The U.S. Department of Energy announced on October 1 that it has awarded a new management and operating contract for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC. The contract is set for a five-year term starting January 1, 2025.
Fermi Forward Discovery Group is led by the University of Chicago and Universities Research Association (URA), along with industrial partners Longenecker & Associates and Amentum. These partners will provide additional management, safety, and operational expertise. FermiForward will take over responsibilities from Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, another UChicago-URA affiliate that has co-managed the laboratory since 2006.
"Fermilab has an ambitious and compelling agenda for scientific discovery on the most fundamental questions concerning matter, energy, space and time," said Paul Alivisatos, president of the University of Chicago and board chair of FermiForward. "We are thrilled that the Department of Energy has chosen our FermiForward team to bring support and governance to these groundbreaking efforts."
Since its founding in 1967 when URA began as the management contractor, Fermilab has explored fundamental questions such as how the universe began and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. It is currently building and running multiple experiments including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), which aims to understand neutrinos.
The FermiForward team combines a history of collaboration with federal science programs with operational excellence from industry. They have built a coalition involving several colleges and universities from both the United States and Europe to further Fermilab’s scientific vision. This includes 20 academic institutions representing leading research universities in America, key higher education partners in Illinois, and historically Black colleges and universities.
Located on a 6,800-acre site in Batavia, Illinois, Fermilab collaborates with more than 50 countries worldwide to explore how the universe was born, evolved over time, and its fundamental rules. The lab's primary mission involves particle physics experiments using world-leading accelerators to study matter's smallest building blocks.
Fermilab’s largest current experiment is DUNE. This project involves sending a neutrino beam from Fermilab through Earth to a detector at Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. Other experiments at Fermilab focus on particles like muons while supporting projects such as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
In addition to particle physics research, Fermilab explores science and technology applications across various fields including quantum sensing tools, communications networks enhancing reach and speed; artificial intelligence advancements; improved pattern recognition for rapid data processing; and microelectronics innovations.