Stony Brook partnership wins $3.2B contract to continue running Brookhaven National Lab

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a five-year $3.2 billion contract to a partnership led by Stony Brook University to continue managing Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The partnership, which includes Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, has run the sprawling research facility in Upton since 1998. The new contract begins in January and includes performance incentives that could extend the deal to 2030.

"We are excited by this opportunity to continue the lab's trajectory as a national and international research leader," said Stony Brook president Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr.

It is unclear if any other organizations competed for the contract against the Stony Brook partnership, called Brookhaven Science Associates. The Energy Department declined to release details about the bidding process, which began in April.

Home to seven Nobel Prizes, Brookhaven is among the world's premier research centers. It is among 17 national labs operated by the Energy Department, employs 2,850 people and attracts 4,000 visiting scientists annually.

Located in Upton, the 5,300-acre campus has America's only heavy ion collider, which scientists use to study basic matter, and the world's brightest synchrotron light source, a massive facility opening this month to produce powerful X-rays and peer inside atomic particles.