Federal R&D obligations to Alaska universities and colleges amounted to $35.8 million in FY 1994 (Table 3). In FY 1993 and FY 1994, the University of Alaska system ranked 25th among state university systems in the United States in terms of overall federal R&D funding. The largest federal sponsors of R&D at Alaska universities are the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), with $12.7 million committed in FY 1994, and the National Science Foundation (NSF), with $11.4 million. Together, these agencies fund over two-thirds of the R&D at universities in the state. The Department of Commerce (mainly NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) provided an additional $2.7 million, while the Department of Health and Human Services added $2.0 million and the Department of Agriculture $1.7 million. The Department of Defense (DOD) is also a significant source of R&D funding for Alaskan universities, although the precise amount of its support is not clear. One data set (employed in Table 3) shows $1.6 million in obligations in FY 1994; another(used in Table 2) shows $11 million for the same year. The difference may be due to an interagency transfer of funds between DOD and NASA in support of the Poker Flat Research Range (discussed below)being counted as DOD funding in one case and NASA in the other. However, despite repeated requests to agency officials, we have been unable to verify this. Other inconsistencies between Tables 2 and 3 are also attributable to the fact that they are based on separate data sets collected using different survey techniques.

Federal agencies reported obligations for R&D totaling nearly $32 million to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in FY 1994, representing about ninety percent of all federal R&D monies allocated to higher education institutions in the state(Chart 5). In FY 1994, UAF ranked 99th in federal R&D support among universities and colleges nationwide. UAF is the system's only doctoral degree-granting institution and the state's main campus for organized research. The University's research programs emphasize northern phenomena, such as the aurora borealis, snow, ice, and permafrost, and tundra and taiga ecosystems, as well as problems of living at high latitudes, including the development of renewable and non-renewable resources, energy sources, the environmental impact of human activities, and the cultural understanding and preservation of the peoples of the North.

According to NSF data, UAF spent $76.1 million on R&D from all sources in FY 1994. Fifty-four percent of that amount came from the federal government, 34 percent from institutional funds, 6 percent from the state government, and 6 percent from industry. UA system figures, on the other hand, show UAF research funding from all sources totaling $63.6 million in FY 1994 (and $60.9 million in FY 1995). [Important note: The figures provided by the UA system, many of which are cited in the remainder of this section, may deviate from other figures due to differences in definitions and accounting systems. This situation is not unusual in dealing with R&D data.*]

According to UA system data, UAF's Geophysical Institute is the largest recipient of research revenue, totaling $21.9 million in FY 1994 and $20.8 million in FY 1995. The Institute operates the Poker Flat Research Range, a center for space and environmental research, under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Other funders have included the Defense Nuclear Agency, the U.S. Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, NSF, and NOAA. Also funded by NASA contracts is the Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility. This facility receives satellite data about changes in the Earth's natural features, which are made available to scientists worldwide. The Geophysical Institute is one of the main University of Alaska sponsors of the Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research (CIFAR),which is a NOAA-University joint institute, and the Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research. The latter provides a home for the headquarters of the Arctic Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; AAAS is the sponsor of this report.

The second largest program at UAF, in terms of research revenue received, is the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (SFOS),which received a total of $13.4 million in FY 1994 and $14.1 million in FY 1995, according to the University. Its Prince William Sound Ecosystem Assessment Program is meant to provide information to aid the area's recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This work is supported by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. SFOS also runs a fish genetics program, which cooperates with the Auke Bay Laboratory of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. Arctic oceanography research is carried out in collaboration with the Japanese and Russian marine research centers. SFOS supports several other research programs in conjunction with various external funding agencies, including the Alaska Sea Grant College Program(NOAA), the Coastal Marine Institute (Minerals Management Service),the Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center (private), and the West Coast and Polar Center of the National Undersea Research Program(NOAA).

Other centers and institutes at UAF that receive significant amounts of research funding include: the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center ($5.8 million in FY 1994 and $6.4 million in FY 1995-all outside money) and the Institute of Arctic Biology ($4.6 million in FY 1994 and $4.4 million in FY 1995-about one-third state money, two-thirds external funds). The Polar Ice Coring Office (funded at $4.6 million in FY 1994 and $2.6 million in FY 1995), which had been located at UAF from 1988 until 1995, recently moved back to the University of Nebraska where it originated in 1974.

According to NSF figures, the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)received about $2.3 million, or six percent, of total federal R&D funds allocated to academic institutions in the state in FY 1994. UAA reports that its research expenditures totaled $4.6 million in FY 1994 ($3.1 million from external sources) and $5.2 million in FY 1995 ($3.7 million externally funded). UAA has a campus in Anchorage, in addition to counting the campuses of four other rural colleges as integral parts. Its largest research center is the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). The UA system reports that ISER received $1.4 million in FY 1994,$1.8 million in FY 1995, and expected to do over $2.3 million in grant and contract research in FY 1996. The Institute received a four-year, $1.8 million NSF grant, in conjunction with the Institute of Arctic Biology at UAF, to research the sustainability of Arctic communities. The project integrates research ranging from caribou population dynamics to factors affecting investments in Alaska petroleum production. ISER participates in a broad range of other activities, including studying the economic impact of development of North Slope Heavy Oil, examining the well-being of Alaska's children, and helping to coordinate the 1996 AAAS Arctic Science Conference.

UAA reported that its Environment and Natural Resources Institute received $1.3 million in FY 1994 and $1.7 million in FY 1995 in external research funding. The Institute's Alaska Natural Heritage Program receives funding from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees for the APEX Predator Ecosystem Project, which also involves four federal agencies, three universities, and one state agency. The Alaska State Climate Center coordinates, with the National Weather Service, a program to forecast fire-weather conditions in the state.