U.S. Department of Energy

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U.S. Department
of Energys
Office of Science
Workforce Development Issues from a Federal
Agency Perspective

• National Science Foundation
• Arlington, VA

Todd Clark October 25, 2003
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Why is DOE Interested in Workforce Development?

• Final Report of the Secretary of Energy Advisory
  Board's Task Force on the Future of Science
  Programs at the Department of Energy -- October
  13, 2003
• The Department should dramatically enhance its
  role in educating and training future scientists
  and engineers, drawn from Americas diverse
  population, for careers in DOE-related fields.
  The Department should establish strong programs
  of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral
  fellowships or traineeships in the physical
  sciences and engineering and should strengthen
  its outreach at the K-12 level.

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Why is DOE Interested in Workforce Development?

• IG Report (July 2001) states the Department
  could face a shortage of nearly 40 percent in its
  science and technical classifications within five
  years.
• DOE is the largest federal agency funding basic
  research in physical sciences. We need to ensure
  we have the workforce to accomplish this
  research.

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Federal Funding for Physical Science Research
(FY1999)
Physical Sciences
2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0
2012
Dollars in Millions
1010
515
412
205
Energy NASA NSF DOD
HHS
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Goals of DOE Workforce Development Office

• Grade School - to - Grad School approach for
  attracting students into the STEM pathway
• Science Bowl Activities/K-12 Teacher Professional
  Development
• Undergraduate Internships
• Graduate Fellowships
• Faculty Research Opportunities

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Goals of DOE Workforce Development Office

• Use the DOE National Labs as a Resource
• Safe, well-established, well-supported places for
  big science
• Large, first-class facilities and instruments for
  cutting-edge science
• Strong human resources for mentoring, PR
• Community of government, university, and private
  resources

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K-12 Initiatives

• National Middle School Science Bowl
• Model Solar Car Races
• Model Fuel Cell Car Races
• National Science Bowl
• Saturday Science Seminars
• Model Fuel Cell Car Races

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Undergraduate Research
Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship
Community College Institute
Pre-Service Teacher Program
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Graduate Programs

• University Research Grants
• For FY 2002, the Office of Science sponsored more
  than 2000 graduate students in research projects
  at 6 labs
• Laboratory Science Teacher Professional
  Development

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Faculty Programs

• Faculty and Student Teams (FaST)
• Faculty Sabbatical Program

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Contact Information

• Todd Clark, Office of Science
• todd.clark_at_science.doe.gov
• [phone]
• http//www.scied.science.doe.gov