Chemistry Careers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

by Mary F Singleton-Hasbrouck

LLNL, one of the largest of the national laboratories, is funded by the Department of Energy and operated by the University of California. When the Laboratory was founded in 1952 it was primarily dedicated to the design of nuclear weapons components, and at that time the major departments or disciplines were physics, engineering, chemistry and computer science. Earnest O. Lawrence and Edward Teller were the founder and first Director respectively, and under their direction major projects were supported by a modified-matrix organization. Generally this meant that a project leader would assemble a team of experts and support personnel from the necessary disciplines to work together until the project was completed. The team members would then be returned to their parent organizations and be assigned to new projects or to support functions. This matrix system still has a major influence on the work environment of the Laboratory, although extensive program and mission changes have taken place over the years, particularly since the end of the Cold War.

Today LLNL has 14 directorates which represent disciplines from biotechnology to laser sciences or, in some cases, actually represent very large projects, rather than disciplines. The Chemistry and Material Sciences Directorate is made up of 4 divisions which roughly equate to analytical, nuclear, material science and electro/physical chemistry. There are about 240 chemists, 50 chemical engineers, and 150 chemical technicians at the Laboratory out of approximately 7500 career employees. The split is about equal between PhD chemists versus B.S./M.S. chemists. Because the Laboratory has been gradually downsizing its staff, there have been very few career employees hired in the past 3 or 4 years in the C&MS Directorate, however, the post-doctorate program has grown to close to 40 new PhDs on 3-year term assignments. For particular programmatic needs there are still a few new positions being posted for hire outside the Laboratory, but most positions across the Laboratory are filled by internal postings only.

Working at the Laboratory has both its pluses and minuses, as do most workplaces! On the plus side are the interesting and stimulating projects and colleagues that make a science career so appealing. As a chemist with an M.S. degree I spent most of my career in matrixed assignments to various projects around the Laboratory. This included over a 23-year career being Principal Investigator on projects ranging from tritium gathering research, to oil shale retort development, to growth of non-linear optical crystals for laser damage studies. The last 5 years of my career were spent managing nuclear facilities starting with the Tritium Facility, then the Heavy Element Facility and finally LLNL's major nuclear facility - the Plutonium Facility. With few exceptions these assignments were interesting and provided an opportunity to publish research outside the Laboratory. There were sometimes disadvantages and frustrations with working on projects, or in areas, that were not closely related to the interests of the C&MS managers who wrote my appraisals and determined salaries and raises. This is a common complaint with the matrix system, I believe. This improved, of course, as I moved up the ladder of management.

My advice for anyone looking for a position at LLNL today would be very specific. Ask the following questions and get information in writing if possible. What job classification goes with the position? [ The B.S. chemist is generally hired as a chemical technician and there are a number of salary levels here. Occasionally an unwary M.S. chemist finds she/he has been hired as a chemical technician. PhDs, M.S. and B.S. chemists who have been hired into the "chemist" classification all

have the same classification level (242.0 - there are no number grades or levels).] How will the Laboratory calculate my years of experience for ranking and salary purposes? (Graduate school is usually prorated, as may be teaching experience, military service, etc.) How will my support be generated and who will be my first-line supervisor? (The major change at the Laboratory in recent years is in the way support is generated for small- to medium-sized projects. Many researchers are expected to write proposals and bring in their own funding to cover themselves, their support personnel and pay a hefty overhead tax. If a chemist is assigned to a large project or a support function this is usually not a concern.) Job stability, benefits, vacation schedule, academic environment and flexibility are often given as reasons for choosing the Laboratory as an employer. Some of these reasons are changing as the Laboratory downsizes and missions change. It is too soon to predict with any certainty where LLNL is going in the years ahead. This will make it a challenging and more competitive environment for its employees.

You can check out the C&MS homepage by accessing the Laboratory at http://www-cms.llnl.gov/