Working With Us

: Industry, government and university groups have a wide range of opportunities to work with ORNL and to access some of the lab's unique equipment and world class researchers.

: ORNL uses Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA), Work for Others (WFO), and nondisclosure agreements for collaborative research performed with universities and industry. CRADAs are agreements to conduct research where the partner contributes to the project cost and may obtain license rights to any created inventions. WFO agreements enable sponsors to fund ORNL researchers working at the lab. WFO agreements may also give the sponsor rights to ORNL inventions. For more information about the laboratory, see: www.ornl.gov

: User facility agreements give outside researchers access to ORNL facilities. There is no cost for nonproprietary work, but the sponsors bear full cost for proprietary work at user facilities. The High Temperature Materials Laboratory (HTML) is an example of a DOE User Facility established to help solve energy issues. HTML includes six user centers with extensive facilities and expertise in characterizing microstructures, microchemistry, and the physical and mechanical properties of materials. User centers are available in the fields of materials analysis, friction, wear and machinability, mechanical characterization and analysis, diffraction, residual stress, and thermography and thermophysical properties. These facilities are available for both nonproprietary and proprietary research. Access to HTML is through proposals submitted via www.ms.ornl.gov/htmlhome. In addition to HTML, ORNL has 16 other experimental user facilities that attracted 1,300 experimenters from over 405 organizations in FY 2005.

: The creation of the "Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park", to be located on the ORNL campus was announced in 2006. The technology park will be available for private sector companies to locate on the ORNL campus. Laboratory officials also anticipate that the new park will be used to help create new companies from technologies developed at ORNL. An example is Chemical Composite Coatings LLC, which is expected to become one of the first residents in order to facilitate closer collaborations with ORNL research staff and have routine access to user facility equipment. For more information, contact the ORNL Partnerships.