Scientists in the Astronomy and Physics Departments at UC Berkeley, LBNL, SSL, and associated research units are tackling some of the greatest puzzles that have emerged from ground-based and space-based observations and experiments. The topics address both the basic fabric of space-time and the objects that emerge from this fabric over the past 15 billion years. We exploring the physics of the Universe: Dark Energy – what are the fundamental properties of space, time, energy, matter & gravity that lead to an apparent acceleration of the expansion of the Universe? And we are investigating the origin of structure: Galaxy Evolution -– how do stars form, and how do they aggregate into galaxies that grow through mergers across cosmic time? Black Holes –- how do they form and evolve in stars and galactic nuclei, and what are the properties of matter in the regime of strong gravity? Planets -- how do they evolve from gaseous disks, and is life possible beyond the Earth?