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NSF Analyzes Federal Funding for R&D from 2008 to 2010
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a report on federal research and development (R&D) spending — Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2008–10. It percents data collected from NSF surveys sent to all 27 federal agencies that were conducting R&D programs in early 2008. Total R&D spending is reported as both outlays and obligations for those three fiscal years (FY). In this report, the basis for reporting is determined by fiscal year:
- FY 2008 data are completed transactions;
- FY 2009 data are estimates of congressional appropriation actions and apportionment and reprogramming decisions; and,
- FY 2010 data are estimates of administration budget proposals not yet acted on.
NSF intends for subsequent volumes in the series to include updated numbers, once authorization, appropriation, deferral and apportionment actions have been occurred. To allow for trend comparisons, the report also provides historical data from 1988 to 2009.
The report shows that federal R&D spending dropped almost 9 percent from 2008 (approximately $127.1 billion in R&D spending) to 2010 (an estimated $116.2 billion). The significant drop is due to an estimated 21 percent in federal support for development activities. Over the same period, federal spending for basic (10 percent) and applied research (6 percent) increased significantly. Federal R&D obligations also are broken down by five variables in the report:
- Character of work (i.e., basic research, applied research, development, R&D plant);
- Federal agency;
- Field of science or engineering (for research but not for development);
- Geographical area; and,
- Performer (e.g., Industry, University and nonprofit).