About

The University of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute co-manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy through UT-Battelle, a 50-50 limited liability partnership. ORNL is the nation’s premiere science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security.

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ORNL provides exceptional researchers with distinctive equipment and unique facilities to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. These resources include the Spallation Neutron Source, which provides unprecedented research opportunities to improve the efficiency and safety of products we use every day, like cell phones, engines and batteries; the world’s fastest unclassified supercomputer; some of the largest and advanced additive manufacturing equipment in the world;  joint research centers; and opportunities for collaborative joint faculty appointments and graduate student experiences. These form the basis for the uniquely successful UT-Oak Ridge partnership.

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The combined scientific capability of UT and ORNL bring to the region a unique opportunity to address today’s and tomorrow’s most pressing scientific questions. UT an ORNL have a long and storied history of mutually beneficial collaborative efforts. Examples include the Science Alliance, Joint Institutes, the Joint Faculty program, the Governor’s Chair program and the Bredesen Center, which is a first-of-its-kind joint Ph.D. program focused on talent development in energy and data science and technology.

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The long-term relationship between UT and ORNL, the geographic proximity of the two institutions, and UT’s co-management of ORNL makes the University’s partnership unique and provides an opportunity that allows UT to develop distinctive programs that separate it from the pack. Each of the collaborative efforts between UT and ORNL are individually successful, and UT is continually striving to synchronize and coordinate to capture the full value of the partnership for Tennesseans and the nation.

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