states in these puzzling materials.

Light blue wavy lines on a maroon red background.
News Feature

SLAC partners with five national labs and eight universities seeking to increase the supply diversity of EV batteries and relieve supply chain concerns.

SLAC-Stanford Battery Center
News Brief

The SLAC professor was elected to the American Physical Society in recognition of his research on ultrafast X-ray methods.

Kelly Gaffney
News Brief

A SLAC study shows a process called atomic relaxation offers a new way to explore quantum states in these puzzling materials.

Light blue wavy lines on a maroon red background.
News Feature

SLAC partners with five national labs and eight universities seeking to increase the supply diversity of EV batteries and relieve supply chain concerns.

SLAC-Stanford Battery Center
News Brief

The SLAC professor was elected to the American Physical Society in recognition of his research on ultrafast X-ray methods.

Kelly Gaffney
News Feature

An energy systems engineer, Cezar helps bridge advanced energy research and applications.

Portrait of Gustavo Cezar
News Feature

The Center for Energy Efficient Magnonics (CEEMag) brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers from SLAC and seven universities

Spin wave-based interconnect illustration
News Feature

The Aqueous Battery Consortium of Stanford, SLAC, and 13 others seeks to overcome the limitations of a battery using water as its electrolyte.