Office of Community Engagement | Argonne National Laboratory

Building trusted, collaborative, productive, and longstanding relationships.

Community engagement has been a longstanding and critical component of Argonne’s mission. In 2023, Argonne established the new Office of Community Engagement (OCE) to lead the lab’s community outreach and engagement efforts.

As the hub and backbone of Argonne’s external facing community activities, the OCE enables the laboratory’s alignment between external community engagement and partnerships and the laboratory’s science and technology (S&T) strategy and scientific expertise.

The OCE is charged with being strategic and responsive in building intentional, collaborative relationships with communities and community-focused organizations at the local, state, and regional levels; facilitate and support investment in short- and long-term, community-engaged research; and track laboratory-wide community engagement efforts and programming.

We are grounded by four key initiatives:

Graphic image of Argonne's Office of Community Engagements four key initiatives: Relationships (photo of woman and man walking and talking), Advancement (a group sitting in circle at a meeting), Partnerships (a woman and man having a discussion outdoors near science instruments), and Voice (a female speaker at podium presenting to a seated group).

Relationships: Extend benefits from Argonne’s capabilities and resources to underserved communities.
Advancement: Advance science and technology through expanded collaborations.
Partnerships: Be a strategic partner in supporting community engaged research (CER) with S&T funding opportunities.
Voice: Contribute to national conversations to position Argonne as a laboratory complex leader in community engagement.

With a presence on the south side of Chicago, and on Argonne’s campus in the southwest suburbs, the Office of Community Engagement will provide a strong framework for the inclusive and collaborative advancement of science and technology in our community. Argonne in Chicago has already been working with local community members, advocates, and local officials to gain insights into community needs and address issues. These collaborative efforts have helped launch several programs and initiatives to study climate change, advance environmental justice, and broaden STEM education, and provide career opportunities.

Further, The OCE supports the following Argonne programs/efforts: