As U.S. politicians turn their eyes towards this year's election season, governments around the world continue to focus their efforts on increasing national global competitiveness. Over the past couple months, Australia, China and New Zealand have announced government initiatives to spur innovation, revitalize domestic manufacturing and support R&D.
Research collaborations between institutions of higher education are becoming an increasingly important facet of U.S. R&D, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF). A new NSF InfoBrief reveals that pass-through funds, R&D expenditures transferred from one institution to another, represented seven percent of total expenditures in 2009. In 2000, they represented only five percent of expenditures.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a breakdown of federal research and development (R&D) funding by research area. The report includes FY10 spending, FY11 preliminary spending levels and proposed FY12 levels. In 2010, national defense led the list of research priorities, receiving 59 percent of all U.S. R&D spending. Health research captured another 21.5 percent of spending. NSF provides tables for each research area that separate spending by federal agency and program.
A bill introduced less than three months ago to spur economic activity through high-impact university-industry R&D projects and provide tools for tech-based startup companies was passed with overwhelming support in the legislature. In addition to the matching fund, the bill includes funding to provide paid internships to startup technology companies and establishes an entrepreneur and startup venture capital mentoring program. Measures to address the state's skills gap and promote manufacturing competitiveness also are included.
An InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) provides a preview of the results of NSF's latest survey of R&D activities performed and funded by state government agencies in FY09. Though the InfoBrief is not a comprehensive guide to state R&D spending, the summary sheds some light on state research priorities. A total of $1.2 billion in spending was reported by state agencies, which also were asked about the type of R&D performed with those funds.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding allowed the U.S. federal government to maintain steady funding of research and development (R&D) during the economic crisis. Now that the vast majority of those funds have been spent, however, the U.S. will have to step up its support of R&D to remain competitive. Earlier this year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics released some illuminating data on how an increase in federal spending helped buoy U.S.
Unlike last year when a wave of new governors pushed sweeping proposals to re-organize economic development activities and grow the economy, the 2012 legislative sessions brought mostly modest changes for tech-based initiatives. While many programs were level funded or received smaller increases than in previous years, a handful of states increased funds or introduced new initiatives to support economic development efforts.
House lawmakers fell short of overriding Gov. Paul LePage's veto of a $20 million bond for R&D projects that would have gone to voters in November following passage in the legislature earlier this month. The money would have been used by the Maine Technology Institute to provide competitive grants to businesses, nonprofit organizations, university research labs and others for R&D and commercialization projects through the Maine Technology Asset Fund (MTAF).
A program envisioned nine years ago as a $1 billion endowment that would transform Oklahoma into the research capital of the Great Plains was eliminated last week by the legislature. The Economic Development Generating Excellence Fund, or EDGE Fund, which provided grants to high-tech companies, was unable to secure a long-term financial commitment from the state following an initial appropriation of $150 million in 2006. The balance of the fund, about $161 million, will be transferred to Oklahoma universities for the endowed chairs program to fund academic positions and research.
Massachusetts House leaders introduced a bill earlier this week calling for funding to support R&D at universities and research centers, manufacturing grants and workforce training, and a venture capital mentoring program for startups. The measure is touted as a jobs bill to stimulate the state's sluggish recovery by focusing on high-growth sectors of the economy.