Title : Federal Funding for R&D and R&D Plant to Drop in FY 1996; Department of Defense Survey Data Expanded Type : 1996 Data Briefs NSF Org : SBE / SRS Date : June 13, 1996 File : SDB96306 Note: The companion binary file to this text file is an Adobe Acrobat.PDF (Portable Document Format) file. In order to view and print this file, you must use the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Acrobat reader is available from Adobe via Ftp. Ftp to ftp.adobe.com anonymous <------User email name <------Password Change the directory to: pub/adobe/applications/acrobat/Windows <----Windows reader or pub/adobe/applications/acrobat/mcintosh <----MacIntosh reader or pub/adobe/applications/acrobat/unix <----Unix reader Download the relevent Acrobat Reader file, entitled ACROREAD.EXE. You may freely distribute the reader program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Science Resources Studies Division DATA BRIEF Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Vol. 1996, No. 3, June 13, 1996 Federal Funding for R&D and R&D Plant to Drop in FY 1996; Department of Defense Survey Data Expanded Estimated Federal funding for research and development (R&D) and R&D plant, as reported by Federal agencies during the period March through October 1995, is expected to decrease 3 percent to $71 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1996. Contributing to this decline is a 30-percent drop in R&D plant obligations (to $2 billion) and a 4-percent decrease in development funding (to $41 billion). Research spending (including basic and applied research) is expected to increase 2 percent (to $28 billion). After adjusting for inflation, Federal obligations for R&D and R&D plant are expected to decline 5 percent. The estimated obligations reported in this Data Brief are subject to change as Federal agencies’ budgets are updated to reflect approved programs. The statistics presented here are derived from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Annual Survey of Federal Funds for R&D. DOD’s Development Funding As indicated by the recent National Academy Press report, Allocating Federal Funds for Science and Technology (Washington, DC, 1995), there is considerable interest in differentiating between that part of the Federal R&D budget which supports “ science and key enabling technologies” (including for military and nondefense applications) and that which primarily concerns “testing and evaluation of large technical systems prior to production” (of mostly defense-related systems). To better understand the component pieces of Federal R&D funding and to allow a closer look at the funding activity of the sixteen agencies within the Department of Defense (DOD) that report to the Federal Funds Survey, NSF now collects from DOD development dollars in two categories, advanced technology development and major systems development. DOD is expected to provide $26 billion (87 percent of its total development obligations) toward major systems development, which represents a projected 2-percent drop in FY 1996. Combined, Air Force, Navy, Army’s Military Functions component, and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) is expected to account for $24 billion (95 percent) of the major systems development obligations. Three of these four top funders are expecting decreases in major systems development between FY 1995 and FY 1996 - Army and Navy are each expected to decline by 9 percent and BMDO is slated to drop by 2 percent. Air Force will increase its funding about $460 million (4 percent). (Table 1. Federal Obligations for Development by Agencies in DOD: Fiscal Years 1994-1996 appears here in printed and Adobe Acrobat versions.) DOD’s advanced technology development is expected to decrease $0.8 billion (17 percent to $3.7 billion) in FY 1996. (Adding in basic and applied research support, DOD’s total science and technology R&D budget would decrease 12 percent, from $8.9 billion to $7.9 billion in FY 1996.) Advanced technology is expected to comprise all of the estimated FY 1996 development funding at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) ($30 million) and the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) ($34 million) and nearly all ($1.7 billion or 98 percent) at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA whose name was recently changed back to DARPA). However, each of these agencies is expected to report a modest increase in funding for advanced technology development between FY 1995 and FY 1996—DNA up by $4 million, DLA up by $3 million, and ARPA up by $2 million. Six of the 13 Defense agencies project no plans for advanced technology funding, while the others (excluding ARPA) expect obligations ranging from $30 million at DLA to $280 million at Washington Headquarters Services (WHS). (For this survey cycle, the Army Corps of Engineers was unable to breakout the Corps’ $23 million in development funding.) ARPA is expected to account for 46 percent of DOD’s estimated FY 1996 total advanced technology development funds, compared with its substantially smaller 8-percent share of the DOD R&D and R&D plant total. The largest expected increase of advanced technology funding is expected to occur at Air Force, increasing 9 percent ($39 million). Nearly half of the projected decrease of advanced technology dollars is expected to occur at Army, dropping from $1 billion to $0.6 billion (down 47 percent). The second largest decrease is projected for WHS, which expects a decline of $180 million (down 39 percent) from its FY 1995 funding level. Agency Total Funding Shares Seven Federal agencies, out of the 32 that report to the R&D survey, are expected to account for 92 percent ($66 billion) of total Federal funding for R&D and R&D plant in FY 1996 (Table 2). The Department of Defense (DOD) will still comprise the largest share (48 percent), even though its funding is expected to decrease 5 percent from FY 1995 to FY 1996. Contributing to DOD’s drop in overall R&D funding are the Army (19 percent decrease), Navy (9 percent decrease), and combined Defense agencies (5 percent decrease). Funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will comprise the second largest share (17 percent), increasing by 1 percent in FY 1996. Most of the HHS amount is from its National Institutes of Health for support of the life sciences. The other top funding agencies are projected to be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (12 percent of the FY 1996 Federal R&D and R&D plant total), the Department of Energy (DOE) (11 percent), NSF (4 percent), the Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2 percent), and the Department of Commerce (DOC) (nearly 2 percent). R&D and R&D plant funding is projected to decline at NASA, DOC, and USDA in FY 1996, whereas that from DOE and NSF is slated to increase. (Table 2.Federal Obligations for R&D and R&D Plant: Fiscal Years 1990-1996 appears here in printed and Adobe Acrobat versions.) R&D Growth in the 1990s Of the seven major R&D funding agencies, DOC projects show the largest R&D and R&D plant funding annual growth rate 21 percent (18 percent in constant 1987 dollars) from FY 1990 to FY 1996. DOC’s growth reflects the rapid increases in funding at its National Institute of Standards and Technology. DOC is followed by NSF with a 7-percent growth rate (4 percent in constant dollars during the same period). R&D and R&D plant funding from HHS is expected to average 6-percent growth per year (3 percent in constant dollars) between FY 1990 and FY 1996. DOD’s obligations will drop 1 percent annually. In constant dollars, its funding will decrease at an estimated annualized rate of 4 percent over this six-year period. Funding by Character of Work In FY 1996, basic research and applied research are each expected to comprise about 20 percent ($14 billion) of the total estimated Federal funding for R&D and R&D plant. Funding for basic research is projected to increase about $0.5 billion (3.5 percent) in FY 1996, and that for applied research will not change. Between FY 1990 and FY 1996, research funding is expected to have an average annual growth of 5 percent, which in constant dollars would be a 2-percent rate of increase. Applied research is expected to increase at an estimated 6-percent growth rate (3 percent in constant dollars) between FY 1990 and FY 1996, while basic research is expected to grow about 4 percent per year (1 percent in constant dollars). Funds for development and R&D plant are slated to decrease by 4 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from FY 1995 to FY 1996. Although development will represent 57 percent of the total R&D and R&D plant, its funding is ex-pected to drop at a rate of 1 percent (3 percent in constant dollars) between 1990 and 1996. (Chart 1. Distribution of Projected Federal Obligations by Character of Work: FY 1996 appears here in printed and Adobe Acrobat versions.) Funding by Fields of Science and Engineering Seven of the eight fields of science and engineering identified in the survey are expected to show an increase in combined basic and applied research funding between FY 1990 and FY 1996 (Chart 2). Only the environmental sciences are expected to drop—by one percent (3 percent in constant dollars)—between FY 1990 and FY 1996. Average annual growth in research support is projected to range from 0.3 percent (down 2 percent in constant dollars) for engineering, to 11 percent (8 percent in constant dollars) for mathematics and computer sciences. In FY 1996, life sciences is expected to continue to have the greatest share of the funding and is projected to comprise an estimated 41 percent of total Federal research dollars. The physical sciences will again have the second largest share, accounting for 22 percent of the total research. Life and physical sciences plus engineering (the third largest category) are expected to account for nearly 80 percent of total Federal research funding in FY 1996. Survey Notes The 32 Federal agencies that report R&D obligations to the Federal Funds survey submitted actual obligations for FY 1994 and estimates for FYs 1995 and 1996. Data were reported during the period March through October 1995. Agencies can later revise the estimates on the basis of expected changes in the funding levels of R&D programs. Therefore, all FYs 1995 and 1996 obligations are subject to revision in the next survey cycle. Data collected from a survey cycle are put into tables that incorporate changes in prior-year data made by the agencies to reflect program reclassifications. In recent years, agency- reported revisions have been extensive, reflecting the current uncertainty and flux in the Nation’s R&D enterprise. For example, during the period March through October 1993, Federal agencies projected total R&D and R&D plant obligations of $74 billion. As detailed in Table 2 of this Data Brief, agencies now report actual FY 1994 obligations of $69 billion, a 7 percent downward revision from earlier expectations. (Chart 2. Federal Obligations for Basic and Applied Research, by Fields of Science and Engineering: FYs 1990 and 1996 appears in printed and Adobe Acrobat versions.) The data presented in this Data Brief are being released in advance of the comprehensive Detailed Statistical Tables Report, Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 1994, 1995, and 1996, Volume 44. This Data Brief was prepared by Ronald L. Meeks, National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Studies, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230. For a free copy of the full report, contact the SRS Publications Unit at the above address, telephone (703) 306-1773, or send e-mail to srspubs@nsf.gov. --end--