Mission Statement

The Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC) is a broad based coalition of organizations representing scientists, engineers and mathematicians in universities, industry and national laboratories who are committed to supporting and advancing the scientific research programs of the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), and in particular, the DoE Office of Science.

The ESC recognizes the critical and unique role that DoE science plays in advancing basic research in the United States and in bringing new technologies to the marketplace. The ESC works with DoE officials and policy makers on Capitol Hill and in the Administration to enhance the quality and understanding of the science supported by the DOE. In accordance with this role, the ESC believes it is critical for policy makers and the general public to understand that DOE is the leading source of federal support for the physical sciences in the nation. In the life sciences, the DOE initiated the Human Genome Program and co-manages this enormously important and promising effort with the National Institutes of Health. The DOE also plays a leading role in supporting engineering, mathematics, and the computational, biological and environmental sciences. As a consequence, the DOE is responsible for a significant portion of federal R&D funding to scientists and students at our colleges and universities.

The ESC also notes that a primary responsibility of DOE's Office of Science is to support large-scale and specialized user facilities located at both national laboratories and universities and to support large teams of scientists focused on national scientific priorities. This makes the DOE Office of Science unique among, and complimentary to, the scientific programs of other federal science agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.

The ESC urges policy makers to recognize the important and unique role played by the DOE in maintaining our nation’s scientific infrastructure and in ensuring U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines.