by Michael Gibbons[1]

Science and engineering (S&E) research space at the nation’s research-performing colleges and universities increased 3.5% from FY 2009 to FY 2011, according to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities. The biological and biomedical sciences continued to account for the bulk of growth, increasing by 8.0% during this period (table 1). This follows a 12.3% increase for this field from FY 2007 to FY 2009. In 2011, the biological and biomedical sciences accounted for 26.8% of research space, measured as total net assignable square feet (NASF). This was three percentage points higher than the share from FY 2007.

Total S&E research space grew from 196.1 million NASF to 202.9 million NASF during the last biennial period. However, the 3.5% increase is less than the median growth (4.7%) for the 11 biennial survey cycles from FY 1988 to FY 2011 (figure 1). All institution types experienced net growth in research space except nondoctorate granting institutions, in which research space declined 1.2% (table 2).

The psychology (5.8%) and engineering (5.0%) fields gained research space, whereas NASF devoted to the agricultural and natural sciences declined 6.4%, falling slightly below 2007 levels. Although research space for the physical sciences increased by 3.9% from FY 2009 to FY 2011, this growth was not distributed across all subfields. NASF for earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences declined by 2.5%, whereas NASF for astronomy, chemistry, and physics increased by 6.3%.

New Construction of Research Space

New construction of S&E research space begun in FYs 2010–11 declined by 18.2% from that begun in FYs 2008–09 and is 50% lower than NASF constructed in FYs 2002–03 (table 3). Construction projects for the biological and biomedical sciences accounted for 2.0 million NASF in FYs 2010–11, a decline of 1.5 million NASF from the previous biennial cycle. As a result of a few large projects, the health and clinical sciences accounted for 2.8 million NASF in new construction—the most in any field (table 4). Institutions also reported 1.3 million NASF in new engineering research space projects. Combined, these three fields made up 75.3% of all new construction NASF.

New Construction Funding Sources

Thirty percent of the nation’s research-performing colleges and universities (167 institutions) reported new construction of S&E research space in FYs 2010–11 at a total cost of $6.4 billion (table 5). This was about $1 billion less than the estimated cost of new research space construction begun in FYs 2008–09, in current dollars. The federal government provided 7.6% ($487 million) for the total cost for new S&E research space in FYs 2010–11. The federal share was the highest since FYs 2004–05. State and local governments provided another 30.5%, or just under $2 billion. Almost 62% of the funding (nearly $4 billion) for new S&E research space came from the institutions’ own funds and other sources.

Planned New Construction

The amount of new research space construction actually started by academic institutions has fallen well short of total NASF initially planned for construction over the past decade. However, that gap appears to be shrinking. Institutions planned to start 10.3 million NASF in FYs 2010–11 (table 6), of which 78.6% was started during that period (8.1 million NASF). In FYs 2004–05, the equivalent percentage was 53.2%, followed by 64.2% in FYs 2006–07 and 69.2% in FYs 2008–09. It is also notable that the amount of planned construction over the decade has generally trended downward.

Repair and Renovation

Academic institutions expended $3.5 billion on major repairs and renovation of S&E research space in FYs 2010–11 (table 7). Improvements to biological and biomedical space were 37.5% of those costs. Health and clinical sciences (22.1%); engineering (12.4%); and astronomy, chemistry, and physics (10.3%) also accounted for substantial shares of overall costs for research space repair and renovation.

Institutions anticipate $3.1 billion in costs for planned repair and renovation with start dates in FYs 2012–13. They expected to spend nearly $1 billion on improving research space in the biological and biomedical sciences and nearly $1 billion in the health and clinical sciences. In addition to these slated improvements, academic institutions reported another $4.8 billion in deferred repair and renovation projects included in their institutional plans, as well as $2.6 billion not included in their institutional plans. The backlog of deferred improvements was greater than all projects started or planned for the FY 2010–13 period in most disciplines. The exceptions were biological and biomedical sciences, computer and information sciences, and health and clinical sciences.

Data Sources and Availability

The data presented in this InfoBrief were obtained from the National Science Foundation Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities, which collected data from 554 colleges and universities that expended at least $1 million in S&E research and development funds in FY 2010. The response rate for this survey was 97.7%.

The full set of detailed tables will be available in the report Science and Engineering Research Facilities: Fiscal Year 2011 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/facilities/. Individual detailed tables may be available in advance of the full report. Please contact the author for more information. Current survey data for individual institutions are available from the WebCASPAR database system, a Web tool for retrieval and analysis of statistical data on science and engineering resources (http://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/webcaspar/).

Notes

[1]  Michael T. Gibbons, Research and Development Statistics Program, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230 (mgibbons@nsf.gov; 703-292-4590).