National labs like Los Alamos and other “FFRDCs” are crucial for informing government policy and advancing science and technology, particularly related to national security. They employ tens of thousands of scientists, policy analysts, and administrative staff—offering valuable career opportunities (especially for STEM graduates) and serving as a key pathway into federal government and policy careers.

What on Earth are “FFRDCs”?

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are private, non-profit organizations the US government contracts to conduct research and development (R&D) activities to support various federal agencies and inform policy. These centers—such as the RAND Corporation, nearly all national labs, and many other organizations—are crucial in advancing scientific and technological capabilities to address specific government needs and challenges, often related to national security.

Too often overlooked by students, FFRDCs provide undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral programs and pathways into government. They support security clearances and allow transfers (via IPAs and other programs) into the federal government as well as intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency. They are also excellent landing spots for STEM graduates, as many FFRDCs support basic science and technology research alongside their government work. So, FFRDCs are excellent places to launch a national security career—particularly if you’re interested in the opportunities and risks of emerging technologies.

FFRDCs are unique entities that combine aspects of federal agencies, think tanks, academia, and private sector companies. The key characteristics of FFRDCs include:

• Federal funding: FFRDCs receive funding primarily from the federal government through contracts or other arrangements. The funding supports R&D activities aligning with the sponsoring agencies’ mission (e.g. the Department of Energy, DOE). Different FFRDCs will have different funders based on legacy arrangements, but increasingly, all FFRDCs are competing over government contracts.
• Nonprofit status: FFRDCs are nonprofit entities whose primary purpose is to serve the public interest by providing specialized expertise and capabilities to federal agencies.
• Independence and objectivity: FFRDCs aim to operate with high independence and objectivity.
• Long-term relationships: FFRDCs typically have long-term relationships with their sponsoring agencies, often spanning several years. For example, the Air Force has maintained close ties to the RAND Corporation for many decades. This continuity allows for sustained collaboration and the development of deep expertise in specific domains.
• Multidisciplinary expertise: FFRDCs often bring together multidisciplinary teams of experts, including scientists, engineers, policy analysts, and other professionals. While each FFRDC specializes in some fields, their range of scientific disciplines is typically quite broad (e.g. from AI to computing to energy to materials to bio).
• Mission focus: Each FFRDC is associated with a specific government agency or set of agencies, and its activities closely align with those agencies’ objectives. For example, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory get contracts from the DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration for nuclear weapon design.
• Government access: FFRDCs typically provide the government access to facilities, research findings, and to the staff’s expertise upon request (e.g. by seconding talent). This transparency facilitates collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Besides the national labs, some well-known examples of FFRDCs include the RAND Corporation, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, and the Aerospace Corporation. These centers cover various research areas, including national security, defense, energy, healthcare, and more. FFRDCs have played a significant role in advancing scientific knowledge and technology in areas critical to the nation’s well-being and they are also geographically spread out across the entire country, well beyond the Washington DC metro region.

In addition to FFRDCs, there are University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs). Working for a UARC offers many of the same benefits as FFRDCs for launching your national security career. The key distinction is that UARCs are affiliated with universities and have specific mission areas (generally serving the Department of Defense, DOD) that reflect the research priorities of specific military services. Particularly well-known examples of UARCs include Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory serving the Navy and the University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute serving USSTRATCOM. There are also several Academic Alliance programs that the US government (e.g. STRATCOM’s Academic Alliance) uses to engage with universities—if you’re a student, the odds are good that your university already has a tie to a particular part of the government if you go looking for it.

Overview of FFRDCs

You can find the full list of FFRDCs here and UARCs here. Below, we’ve pulled out some institutions that have served as common career launching points.

Institution	Location	# of employees (approx.)	Primary clients1	Notable early-career opportunities	Careers website
Aerospace FFRDC	El Segundo, California	4,600	DOD, Department of the Air Force (USSF), NRO, NASA, NOAA	Recent Graduates/Internships/University Partnership Program	Careers
Ames Laboratory	Ames, Iowa	500	DOE	Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Science Graduate Student Research Program	Careers
Argonne National Laboratory	Argonne, Illinois	3,700	DOE	Undergraduate & Graduate Temporary Employment and Internship Programs Postdoc Career Launch	Careers
Center for Naval Analyses	Arlington, Virginia	500	DOD, Department of the Navy	Research Internship Program	Careers
Idaho National Laboratory	Idaho Falls, Idaho	5,600	DOE, NASA	Undergraduate/Graduate Internships  University Partnerships	Careers
Jet Propulsion Laboratory	Pasadena, California	6,300	NASA	Postdoc Positions Summer Internship/Academic Part-time Internship	Careers
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory	Laurel, Maryland	8,700	DOD, NASA	Internships Early Career Opportunities Doctoral-Level Opportunities	Careers
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	Berkeley, California	4,300	DOE	Early Career Opportunities	Careers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory	Livermore, California	9,300	DOE, Intelligence Community	Science & Engineering Internships Military Programs (ROTC)	Careers
Lincoln Laboratory	Lexington, Massachusetts	4,100	DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering	Early Career & Student Opportunities	Careers
Los Alamos National Laboratory	Los Alamos, New Mexico	14,200	DOE	Student Programs	Careers
MITRE Corporation	McLean, Virginia	9,000	DOD, Departments of Transportation, the Treasury, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services	Early Career Professionals	Careers
Oak Ridge National Laboratory	Oak Ridge, Tennessee	6,000	DOE	Educational Programs – Recent Graduate STEM Internships and Fellowships	Careers
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory	Richland, Washington	5,700	DOE	NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program	Careers
RAND (hosts 4 FFRDCs)2	Santa Monica, California	1,800	Various (e.g. DOD, Homeland Security, Air Force and Army)	Pardee RAND Graduate School Graduate Student  Summer Associate Program	Careers
Sandia National Laboratories	Albuquerque, New Mexico	15,600	DOE	Students & Postdocs – Internships/Fellowships/Postdoctoral Positions	Careers
Science and Technology Policy Institute	Washington, DC	1,500	White House OSTP, National Science Foundation	Students & Recent Graduates	Careers
Systems and Analyses Center	Alexandria, Virginia	1,500	DOD, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment	Students & Recent Graduates	Careers

Types of FFRDCs

Broadly speaking, there are three functional categories of FFRDCs, which engage in different activities on behalf of their sponsor. These will typically also employ different types of specialists. The categories are (overview here):

1. Research and development laboratories: These labs focus on technology areas where existing government and private sector capabilities fall short. Their main goals are to sustain expertise in crucial technological fields and to transfer new technologies to the private sector.
   • Examples include all the national labs and Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute.
2. Study and analysis centers: These centers provide independent, objective analysis and advice in key areas to assist with policy development and decision-making.
   • Examples include the Science and Technology Policy Institute, RAND’s Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center, and the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center.
3. System engineering and integration centers: These centers offer specialized support in areas beyond the sponsor’s technical and engineering capabilities. They help ensure complex systems meet operational needs, covering technical specifications, hardware and software development, performance testing, and more.
   • Examples include the Aerospace FFRDC and MITRE’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.

People interested in careers in policy and policy analysis may be especially well-suited to work in the “Study and analysis centers”, whereas those engaged in technical work may want to look more closely at the other two categories. 

National labs: history and overview

The “labs”: A (very) brief history

The “labs”: A (very) brief history

FFRDCs date back to the late 1940s. In the aftermath of World War II and with the emerging Cold War, the US government recognized the need for sustained scientific and technical expertise to address national security challenges. This partly reflected the role of the Manhattan Project in World War II—involving the US, the UK, and Canada—whose primary goal was to develop the first nuclear weapons (as depicted in the film Oppenheimer).

Established in 1943 under the scientific leadership of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) played a central role in the Manhattan Project. It served as the main laboratory for designing and building the atomic bombs and brought together some of the world’s leading scientists, including Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, and Niels Bohr. After World War II, Los Alamos continued to be a major center for nuclear research and weapons development. It has since expanded into a wide range of scientific disciplines, including nuclear physics, materials science, and computational science. 

In the post-war period, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) continued nuclear weapons research. Physicist Ernest O. Lawrence at UC Berkeley—a Nobel laureate and inventor of the cyclotron—played a key role in establishing LANL’s cousin, the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory (LLRL). Like LANL, the primary focus was on nuclear weapons R&D.

LLRL concentrated on the development of the hydrogen bomb during the 1950s and 1960s. The lab’s scientists made significant contributions to the design and testing of thermonuclear weapons. And in 1971, LLRL was incorporated into the newly established Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as part of the broader reorganization of the national labs under the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), later merged into the Department of Energy (DOE). LLNL has continued to be a major center for advanced R&D. The laboratory collaborates with academia, industry, and other national labs on various projects, including those related to national security, nuclear science, energy, the natural environment, and broader scientific advancements.

Sandia National Laboratories originated in 1945 as the Z Division of Los Alamos. In 1949, Sandia was formally established as a separate entity within the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), with a primary mission of developing, testing, and maintaining the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons. Today, Sandia is renowned for its expertise in science, engineering, and technology, contributing to national security, energy innovation, and various other critical areas (still including the non-nuclear aspects of nuclear weapons design and engineering).

Overview of the national labs today

Beyond the nuclear-focused labs described in the history section above—Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia—the DOE also oversees a network of other “national labs”³, each with specific missions and expertise in various fields. These labs are crucial in advancing scientific research and technological innovation. They include (not comprehensive):

• Argonne National Laboratory (ANL): Located near Chicago, Illinois, Argonne focuses on a broad range of scientific and engineering research, including nuclear energy, materials science, environmental science, and high-performance computing.
• Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL): Situated in Upton, New York, BNL conducts research in nuclear and high-energy physics, materials science, and environmental science. It is home to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the National Synchrotron Light Source II.
• Idaho National Laboratory (INL): Situated in Idaho Falls, INL focuses on nuclear energy research, including nuclear reactor design, materials science, and nuclear fuel cycle research. It also addresses issues related to cybersecurity and environmental science.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL): Located in Berkeley, California, LBNL conducts research in areas such as advanced computing, materials science, environmental science, and biosciences. It is home to the Advanced Light Source and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is dedicated to R&D in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, including solar, wind, and bioenergy.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL): Based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, ORNL is a multidisciplinary laboratory conducting research in nuclear science, materials science, neutron science, and computing. It houses the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility.
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL): Located in Richland, Washington, PNNL focuses on environmental science, energy efficiency, and national security. It is known for its expertise in grid modernization and cybersecurity.

In early 2025, the national labs further expanded their technological capabilities through a partnership with OpenAI, which deployed advanced AI models at Los Alamos as a shared resource for researchers from Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia National Labs. The partnership aims to accelerate scientific research across disciplines like materials science, renewable energy, and astrophysics.

Separate from the DOE-associated “national labs”, the military also runs labs focused on specific services. Military labs are R&D facilities operated by various branches of the armed forces to advance military capabilities, technologies, and readiness—thus playing a crucial role in supporting defense and security objectives. 

1. The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) conducts research in areas such as materials science, robotics, cybersecurity, and soldier performance.
2. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the Navy and Marine Corps’ research arm. It conducts research across oceanography, space science, materials science, electronics, and others.
3. Similarly, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) covers areas such as aerospace systems, directed energy, space technology, and cyber operations. 

While not a traditional laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) operates as one of the DOD’s main R&D arms. It supports high-risk, high-reward projects and has been responsible for groundbreaking innovations, including the development of the Internet.

Another non-traditional entity, the DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), bridges the US military and the commercial technology sector. Established in 2015, DIU focuses on accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, fostering innovation, and strengthening partnerships with private industry to address national defense challenges.

These labs and offices are directly government-operated entities, as opposed to FFRDCs, which are run by non-governmental bodies—but they serve many of the same functions. You can also find similar entities across the globe. For example, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) supports the UK’s Ministry of Defense.

This model of interaction between the government and the labs has proven successful over time and has been repeated in the years since. While the FFRDCs’ roles in policy-making have waxed and waned given the national security context of the day, they offer a good starting point for pursuing a national security-oriented career—especially (but not exclusively) if you’re looking to leverage your STEM training.

Why (not) work for the FFRDCs?

FFRDCs offer great opportunities to enter the national security workforce—especially (but not exclusively) for those with technical backgrounds and STEM degrees. Among other benefits, FFRDCs offer support for graduate, professional, and doctoral degrees within ongoing research projects in their respective fields. They also exist nationwide, allowing you to engage in policy-related work without moving to Washington DC. Employees at FFRDCs also tend to earn more than employees in government agencies. And by working for an FFRDC, you can (and often need to) get a security clearance, a valuable asset for future government jobs, especially in the national security space.

FFRDCs also offer a jumping-off point into policymaking and public service—whether via a direct hire into the civil service via USAJobs or via a transfer arrangement (usually after 2-5 years of service). USAJobs is the federal government’s job board, but it has all sorts of problems, though various reform efforts have aimed to improve it. Even now, it’s still a big struggle to get your application seen via USAJobs. So, one viable way into DC policy remains engaging with the public sector via FFRDCs, getting to know the field, and subsequently being tapped for a transfer or engaging in one of the pathway programs.

Across all of public service, you’ll find opportunities for professional development (e.g. trainings and support for further education). The FFRDCs and national labs offer their employees generous support for this type of development—paying in part or in full for graduate degrees across many disciplines. You may also consider the various fellowship programs offering pathways into public service (e.g. PMF, Horizon, AAAS), which offer institutionalized training and rotations across different parts of government.

A role in the FFRDCs need not lead to a government job in the future. Indeed, the science, engineering, and policy talent from the labs often enter private industry, occasionally via startups (some of which are supported by FFRDC programs to spin off government-funded R&D projects). We’ve seen many staff from the national labs go to major tech companies or other parts of the defense space—from Anduril and Palantir to Lockheed and Northrup Grumman. Post-PhD, a small number also enter academia—though the relative ease of this transition depends on the discipline (some academic fields prefer that scholars stay within the university system). Of course, many also use their time in FFRDCs to solidify their academic interests before deciding to start a doctoral degree. 

While FFRDCs can be excellent places to launch a career, they also have some potential downsides. First, good luck explaining FFRDCs to your family at the Thanksgiving table. More seriously, making a positive difference via FFRDC work can take time, and the impact of your work is often intangible. FFRDCs are trusted government partners but not policy implementers. Rather, they support and inform policy. You’ll have to be comfortable with your work having an indirect—though no less important—effect on society than working directly inside of government. But remember the various opportunities for you to get pulled into government from within an FFRDC.

As is the case across government, your work contributions are mediated by the teams you’re a part of and by the institutional leadership. Some of the institutions on the above list veer toward a more “nerdy” culture, and others less so. If you apply to work at an FFRDC, you should use the interview process to get a feel for the institution and your specific team and determine how your experience will contribute to your growth and fit your career goals.

The diverse locations of FFRDCs can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s an advantage for people with a location constraint or a preference against living in Washington DC. But living and working in DC can offer valuable career benefits (e.g. networking with DC policy professionals and attending events of DC policy organizations), especially for early-career individuals seeking to work in federal policy long-term. FFRDCs differ in how remote-friendly they are, though any classified work will require coming onsite. 

FFRDC roles and personal fit

There are jobs for every discipline at FFRDCs—from back office functions to project management, HR, and individual contributions to national security-related programs. Below, we focus primarily on the latter as those are perhaps the most relevant for technologists and aspiring policy professionals.

Types of roles

There are two main types of FFRDC positions: technical roles pegged to a particular domain (e.g. computing, biological sciences, engineering) and policy-oriented roles that tend to be organized by domain (e.g. space, nuclear, energy). Of course, some roles mix the two, and many teams across the FFRDCs are highly interdisciplinary. For example, you might find a nuclear non-proliferation policy expert working alongside engineers specializing in zero-trust architectures for a DOE project on the technical verification of an arms control agreement. 

The more policy-oriented roles often have “analyst” in the title, such as “(inter)national security analyst”, “intelligence analyst”, or “wargaming analyst”. And while you might start your career in one of the more generic policy roles (e.g. national security analyst), you will quickly specialize—either by virtue of your interests, needs of your lab’s sponsor, or institutional preference. Some of the language used to describe this type of policy-relevant work may be unfamiliar to you (e.g. “systems engineer”) or sound like disciplines from yesteryear (e.g. “operations research analyst”).

FFRDCs do not and can not play an advocacy role but instead provide support and advice to the government, which sets policy. As such, there are policy roles across all of the FFRDCs and national labs—even where you might not expect them. Even scientists and engineers primarily interested in performing “technical” work must tie their research and projects to policy-relevant questions. Conversely, policy-oriented employees must stay abreast of the latest and greatest R&D insights that might affect their particular domain. 

FFRDC roles differ in how likely you are to eventually serve as a Principal Investigator (“PI”). PIs are responsible for interacting with “customers” (i.e. the government or intergovernmental organizations) and playing various program leadership roles.

While many FFRDCs have “managers” to keep this process organized, there is much room for individual initiative in pursuing direct funding from the government and intergovernmental entities. So, if you enjoy being entrepreneurial, there are often opportunities to build programs within these institutions. And while your first couple of years on the job will primarily focus on supporting existing programs, there are small funding pots across these institutions for early-career staff to get their feet wet. The Lab-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funds at the national labs are examples of this type of funding that might eventually lead to a capability for the government.

Placement opportunities and transitioning into government

Just because you begin life as a “Lab-ee” doesn’t mean that you’ll end your career there or won’t take on numerous assignments in diverse places like DC, Brussels, Vienna, or elsewhere.

FFRDCs actively use the “Intergovernmental Personnel Act” (IPA) for temporary placements of their employees in government agencies and intergovernmental organizations—typically after 3+ years of service. Some IPA opportunities might involve a more “hands-on” role with an existing government agency you liaise with. Other placements aren’t directly related to your FFRDC role but reflect the historical partnership between your FFRDC and a particular governmental entity. 

As an IPA, you’ll be working alongside members of the civil service, but you’ll remain an employee of your home institution and, as a general rule, will earn more than your civil service colleagues.

IPA roles often serve as a way to transition into government. Many of your FFRDC colleagues who “go on assignment” as IPAs might extend their assignment or later parlay their experience to move into the civil service or other FFRDCs.

Since many FFRDC roles will lead to a security clearance (of various types), you become immediately attractive to government agencies that often lack talent and experience a significant clearance processing backlog.

Getting an FFRDC job

The table above includes a column with the career websites of various FFRDCs and another column highlighting various early-career opportunities. FFRDCs offer many paid internship programs for students at all levels of experience (from high school to graduate school) interested in national security work.

Upon graduation, there are also many fellowships and post-doctoral programs specific to each FFRDC institution. And while these postdoctoral positions are usually geared towards STEM backgrounds, they can also be used for policy shops—with many of the national labs creating these types of entities, such as Sandia’s Center for Global Security and Cooperation or the Los Alamos Office of National Security and International Studies. A few promising FFRDC fellowship programs include:

1. STPI Science Policy fellowship – an early-career program run by the Science and Technology Policy Institute, an FFRDC in the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), 
2. NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP) – run by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),
3. Public Policy and Nuclear Threats Internship Program – run by the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, involving an 8-week internship at Los Alamos.

To become competitive for FFRDC roles, communicating your policy interest and technical understanding is essential. While you need not have a STEM background or a science/engineering degree, you must be technology literate in your domain of interest. Getting an offer requires convincing scientists and engineers that they would benefit from you joining their team to understand the policy relevance and pitfalls associated with their work. As such, internships and other work experiences in government or government-adjacent contexts are valuable, as are technology and policy-relevant writing samples and work products. 

Several factors may affect your eligibility for certain FFRDC roles: 

1. Security clearance: If you’re seeking a role requiring a security clearance, you should ensure your eligibility, such as by following these tips. 
2. Citizenship: FFRDCs vary in terms of their preference for US nationals. While it is certainly possible to work for FFRDCs as a non-national, important limitations and requirements may apply. 
3. Degrees: There are some roles requiring particular types of degrees—either by discipline or by level. In general, if the application has specific requirements, the HR team won’t deviate from them and will screen out any applications that do not meet them. Like in other sectors, FFRDCs have experienced “degree creep”, with many applicants holding graduate degrees—particularly in technology policy roles. 

As with any role, speaking with those already in similar positions is often immensely valuable. Policy professionals, including those at FFRDCs, are generally happy to talk about their work (it’s normal to cold email people, send LinkedIn requests, or meet with a friend of a friend for a Zoom chat or quick coffee). Engaging with people close in both age and experience can be immensely important to identify appropriate opportunities. Indeed, they can be more useful than seeking out meetings with the “big names”—so make sure that you’re also networking horizontally and always pay it forward.

Some helpful extracurriculars include participating in national security-relevant networks and programs for early- and mid-career professionals. Our policy fellowship page lists several relevant part-time programs and networks, including several for underrepresented groups. Most of these programs are fully funded and provide excellent networking opportunities.

The following section features several testimonials from early- and mid-career professionals with experience at FFRDCs and the national labs.

FFRDCs working on emerging technology issues

Some FFRDCs have a fairly narrow topic focus while others (especially the major national labs) cover many scientific and technological areas.

Nearly all FFRDCs work on at least some topics that could be classified as “emerging technology”. But if you’re interested in particular policy areas like AI, bio, cyber, nuclear, or space, we recommend doing some research to identify relevant organizations and programs. Getting a shallow overview could be as simple as (1) googling “national lab [my area]” or “[specific lab name] [my area]”, and (2) checking the list of FFRDCs and UARCs and browsing the websites of organizations listed there. This online research is a helpful starting point but may miss some important organizations, especially those working on classified projects for which there is little information publicly available. To get a deeper overview, you might need to connect and speak with professionals working in these institutions.

For illustration, here are some FFRDCs and UARCs working on emerging technology issues we identified through online research (this is far from comprehensive; search conducted in early 2024):

AI & computing	Bio	Cyber	Nuclear	Space & aviation
Johns Hopkins APL (AI, Machine Learning, & Autonomy)	National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center	National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence	Johns Hopkins APL (Strategic Deterrence)	Aerospace FFRDC
Software Engineering Institute (AI Engineering)	LANL (Biosecurity Preparedness, Centers and Programs)	Software Engineering Institute	LANL (Nuclear and Particle Futures)	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
PNNL (AI, Computing)	PNNL (Chemical and Biothreat Signatures)	PNNL (Cybersecurity)	PNNL (Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear Material Science)	PNNL (Space Science, Technology, and Policy)
ANL (AI)	ANL (Biosecurity)	ANL (Cybersecurity, more)	ANL (Nuclear Programs, Nuclear Tech & National Security)	Center for Advanced Aviation System Development
ORNL (AI initiative, Computing Directorate)	LLNL (Biosecurity)	LLNL (Computing and Cybersecurity)	LLNL (Nuclear Threat Reduction)	LLNL (Space Science Institute)
RAND (AI, Machine Learning)	RAND (Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Biosurveillance)	RAND (Cybersecurity, Cyber warfare)	RAND (Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Terrorism, Deterrence)	National Solar Observatory
MITRE (AI, AI Assurance & Discovery Lab)	MITRE (Biotechnology & Life Sciences)	MITRE (Cybersecurity)	ORNL (Nuclear Nonproliferation, Nuclear Energy)	MITRE (Aerospace)
MIT Lincoln Lab (AI Technology & Systems)	MIT Lincoln Lab (Biotechnology & Human Systems)	MIT Lincoln Lab (Cyber Security & Information Sciences)	Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses	MIT Lincoln Lab (Space Systems & Technology)
IDA (Center for Communications and Computing)	SNL (Biodefense & Emerging Infectious Diseases)	SNL (Cyber and infrastructure security)	SNL (Nuclear Weapons)	National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Testimonials

Ruby Booth, Sandia National Laboratory (SNL)

As a member of Sandia’s technical staff, you will have the opportunity to work with a wide array of government sponsors—from advising the Department of Homeland Security to helping solve problems for the DOD to working in the classified spaces on high consequence problems. We also make, and make safe, the US nuclear arsenal.

There isn’t really a “typical” day at the Labs, but I spend much of my time developing risk methodologies that will be used in the real world to understand (and help avoid) very bad things happening to folks living in or relying on the US. I also get to travel to places like Brussels, Belgium (fun!) and Norfolk, Virginia (slightly less fun) to craft wargames that can give decision makers insights into strategic stability. When I’m not doing that, I partner with colleagues at UC Berkeley, Purdue, Stanford, and other academic institutions to consider the long-term implications of emerging technologies. 

If you want to work with very smart folks doing work that matters, I recommend national labs in general and Sandia in specific. We are looking for curious, deep thinkers, who see solutions where others only see problems. If you can provide evidence of those characteristics, you’ll do well.

Sebastian Bae, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA)

CNA analysts and researchers work on a wide range of topics in support of the DOD, the Navy and Marine Corps, and other private and public organizations. As a senior game designer and research scientist, I design both analytical and educational wargames, exploring everything from potential future peer-adversary conflict to illegal fishing. Although I belong to the Operational Warfighting Division, I regularly work across divisions and programs on interdisciplinary teams, assembled for specific projects and topics. One of my favorite parts of working at CNA is that analysts and researchers are often forward deployed—ranging from aircraft carrier deployments to supporting military exercises. My work at CNA isn’t just about studies and reports, but also impacting and supporting real-world operations and planning across the globe.

For additional testimonials of work at the national labs, see these pages.

Additional resources

• NationalLabs.org, overview website with a map, fact sheet, and careers page
• National Laboratories, Department of Energy
• State of the National Laboratories (2020), Department of Energy

This article was written in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Reddie at UC Berkeley.