The Department of Energy national lab user facilities serve as large-scale scientific infrastructure for the nation, hosting massive synchrotrons and beamlines, supercomputers and advanced microscopes.

This scientific infrastructure advances basic research, but also supports industrial innovation at scale.

Using DOE Office of Science user facility data, I’ve highlighted companies that used various national lab user facilites in FY25, ranging from SpaceX and Northrop Grumman, to Form Energy and Helion.

Scientific infrastructure sits in the middle ground between academic research and industrial innovation. Understanding the national lab system and the role of scientific infrastructure plays can better inform how U.S. scientific research scales into globally competitive deeptech industries.