M.S. Livingston and Ernest Orlando Lawrence standing beside the 27-inch cyclotron, built in 1934.

Interactions between matter and energy shape our world and the universe around us. Physical Sciences Area researchers study these interactions at scales ranging from the outermost reaches of the cosmos to the innermost confines of subatomic particles. This research has practical applications in industry and national security that are crucial to our day-to-day lives, and our researchers have won two Nobel Prizes in the last 10 years.

View of San Francisco Bay from Berkeley Lab

Learn more about Physical Sciences Area research activities and publications, and watch recent videos from all four of our Divisions: Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP), Engineering, Nuclear Science, and Physics.

Three people looking at a mechanical device.

The Physical Sciences Area offers job opportunities that span a variety of research, engineering, and technical positions, as well as business administration, human resources, and other scientific support roles across all four Physical Sciences Area Divisions.