Get Up Close and Personal With Science at Argonne National Laboratory

Editor's note: Patch is profiling Chicago-area destinations this year for locals and visitors alike. One stop along the way is at Lemont's Argonne National Laboratory. 

One of the largest national laboratories for scientific and engineering research in the United States can be found just minutes from Lemont.

Argonne National Laboratory, located at 9700 S. Cass Ave., boasts a workforce of about 3,500 hundred employees, including more than 1,000 scientists and engineers aiming to solve the nation's most important challenges in energy, the environment and national security.

The non-profit research lab is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

Researchers from Argonne have been closely involved in the ongoing search for an elusive particle — the Higgs boson — that might better explain why various subatomic particles have mass.

Argonne scientists and engineers also help advance science, engineering, and mathematics education in the United States by annually taking part in the training of nearly 1,000 college graduate students and post-doctoral researchers as part of their research and development activities.

Interested in a tour? Argonne welcomes all members of the public, age 16 or older, to take guided tours of the scientific and engineering facilities. Tours last about two and a half hours and are by reservation only. Call 630-252-5562 or email tours@anl.gov for more information or to schedule a visit.

The laboratory also hosts "Argonne OutLoud,” a public lecture series highlighting the cutting-edge research taking place at Argonne and topics of interest to the community at large. Lectures are free and open to the public. Advance registration is required.

Want to know the latest in the world of Argonne? Follow the laboratory on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

For more information about the Argonne National Laboratory, got to www.anl.gov.