Spending down for federal R&D centers

Support for federally funded research and development centers has been flat or falling since 2011, according to a new NSF analysis. These 41 research labs include sites supported by NASA, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and other agencies. In 2014, spending at these centers was flat from 2013, rising less than 1% to $17.7 billion. These research labs received 98% of their support from the federal government, with small amounts coming from businesses, universities, foreign governments, nonprofits, and state or local governments. Not all centers fared the same, however. Of the top six biggest sites, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory got 9% more funding in 2014 than in 2013. Spending on Sandia and Los Alamos national labs increased around 3%, whereas Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore national labs saw 11% declines. Overall in 2014, applied research received the most support at the research centers with 39%, followed by development with 38%. These centers spent just 24% of their funding on basic research in 2014.