The Physical Sciences Area seeks to understand the fundamental physics of the universe at scales ranging from the infinitely small, inside the world of subatomic particles and nuclei, to the infinitely large, in the structure and evolution of the universe. To tackle these two infinities, we develop cutting-edge tools and technologies, coupled with creative scientific insights, that advance scientific knowledge and ultimately benefit society.

Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics

Compact S-filter at Bldg. 53

The Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division invents, develops, and deploys particle accelerators and accelerator-based photon sources to explore and control matter and energy.

Engineering

Engineer and intern inspecting blue tubing

The Engineering Division builds advanced scientific instrumentation that enables many of the research breakthroughs achieved by Berkeley Lab. These discoveries are the direct result of the integrated coordination and deployment of professional engineering and specialized technical resources.

Nuclear Science

Solenoidal Tracker at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Time Projection Chamber, project field cage

The Nuclear Science Division conducts basic research aimed at understanding the structure and interactions of nuclei and the forces of nature as manifested in nuclear matter.

Physics

ATLAS pixel detectors in clean room

Interactions between matter and energy shape our world and the universe around us. Physics Division researchers are studying these interactions from the innermost confines of subatomic particles to the outermost reaches of the cosmos.

Meet Director’s Award Recipient, Runaround Champion, and Mechanical Engineer Jennifer Doyle

Jennifer Doyle with a magnet for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Accelerator Upgrade Project. (Credit: Robinson Kuntz, Berkeley Lab)

Ben Safdi awarded Breakthrough Prize Foundation's 2026 New Horizons in Physics Prize

Ben Safdi's Breakthrough Prize banner presentation

Behind the Science: FIONA

Nuclear Science Division postdoc Marilena Lyklardopoulou (left) and Chemical Sciences Division graduate student Mirza Grebo (center) make adjustments as Jennifer Pore (right foreground), a researcher in Berkeley Lab's Nuclear Science and Chemical Sciences Divisions, shows viewers the FIONA spectrometer at the Lab's 88-Inch Cyclotron.

Behind the Science: FIONA

Jennifer Pore (right foreground), a researcher in Berkeley Lab's Chemical Sciences and Nuclear Science Divisions, shows viewers the FIONA spectrometer at the Lab's 88-Inch Cyclotron.

Does the periodic table break down? To find out, Berkeley Lab researchers are using FIONA, a state-of-the-art spectrometer at the Lab’s 88-Inch Cyclotron, to study the chemistry of the heaviest elements.

CNC Machine Installation

From the video, an aerial view/screenshot of the Engineering Division's new giant CNC machine.

This 2022-2026 time-lapse video shows the Berkeley Lab Engineering Division’s new 40-ton large-format Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Horizontal Boring Mill (HBM) being installed and incorporated into the existing machine shop infrastructure, and explains how it enhances our ability to deliver high-precision solutions for world-class science.

The Quest for Element 120 and the Elusive Island of Stability

Word (yellow text) on dark blue background: Let's Get Nuclear, Cutting-edge research from Berkeley Lab's Nuclear Science Division. Below this logo is a photo of three people talking in a podcast studio: sitting around a conference table, each wearing large headphones, with laptop computers and microphones in front of each person.

In Episode 1 of NSD’s new podcast, Let’s Get Nuclear, host Jennifer Pore takes us on a journey to the “absolute edge of the periodic table” to explore the mysterious world of superheavy elements. Learn from Berkeley Lab experts about these rare, short-lived substances created by humans, and the quest for the “island of stability,” a theoretical region where they can be thoroughly studied.