On-Site Access

The Laboratory has a NEW onboarding process for ALS users:

New badge requests or requests by users with expired badges must be fully processed by the Berkeley Lab Shared Services Office before making an appointment with the Badge Office and before arrival at LBNL.
LBNL and the ALS require all users who enter or expect to enter any Lab site to provide proof of vaccination or have an approved exception in place. Users registering to get access to LBNL will be asked to fill out a COVID questionnaire and will have the opportunity to upload their vaccine card. Please review the LBNL COVID status and ALS COVID-19 information.
Badges are issued by the Berkeley Lab Badge Office in Building 65A near the Blackberry Gate. They are no longer issued in the ALS User Office.
Same-day or expedited onboarding can no longer be requested, so please make sure that you request LBNL site access early by updating your ALSHub profile, completing the registration process, taking all required online training, and scheduling a badge appointment before your travel.
Badged ALS users who have completed all required training receive access to the ALS experimental floor. Users who need access to additional key-card-controlled work spaces, e.g., the chemistry lab or upstairs labs for sample preparation, need to contact their beamline hosts.
Always review your access permissions, badge status, and training status on ALSHub before traveling to the ALS.

Preparing for Arrival

The following process MUST be completed online by new and returning users prior to arrival at the ALS and LBNL. Allow at least 3 weeks for US citizens or 6 weeks for non-US citizens for processing. Foreign nationals should review this important additional information on lead times and documentation required to process site access.

New or inactive users	You have never been to the ALS or your badge has expired and your LBNL Gate Access status in ALSHub is “inactive.”	If you have not registered yet, create a user account in ALSHub (new users only) Update your user profile in ALSHub to tell us when you will arrive at LBNL (which is not necessarily your experiment start date). The User Office will send your updated profile to the Berkeley Lab Shared Services Office The Berkeley Lab Shared Services Office will request your COVID vaccination documentation during processing. Once you receive a confirmation that processing is complete, email siteaccess@lbl.gov to make an appointment with the Berkeley Lab Badge Office to obtain a badge. Complete all required training in ALSHub to get access to the ALS experimental floor.

Active users	You are returning to the ALS and your LBNL Gate Access status in ALSHub is “active.”	Update your user profile in ALSHub to tell us when you will arrive at LBNL (which is not necessarily your experiment start date). Provide your COVID vaccination documentation before coming to LBNL using either of these two methods: If you already have LBNL account credentials^†, please use this portal to provide your COVID vaccination documentation. If you do not have LBNL account credentials, complete this form^, and instructions will be emailed to you about uploading your COVID vaccination documentation. If your badge expired, email siteaccess@lbl.gov to make an appointment with the Berkeley Lab Badge Office to obtain a badge. Complete all required training in ALSHub to get access to the ALS experimental floor. ^†Users with an LBNL LDAP login or who are recently registered affiliates with the Berkeley Lab Shared Services Office should use these LBNL credentials. LBNL credentials to upload vaccine information are different from ALSHub credentials for medical privacy reasons. ^Step-by-step instructions to fill out the “ALS Existing Facility User – Coming Onsite” form are here. Please contact the User Office if you need assistance.

Please visit this page for COVID-19 updates.

Arriving at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL or Berkeley Lab)

Getting to LBNL and the ALS

The ALS is located at the Berkeley Lab site, in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus. For directions to Berkeley Lab, see Maps and Directions and the Lab shuttle schedule. You will not be able to board the shuttle without an active LBNL badge or a visitor pass and photo ID. Once on board the shuttle, ask the driver to let you know when you’ve reached your destination (e.g., Badge Office in Building 65A or the ALS in Building 6). Please note that the Lab shuttle service is not available on weekends or after 8 p.m. on weekdays.

New Users and Returning Users Needing a New Badge

The Berkeley Lab Badge Office will email you a visitor pass with directions to the Badge Office in Building 65A after a badge appointment has been scheduled. After receiving your badge at Building 65A, you can re-board the Lab shuttle to go to the ALS (Building 6).

Getting a Badge on Weekends and After Hours

Users without an active badge who have been approved to come on-site and will arrive outside the business hours of the badging office (Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) need to contact the User Office to arrange for pick-up of a temporary badge.

Berkeley Lab Security Gate

Security will not allow anyone past the guard gate without an active badge or visitor pass plus photo ID, so please plan your visit early.

LBNL Guest House

The LBNL Guest House reopened on March 7, 2022. More information is available on their website.