University of California on Friday signed a one-year contract extension to continue managing the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The extension will run through Jan. 31, 2005.

The University of California has managed the Berkeley lab since its inception in 1931. But since October 2002, UC has managed the lab under a series of contract extensions, the most recent of which was set to expire on Saturday.

Recent Congressional action mandated that the Department of Energy conduct a competition for long-term contracts at five national laboratories, including Lawrence Berkeley and the two national weapons labs UC manages, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore.

The DOE hasn't yet announced detailed plans for the competitions. UC regents will make a decision about whether to enter into the competition for labs after the DOE releases its request for proposals.