Resource 2. Federal R&D Funding: Quick Agency Profiles
THE FEDERAL
FUNDING LANDSCAPE IS COMPLEX AND EVER-CHANGING. HERE, WE DRILL DOWN AND
PROVIDE BRIEF, UP-TO-DATE PROFILES ON U.S. AGENCIES THAT AWARD MAJOR
R&D GRANTS AND CONTRACTS. THIS PAGE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR
DETAILED AGENCY AND CENTRALIZED WEBSITES, BUT HERE YOU WILL QUICKLY
FIND KEY FACTS - BUDGET SIZE, WHERE THE MONEY GOES, TRENDS, AND
PRIORITIES. WE DRAW HEAVILY FROM RECENT AAAS SCIENCE AND POLICY
ANALYSES FOR THESE PROFILES.
Overview - How much does the federal government spend on R&D and where do the dollars go?
This is a confusing question as there are many categories of
research and development and many ways to look at spending. Let’s work through the numbers estimated for
2013 (based on analysis
by the American Association for the Advancement of Science).
The total U.S. research and development budget for 2013 is projected
at $142.2B, a 1.2% increase from 2012. $77.2B
is classified as “defense” R&D; $65.0B is “non-defense” related R&D. The slight increase from 2012 (2.7%) and cuts
to DOD R&D result in a net gain for non-defense R&D. This trend is also reflected in increases in “basic”
and “applied” research and reduction in “development” activities (largely for
weapons). As a percentage of the federal
budget, total R&D spending has held constant at between 4-5% and
non-defense R&D near 2% for the past 30 years. All of these numbers can
be couched, of course, in terms of the country’s overall budget of
approximately $3.8 trillion dollars.
As seen in the graph below, changes in the research funding
landscape tend to be incremental from year to year. An exception was the period 1998-2003 when
the budget of the NIH doubled. 2009 was
also a singular period resulting from a one-time
infusion of $18.4B of additional
R&D funds via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, mainly to NIH, NSF, and DOE.
About 40% of federally sponsored R&D is carried out by
industry, followed by 22% by universities and 6% by other non-profit institutes
and hospitals. The rest (32%) is
conducted by federal intramural labs (23%) and Federally Funded R&D Centers
(FFRDCs – 6%) which are operated by contractors. The main question for those of you reading
this website is probably, “which agencies provide external R&D grants in my
areas of interest?”
The fact is, over 20 federal departments and independent agencies
have so-called R&D budgets. Of
these, however, only 7 large agencies sponsor R&D as a dominant
activity. The manner in which R&D
funds are spent depends a great deal on the nation’s priorities and the mission,
history, and political health of individual agencies. For example, in the graphic below, one can
see how spending on health has skyrocketed in the past two decades and how
emphasis on space and energy R&D has waxed and waned since the 1960’s.
The budget table below summarizes the nation’s forecasted spending in
science across its largest agencies in 2013.
Here are a couple of interesting observations:
- The total
non-defense R&D expenditure budgeted for 2013, $65.0B, is about 1.7%
of the total 2013 budget of $3.8T.
- Reflecting
Congress’ (and the American public’s) priority on health care, the
National Institutes of Health (NIH encompasses 27 institutes) receives
nearly half of the total non-defense R&D budget.
Below, we attempt to provide
more information of this flavor agency-by-agency via profiles we have adapted from
AAAS. For
a more in-depth treatment of the nation's R&D budget outlook for 2013, go
to
AAAS
Report XXXVII – Research and Development FY 2013.
Links to Contents Below
1. Deciphering the Department of Defense
2. NIH Profile in Funding Health Science R&D
3. What is NSF's Role in Funding Scientific Research?
4. How Will NASA Execute R&D Given its Substantial $17.7B Budget?
5. Department of Energy - Heavy Hitter in Physical Sciences and Support of National R&D Facilities
6. US Department of Agriculture
7. Department of Homeland Security - Big Money but Rough Growth Trajectory
8. Department of Commerce - R&D Explained
9. Other Agency Sponsors of R&D
1. Deciphering the Department of Defense
DOD’s overall budget exceeds $600B
or nearly 1/6 of the entire national budget. The DOD’s projected 2013
R&D budget is $72.6B, a decline of about 2.5% from 2012. DOD is
easily the largest sponsor of R&D in the federal system.
By far, most of the R&D budget
is to support weapons development programs – around $60B. The so-called
Science and Technology (S&T) portion of the budget is the difference –
around $12.5B (S&T = 6.1+6.2+6.3+medical – see 4th bullet). Generally,
Congress has been more supportive of a healthy DOD S&T budget than the
Pentagon. There has been discussion of fixing the 6.1 portion of the
S&T budget at 3% of DOD’s overall R&D budget, but this target has never
yet been reached.
- Historical defense expenditures in S&T and
Development are shown in Figure 1. In 2013, the Navy, Air Force, and Defense
Agencies (including Missile Defense Agency, Chemical and Biological Defense
Program, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency) would all decline down to $17.8, $26.7 and $19.4B,
respectively (Figure 2). Only the Army would see a modest increase in its much smaller total
R&D budget to $8.9B.
- DOD’s interest in scientific and engineering
disciplines is comprehensive and includes medical research ($1.3B in 2012 –
double DOD’s request due to Congress’ favoring of this program).
- To understand DOD’s spending priorities, one must
understand its numerical lingo. DOD S&T encompasses three
classes of R&D: 6.1 – Basic Research, 6.2 – Applied Research, and 6.3
- Advanced Technology Development. 6.1 and 6.2 are research
categories whereas 6.3 embraces development. Other development
categories include: 6.4 – Demonstration and Validation, 6.5 – Engineering
and Manufacturing Development, 6.6 – RDT&E Management and Support, and
6.7 – Operational System Development. A summary table can be found in a RAND report at RAND
1194 monograph.
- The 2013 S&T budget will look like the following:
6.1 @ $2.1B, 6.2 @ $4.5B, and 6.3+medical @ $5.9B (Figure 3).
- Nearly all R&D in categories 6.4 and higher is
executed by large private contractors (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, SAIC,
etc.). If we exclude development activities, the 6.1+6.2 S&T pot
of $6.6B funds a variety of players. Historically, about
40% of this work is done by industry, 33% by DOD labs, and 21% by
universities.
- Five states receive about half of DOD’s R&D
outflow, chiefly by virtue of being home to large defense contractors (CA,
TX, MA, VA, MD). Virginia and Maryland benefit
through proximity to the Pentagon and their housing a high density of DOD
labs and federally funded R&D centers.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
2. NIH Profile in Funding Health Science R&D
The National Institutes of Health
comprise 27 Institutes and Centers. NIH's budget, projected at $30.9B
in 2013 (unchanged from 2012), is spread out accordingly. 97% of
the budget is
dedicated to R&D and 3% is allocated to overhead costs and
research
training. Funding by general institute and funding mechanism
categories
is shown in Figures 1 and 2 below. The NIH is the second-largest
supporter of
R&D in the federal government (Department of Defense is number one)
and the
largest federal sponsor of R&D at colleges and universities.
NIH experienced an exceptional year in 2009 when
it received $10.4B from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
but the
current budget outlook appears “flat”.
- Per
the agency’s Roadmap for Biomedical Research, NIH priorities in 2013 will focus
on (1) investing in basic research, (2) accelerating discovery through
technology, (3) advancing translational sciences, and (4) fostering new
investigators and new ideas.
- The majority of NIH funds (53%)
are competitively awarded to external investigators through Research Project
Grants (RPGs - see figure below). NIH projects about 35,888 RPGs in 2013 worth
$16.5B ($699M of which will go to SBIR/STTR) - down from 35,944 in 2012. 9415 of these will be new competing grants –
an increase of 672 from 2012. The
average new award size will be about $431K and project duration about 3.7 years. The average age of a
first-time R01 grantee remains at 42 years old.
- About 10% of NIH’s budget
is awarded through R&D contracts and another 10% to fund multidisciplinary Research
Centers. Another 11% goes toward NIH’s own
sizeable research laboratories, mostly in Bethesda, MD. Spending to train the
next generation of biomedical researchers will total $775 million in 2013, down
0.3 percent from FY 2012.
- Success rates for new grant applications have fallen to about 20 percent
in recent years from a high of 32 percent in FY 2001 (see Figure 3 for historical perspective).
The success rate for 2013 is estimated at 19%, up from the all-time low
of 18% in 2011. NIH will strive to maintain
success rates for new and early career investigators comparable to those of the overall
population.
- Among all
Centers (and NIH programs for that matter), the only one to receive a
substantial budget increase (11.2%) in 2013 will be the new National Center for
Advancing Translational Sciences. NCATS
was formed in 2012 to “translate” innovative research into useful new medical
products.
- Although
NIH dominates the Health and Human Services R&D portfolio, other HHS agencies
(excluding NIH) will fund a still substantial $1.2B of R&D in FY 2013.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
3. What is NSF’s Role in Funding Scientific Research?
With a
proposed 2013 budget of $7.4B (4.8% above FY 2012), NSF is the only federal
agency with responsibility for all science and engineering disciplines. In broad terms, the (1) physical
sciences, (2) environmental sciences, (3) engineering, (4) mathematics/computer
sciences, and (5) life sciences receive comparable shares of NSF funding (see Figures
1 and 2). NSF is second to NIH in
support to academic R&D. NSF
received $3.0B as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was
obligated by September 30, 2010.
NSF is
organized into 3 directorates: (1) Research and Related Activities, (2) Education
and Human Resources, and (3) Major Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction. In 2013, NSF will adopt a
new OneNSF Framework intended to streamline
operations across organizational and disciplinary boundaries to meet the agency’s
priorities in adaptive smart systems, cyber-infrastructure, STEM education
research, integration of interdisciplinary effort, cybersecurity, and Science,
Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES).
- NSF has no
laboratories of its own; 77% of its budget goes to universities and colleges –
the highest proportion of any federal agency. 94% of NSF funding is awarded via a
merit-based award process.
- NSF estimates
that it will provide 12,000 competitive awards from a proposal pool of 55,000
in FY 2013. This represents a funding rate of 22% for competitive awards.
- The Major
Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) program would be funded
at $196M to fund four major projects: Advanced LIGO; Advanced Technology Solar
Telescope; Ocean Observatory Initiative; and the National Ecological
Observatory Network.
- Due to
their high concentration of research universities and government-owned entities
such as NCAR, seven states receive over 50% of all NSF grants (CA, NY, MA, CO,
IL, VA, PA – see Figure 3). To address the imbalance, NSF created the EPSCoR
Program (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) to
help 25 states become more competitive.
- As one of three
federal funding agencies included in America COMPETES (act passed in 2007), NSF
continues to enjoy bilateral Congressional support and recognition in terms of
the value NSF brings to the nation.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
4. How Will NASA Execute R&D Given its Substantial $17.7B Budget?
In terms of national impact on research,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration funds around 16 percent of
all federal support for engineering research and 7 percent of all federal support
for basic and applied research. Historical spending by NASA in 5 major
categories is shown in Figure 1. The
proposed $17.7B budget for 2013, a decline of $89M from 2012, would be divided
among NASA directorates as follows: $4.9B is for the Science Mission
Directorate; $551M for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate; $3.9B for
the Exploration Mission Directorate; $4.0B for the Space Operations Mission
Directorate; $699M for the Space Technology Mission Directorate; $100M for the Education
Mission Directorate; and $2.8B for the Cross-Agency Support Programs Mission
Directorate. Notably absent are funds for the now retired Space Shuttle
and the discontinued Constellation Program.
- The National Space Policy of the United States established in 2010 under
the Obama Administration articulated six key goals for America’s space program:
energize competitive domestic industries; expand international cooperation;
strengthen stability in space; increase assurance and resilience of
mission-essential functions; pursue human and robotic initiatives; and improve
space-based Earth and solar observation. The National Aeronautics and
Astronautics Act signed into law in October 2010 authorized increasing funding
levels for NASA for the next 3 years, a Space Launch System that will operate
for missions past low Earth orbit (LEO) and serve as a back-up access to the
International Space Station (ISS). It
also extended the ISS to 2020.
- NASA
funding over the past three cycles, however, has not met authorized levels stipulated
in the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2010. Combined with America’s reliance now on
foreign rockets, increasing ISS costs, and uncertainty around future appropriations,
NASA’s programs and direction appear in question.
- NASA research is focused on engineering
(1/3 of total), environmental sciences (1/4 of total), and physical
sciences. Favored engineering sub-fields include aero- and astronomical
engineering. In environmental sciences, significant funds flow to
oceanography and atmospheric and geological sciences. Investment in the physical sciences
favors astronomy, chemistry, and physics.
- Historically, much of NASA’s budget has been for large program development
with the result that industry
has typically executed nearly half of NASA’s R&D (Figure 2). NASA’s own labs (including the
contractor-operated Jet Propulsion Lab) execute another 33% of the NASA R&D
portfolio. The amount funneled to universities placed NASA 4th in
2007 behind NIH, NSF, and DOD in sponsorship of academic research.
Figure 1
Figure 2
5. Department of Energy - Heavy Hitter in Physical Sciences and Support of National R&D Facilities
DOE is the #1 federal sponsor of the
physical sciences, supplying nearly half of all federal supporting this science
category. DOE alone funds nearly 2/3
of all federally-supported physics research. DOE R&D also favors computer
sciences, mathematics, and engineering research in materials science and
nanotechnology.
DOE’s current charter follows from its Strategic Plan goals last
established in May 2011: (1) accelerate the transition to clean energy
technology; (2) invest in science and innovation for national prosperity; and
(3) enhance nuclear security.
DOE’s proposed $27.2B FY 2013 budget would represent a 3.2% increase
relative to 2012. It would increase spending significantly for Energy programs
(+15.7%), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (+4.9%), and
ARPA-E (+27.3%). The combined R&D portfolio would climb 8.0% to $11.9B. That said, however, not everyone in Congress
is a supporter of DOE. Conservative Republicans,
in particular, are hostile to certain programs – among these, ARPA-E and Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
- DOE’s budget is divided into
three categories: Science (target $4.57B in 2013), Energy ($2.64B), and Atomic
Energy Defense ($4.69B). (Figure 1)
- Major Science thrusts in
2013 include Advanced Scientific Computing Research ($456M), Basic
Energy
Sciences ($1.8B), Biological and Environmental Research ($625.M),
Fusion Energy
Sciences ($398M), (FES), High-Energy Physics ($77M), and Nuclear
Physics ($527M). The proposed budget would also continue to
fully fund all 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers and 2 Energy Hubs
managed by
BES. (Historical spending by Office of Science shown in Fig 2).
- In Energy, key R&D areas
under EERE will include Biomass and Biorefinery Systems, Building Technologies,
Geothermal Technology, Solar Energy,Vehicle Technologies, Wind Energy, Advanced
Manufacturing and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies. Outside of EERE, additional R&D funds
will be spent on Electricity Delivery and Reliability (Clean Energy
Transmission and Reliability, Smart Grid, Energy Storage technologies, and Cyber
Security for Energy Delivery Systems), Nuclear Power (Reactor Concepts and nuclear
fuel cycle R&D), and Fossil Energy
R&D (Coal including Carbon Capture / Carbon Storage, and Natural Gas).
- Atomic Defense R&D
spending is mainly in the areas of the National Nuclear Security
Administration’s Weapons Activities, Naval Reactors, and Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation.
- DOE’s dominance in the
physical sciences may not be appreciated by all because roughly half of its
Science R&D funding goes to operate and construct facilities at federal
laboratories that are contractor-operated (e.g. ORNL, BNL, ANL), while the
other half supports research, also mostly at DOE laboratories. In 2004,
18% of DOE’s $3.5B Office of Science budget, or $626M, went to universities and
colleges.
Figure 1
Figure 2
6. US Department of Agriculture
With a proposed
2013 R&D budget of $2.297B, the USDA is the 6th largest sponsor
of research and development in the federal government. USDA supports over 90%
of the total federal outlay for agricultural sciences. Other notable areas of
emphasis include environmental biology and economics (the latter through the
ERS – Economic Research Service).
- USDA’s main
service entities are: the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National
Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA – formerly the Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service or CSREES), Economic Research
Service (ERS), the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and the
Forest Service (see Figure 1 for funding history of these agencies).
- Nearly all
R&D conducted by ARS, the Economic Research Service (ERS), and the Forest
Service is intramural – that it, it is performed by USDA staff at USDA
facilities. This combined expenditure accounts for over 2/3 of the R&D
budget.
- Extramural R&D
is administered mainly by NIFA through appropriation to land-grant universities
and the American Food Research Institute (AFRI) - the principal competitive
grants program of USDA ($325M in 2013 – up from $264M in 2012) (see Figure 2
for historical breakout of grant recipients). Though $325M
falls short of the intended $500M annual funding rate when AFRI was conceived,
steady increases over the past 4 years from the base amount of $209M allocated in
2009 are encouraging.
- USDA’s
R&D priorities in 2013 include the following broad thrust areas: (1) New
products/product quality/value added; (2) Livestock production; (3) Food
safety; (4) Livestock protection; (5) Crop protection; (6) Human nutrition; and
(7) Environmental stewardship.
Figure 1
Figure 2
7. Department of Homeland Security - Big Money but Rough Growth Trajectory
Formed in
response to the terrorist strike in the US in 2001, DHS has become the
government’s 7th largest R&D funding agency. The overall budget proposed for DHS in 2013
is a very substantial $39.5B, but only $813M is designated for R&D. $813M would represent a 32% increase over funds
received in FY2012 – a year in which Congress appropriated only $533M to DHS for this purpose (48% of the
Department’s R&D budget request).
As a
relatively new entity, DHS has seen its R&D budget grow rapidly to a peak
in 2006, followed by a precipitous decrease (Figure 1 shows R&D funding through
2009). Cutbacks reflect dissatisfaction
on the part of Congress over the agency’s ability to set priorities, manage
finances, collaborate with other agencies, evaluate its performance, and
respond to Congress. As a result, Under Secretary O’Toole began extensive
restructuring of the S&T Directorate in 2011.
- S&T has
a wide-ranging mission that includes basic and applied research as well
as
testing and evaluation of new technologies before they are
implementated in the field. Like the DOD, DHS funds R&D
across a very
broad swath of technical disciplines, with particular emphasis on life
sciences
and engineering to address biological countermeasures.
- The
Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I) Program/Project Activities (PPA) will be the major
sponsor of DHS R&D ($478M) in 2013, Within
RD&I, work is funded in six thrusts: Apex Research and Development; Border
Security Research and Development; Chemical, Biological, and Explosive Defense
Research and Development; Counter Terrorism; Disaster Resilience; and Cyber
Security.
- Another PPA
administered by the Office of University Programs will support $40M of homeland
security-related research and education at U.S. colleges and universities. Activities will be carried out through three
program areas: the DHS S&T University Centers of Excellence (COEs);
Educational programs; and the Minority Serving Institutions program.
- The
Transformational and Applied Research (TAR) programs within the Domestic
Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) will also support significant basic and applied
research ($84M) via three projects: the Exploratory Research Program, (ERP);
the Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD); and the Academic Research
Initiative (ARI).