On an oak-studded hillside a mere two miles from Stanford University lies the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). Run by Stanford for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), SLAC is home to a 2-mile-long linear accelerator, a synchrotron and the world’s most powerful X-ray laser. Experiments there probe everything from the most intricate molecular details of artwork or cellular structures to the origins of the universe and materials for better batteries. SLAC's scientific mission has diversified from an original focus on particle physics and accelerator science to include cosmology, materials and environmental sciences, biology, chemistry and alternative energy research.

SLAC is one of 17 DOE national laboratories that tackle the critical scientific challenges of our time. The most comprehensive research system of its kind in the world, DOE labs take a multidisciplinary approach to translating basic science into innovation. As one of 10 labs stewarded by the DOE Office of Science – the nation’s biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences – SLAC supports the office’s mission in the development, construction and operation of unique, open-access scientific user facilities.

The relationship between SLAC and Stanford goes back 60 years, to a meeting where Stanford physicists helped plot construction of the linear accelerator. Since that time, collaborations between Stanford and SLAC scientists contributed to four Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. Now their proximity supports several joint research centers and institutes and creates unparalleled opportunities for Stanford faculty and students to investigate the world we live in and solve real-world challenges.