FRIB is a scientific user facility for the DOE Office of Science Nuclear Physics (NP) program. FRIB enables discoveries regarding the properties of atomic nuclei, their role in the universe, and the fundamental symmetries of nature, using beams of short-lived rare isotopes. The wide range of isotopes also fuels the development of new applications for the nation and society. As the only DOE SC user facility located on the campus of a research-intensive university, FRIB is a magnet for students studying nuclear science and accelerator physics, cryogenic engineering, and radiochemistry— all areas identified as in short supply for the nation and critical to US economic competitiveness, nuclear security, and nonproliferation efforts. The broad range of new nuclear physics opportunities enabled by FRIB is documented in a range of publications, including:

• A New Era of Discovery: The 2023 Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science, by the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC), a federally chartered advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, October 2023.
• Reaching for the Horizon, the 2015 Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science, the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee
• FRIB Opening New Frontiers in Nuclear Science, an FRIB User Community update on the science of FRIB, September 2012
• Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter, National Research Council of the National Academies outlook on the status and future of nuclear science, June 2012
• FRIB Scientific and Technical Merit, prepared by Michigan State University in response to the DOE FOA DE-PS02-08ER41535 and providing detail on the FRIB program and required equipment, 2009

FRIB figures prominently in NSAC’s A New Era of Discovery: The 2023 Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science. The plan provides a roadmap for advancing the nation's nuclear science research programs over the next decade.

The plan’s first recommendation affirms that the nuclear science community’s highest priority is to capitalize on the extraordinary opportunities for scientific discovery made possible by the substantial and sustained investments of the United States government. FRIB and its user community and the FRIB Theory Alliance membership are directly impacted by the associated requests for an increase in research funding, the continued effective operations of FRIB, a compensation for graduate researchers commensurate with the cost of living, and the provision of resources to ensure a respectful and safe environment for all.

FRIB400—an energy upgrade to expand the already broad scientific reach of FRIB—is explicitly mentioned in the executive summary following Recommendation IV, which calls for investments in additional projects and new strategic opportunities that advance discovery science. Instruments aspired by the community for FRIB, such as the High Rigidity Spectrometer, the Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array, the FRIB Decay Station, and the Isochronous Spectrometer with Large Acceptance, feature in the science section of the long range plan.