Home - DOE Office of Science SCAC Facilities Subcommittee Community Town Hall

The SCAC Facilities Subcommittee invites the community to participate in a virtual town hall to help inform the development of a roadmap for DOE Office of Science investments and activities in major facilities. We also welcome written input from community members wishing to provide more detailed input. Responses will be limited to 2500 words.

The SCAC Facilities Subcommittee has been charged with reviewing a summary of proposed facilities and upgrades, identifying any gaps, and, in a constrained budget environment, prioritizing the new or upgraded facilities that are most crucial to the needs of the nation for the next ten years (2026-2036). We presented an update on our process at the July SCAC meeting and our report is to be presented to the SCAC for consideration at their November meeting. In addition to delivering world-leading scientific capabilities to SC missions, the prioritization should consider how the proposed facilities integrate with and support the Genesis Mission as well as other Administration priorities.

To accomplish our task, the Subcommittee is seeking input from universities, national laboratories, and the scientific user communities on topics including:

As you consider the challenges and opportunities facing science broadly in the US, what advice do you have for us as we approach our charge?
What should be our highest priority consideration? What would you do if you were in our shoes?
What gaps do you see in the list of proposed facilities we have been tasked to prioritize?
Some criteria to consider:
- Potential for maintaining US leadership and accelerating scientific discovery
- Role in critical workforce development
- Ability to leverage existing capability
- Need to maintain national or economic security
- Synergies between facilities and partnerships with industry, Universities or other agencies
- Risks to cost and schedule
- Any other issues that will help us in our prioritization process

You may make this input in two forms:

VIRTUAL TOWN HALL SPEAKING REQUEST
WRITTEN INPUT TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE

Registration and Speaking Requests

Community members are encouraged to register and participate in the discussion. Those interested in presenting brief remarks during the town hall may submit a request to speak as part of the registration process. Speaking requests must be received by midnight September 10, 2026, for consideration.
Please include:

Presentation title
Presenter name and affiliation
Brief abstract (200–300 words)

Because of time limitations, not all speaking requests may be accommodated. Submitted abstracts will help the Subcommittee ensure broad representation across scientific domains and stakeholder communities.

Speakers will have a maximum of 5 minutes to speak at their assigned time slot. 2-3 minutes of Q&A will follow and be limited to the members of the subcommittee.

The event will be recorded and posted to the subcommittee website.

Submit a Speaking Request/Abstract Here

Written Submissions

The Facilities Subcommittee has access to the facilities prioritization reports of the FACA committees that were created by the Office of Science communities in 2023, and we have spoken with the former FACA chairs and the chairs of the prioritization subcommittees.

Community members wishing to submit written remarks as input (in addition to the FACA prioritization reports and in addition to comments at the virtual town hall) are welcome provide written submissions to the Subcommittee through the link provided below.

Submissions will be collected and posted to the subcommittee website.

Community Written Submission Information:
Submission/formatting guidance

Submission deadline: September 15, 2026
Maximum length: 2500 words
Figures and references permitted