by Michael Yamaner[1]

Current-dollar federal obligations for research and development and R&D plant (facilities and fixed equipment) increased 1.5% to $147.0 billion in FY 2010, according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF).[2] This growth was driven by a $3.0 billion (81.3%) increase in R&D plant obligations in FY 2010: $1.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and $1.9 billion from non-ARRA funds. ARRA funding accounted for 6.2% of the $147.0 billion FY 2010 total. With all ARRA funds obligated by the end of FY 2010, R&D and R&D plant are estimated to fall 7.2% to $136.4 billion in FY 2011 and are projected to remain essentially flat in FY 2012 (table 1).

Total inflation-adjusted (or constant) federal obligations for R&D and R&D plant rose 0.6% to $131.8 billion between FY 2009 and 2010. This follows an increase of $12.5 billion (10.6%) driven primarily by $9.1 billion in initial ARRA obligations in FY 2009. Even without the funding provided by ARRA, federal R&D and R&D plant would have risen from $121.9 billion in FY 2009 to $123.7 billion (1.5%) in FY 2010 (table 1).

Figures reported for FY 2010 are actual data, FY 2011 figures are preliminary, and FY 2012 figures are projected. For the remainder of this report, discussions of changes in funding across years are in terms of inflation-adjusted (or constant) dollars unless stated otherwise.

Total Research and Development by Agency

Total federal R&D obligations decreased 1.4% to $125.9 billion between FY 2009 and FY 2010, with ARRA funds providing $5.9 billion of the total (table 2). With all ARRA funds obligated by the end of FY 2010, R&D obligations were estimated to decrease 7.7% to $116.2 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2011. R&D obligations were projected to further decrease 2.7% to $113.1 billion between FY 2011 and FY 2012.

In FY 2010, six federal departments and agencies accounted for 95.9% of FY 2010 total federal R&D dollars: the Department of Defense (DOD) (52.3% of total R&D obligations), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (25.6%), the Department of Energy (DOE) (7.6%), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (5.1%), the National Science Foundation (NSF) (3.6%), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1.7%) (table 2).

Federal Funding for Research

Total federal research obligations decreased 0.9% to $57.1 billion between FY 2009 and FY 2010, with ARRA funds providing $5.1 billion of the total (table 3). With all ARRA funds obligated by the end of FY 2010, research obligations were estimated to decrease 10.5% to $51.1 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2011. Research obligations were projected to increase 2.5% to $52.4 billion between FY 2011 and FY 2012.

HHS (56.2% of total research obligations), DOE (11.9%), DOD (10.7%), NSF (7.9%), USDA (3.4%), and NASA (2.4%) accounted for 92.3% of FY 2010 total federal research dollars (table 3).

Basic Research

Basic research obligations decreased 4.2% to $28.5 billion from FY 2009 to FY 2010, with ARRA funds accounting for $2.4 billion of basic research funding (table 1). With all ARRA funds obligated by the end of FY 2010, basic research obligations were estimated to decrease 10.4% between FY 2010 and FY 2011 to $25.6 billion. Between FY 2011 and 2012 basic research obligations were projected to increase 3.6% to $26.5 billion. Basic research obligations accounted for 21.6% of total R&D and R&D plant in FY 2010.

Applied Research

Federal obligations for applied research increased 2.7% between FY 2009 and FY 2010, with ARRA accounting for $2.7 billion of the $28.6 billion dollar total (table 1). With all remaining ARRA funds obligated by the end of FY 2010, applied research obligations were estimated to decrease between FY 2010 and FY 2011 by 10.6% to $25.6 billion. Applied research is projected to increase 1.4% between FY 2011 and FY 2012 to $25.9 billion. Applied research obligations accounted for 21.7% of total R&D and R&D plant in FY 2010.

Performers of Research and Development

The distribution of ARRA R&D funds differs from the distribution of total R&D funds. Whereas in FY 2010 industry received 42.7% of total R&D obligations, industry received just 14.8% of ARRA obligations (table 4). Universities and colleges were obligated 22.2% of total R&D funds but received about half of ARRA funds. Other nonprofit institutions' (other than educational institutions) ARRA share (14.8%) was three times their share (5.2%) of total R&D funding. Intramural (agencies of the federal government) and federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) received 22.0% and 7.2%, respectively, of total R&D funding, and 10.8% and 8.9%, respectively, of ARRA funds.

ARRA provided $6.6 billion (current dollars) in obligations for R&D performance in FY 2010, down 24.0% from the $8.7 billion provided in FY 2009 (these totals do not include R&D plant obligations). ARRA funds made up 4.7% of all R&D obligations to performers in FY 2010.

Data Notes

The data presented here are from the NSF Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development for FYs 2010–12. Actual data are reported for FY 2010, data for FY 2011 are preliminary, and data for FY 2012 are projected. Definitions of research, development, and R&D plant as used in this InfoBrief are provided in the technical notes that accompany the detailed statistical tables report for this survey. For the prior-year report, see http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf12318/.

The 27 federal agencies that report R&D obligations to the survey submitted actual obligations for FY 2010, preliminary data for FY 2011, and projected data for FY 2012. Data were requested from agencies beginning in mid April 2011. Agencies later revise the preliminary data based on actual changes in the funding levels of R&D programs. Further, agencies may provide changes in prior-year data to reflect program reclassifications or other data corrections.

The full set of detailed tables from this survey will be available in the report Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2010, 2011, and 2012 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/fedfunds/. Individual detailed tables from the FY 2010–12 survey may be available in advance of the full report. For more information, please contact the author.

Notes

[1] Michael Yamaner, Research and Development Statistics Program, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230 (myamaner@nsf.gov; 703-292-7815).

[2] Obligations represent the amounts for orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period, regardless of when the funds were appropriated and when future payment of money is required.