The Department of Health and Human Services (primarily the National Institutes of Health, or NIH) accounts for most federal support for research and chiefly in the life sciences, while the Department of Defense (DoD) accounts for much of the federal research investment in engineering.
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Why is this indicator important?
Patterns of research funding by federal agency reflect government priorities and influence the development of specific fields of science and engineering.
Key Observations
Federal investment in life sciences research totaled about $27.8 billion in FY 2007, largely related to support provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Federal investment in engineering research totaled about $9.5 billion that year, largely due to support provided by
DoD.
Funding from
DOE
largely accounts for the level of federal research investment in the physical sciences, which reached about $2.4 billion in FY 2007.
Related Discussion
Most recently, patterns of U.S. federal R&D investment have reflected renewed focus in national security areas (SEI 2008
Figure 4-11).
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