GAO probes priority-setting at DOE’s Office of Science

The congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reviewed how the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science determines what research to pursue, and submitted its findings to Sen. Lamar Alexander from Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds DOE.

In its 24 February report, GAO notes that DOE’s Office of Science has historically been the nation’s single largest funding source for basic research in the physical sciences, energy sciences, advanced scientific computing and other fields, with a budget of nearly $5 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2011.