Highlights
- The National Science
Foundation (NSF) budget, after declining in 2005, rebounds to $5.6 billion
in 2006, a 2.0 percent increase after a similarly-sized cut last year
(see Table). But inflation and new costs
for polar icebreakers leave NSF with less money in real terms than in
2003 or 2004, and leave the agency far short of the $8.5 billion authorized
by law.
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In the final congressional budget modified by an across-the-board cut
of 1 percent, NSF R&D funding ends up back at the 2004 funding level
with $4.1 billion in 2006, a 1.6 percent increase after an equally sized
cut last year (see Table). In real terms, the NSF R&D portfolio
in 2006 is smaller than in each of the last three years.
- The main Research
and Related Activities (R&RA) account totals $4.3 billion, an increase
of 2.6 percent, but much of the increase goes to Polar Programs to pay
for polar icebreakers formerly paid for by the Coast Guard. Most
NSF research directorates receive increases between 1 and 3 percent
in 2006 (see Table), but in real terms most directorates’ budgets
remain below or just even with 2003 and 2004 funding levels.
- Most of NSF’s
education and training programs suffer steep cuts for the second year
in a row.
- The modest increases for the research directorates after a cut last year
continue to squeeze NSF funding of competitively awarded research grants.
NSF expects to make awards to just one in five applications in 2006.
NSF R&D in FY 2006 Final Appropriations
NSF has a total budget of $5.6 billion in FY 2006,
an increase of 2.0 percent or $108 million (see Table).
Although the final NSF budget that was signed into law in November contained
a 3 percent increase, a 1 percent across-the-board cut for all discretionary
programs was attached to the final Defense bill in December. The total
falls far short of an NSF authorization bill calling for a doubling
of the NSF budget between FY 2002 and FY 2007 (see Figure 1), and the
increase is less than a budget cut in 2005, leaving NSF with a smaller
budget than in 2004. In real terms, the $5.6 billion is a loss of 5
percent from the $5.6 billion 2004 total and is also less than the 2003
budget, even though the 2006 total includes $48 million in polar icebreaking
costs previously funded by the Coast Guard.
Because of an extensive
reorganization of appropriations bill jurisdictions, in FY 2006 NSF
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are funded
for the first time with the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State.
NSF and NASA were formerly funded in the now defunct VA-HUD appropriations
bill alongside the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing/Urban
Development. As a result, the former Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations
bill now has “Science” in its name. The conference report contains an
across-the-board cut of 0.28 percent to get the bill’s totals under
the congressional target, and the final Defense bill contains an additional
1 percent across-the-board cut for all domestic programs. (All figures
in this analysis reflect both across-the-board cuts.)
An NSF authorization
bill calling for a doubling of the NSF budget between FY 2002 and FY
2007 was signed into law in December 2002 at a time when the federal
budget had just come from four years of surpluses, but with the return
of budget deficits NSF appropriations have fallen far short of authorized
amounts (see Figure 1). The gap widens in FY 2006 to nearly $3 billion,
the distance between the $5.6 billion appropriation and the $8.5 billion
authorized level, putting the NSF doubling goal well out of reach in
these tough budgetary times.
Figure 1. (click on the image for PDF)
NSF’s R&D funding, which excludes NSF’s education and training
activities and overhead costs (such as the polar icebreaking costs), totals
$4.1 billion, an increase of $66 million or 1.6 percent that brings the R&D
total back to the 2004 funding level after a dip in 2005 (see Table and Figure
2). But in real terms the 2006 NSF
R&D portfolio is smaller than in any of the last three years.
NSF’s main Research and Related Activities (R&RA) account does relatively
well in a tough budget year, receiving $4.3 billion in 2006, an increase
of $111 million or 2.6 percent. Congress originally boosted the request
of $4.3 billion by 1 percent in November, but the December across-the-board
cut brings it back down to almost exactly what NSF requested in February.
Within R&RA, the largest increase is a 12.3 percent boost to Polar
Programs to $387 million, but the entire increase and more goes to
fund a transfer of $48 million in non-R&D Coast Guard costs for
icebreakers to the NSF budget. Icebreaker ships necessary for research
access to the Arctic and Antarctic have traditionally
been funded and operated by the Coast Guard, but NSF now takes over
funding for these ships. Many in the polar research community are concerned
about the financial implications of this transfer, partly for the extra
costs now but mostly because of the far larger costs looming in the
future to renovate or replace these aging icebreakers within a tight
NSF budget. Although NSF will pay the Coast Guard to keep operating
these icebreakers in 2006, Congress gives NSF the task of making other
arrangements if the Coast Guard is unable or unwilling to do so in future
years.
Most of NSF’s research
directorates receive increases between 1 and 3 percent after similar
cuts in 2005 (see Table and Figure 2), but in real terms the directorates’
2006 budgets are below or just even with their 2003 or 2004 budgets.
Congress trims the request for the Major Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction (MREFC) account, but still provides a $17 million boost to $191
million. Congress agrees with the NSF proposal to have no new starts in FY
2006, and funds four out of the five existing projects. While the Scientific
Ocean Drilling Vessel, the Atacama Large Millimeter
Array, EarthScope, and the IceCube
Neutrino Observatory projects receive close to the requested amounts, the Rare
Symmetry Violating Processes (RSVP) project is left out of the money in protest
over escalating cost estimates.
Most NSF education
and training programs suffer cuts for the second year in a row. NSF
proposed an Education and Human
Resources (EHR) budget of just $737 million, down a dramatic $104
million after an identical cut in the 2005 budget. Congress adds back
$60 million for a budget of $797 million, still 5.3 percent below FY
2005. Although Congress protests the Bush Administration’s efforts to
transition the Math and Science Partnerships (MSP) program from a joint
Department of Education-NSF program to an Education-only one, there
is only $63 million for NSF’s MSP program, less than half the $139 million
NSF received in 2004. Elementary, Secondary and Informal
Education declines for the second year in a row to $170 million, as
does Research, Evaluation and Communication to $48 million (down 20
percent). Congress gives $149 million for Undergraduate Education,
less than $154 million last year but a big improvement over a requested
cut down to $135 million. One area with an increase is the Experimental
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR)
with $99 million, up from $94 million. EPSCOR assists research institutions
and states that have traditionally been underrepresented in federal
R&D funding to build research capacity. The program is currently
open to 24 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. As Figure 2 shows, the steep E.H.R. cuts of the last
two years leaves brings NSF support for education and human resources
programs back down to 2000 levels in real terms.
Figure 2. (click on the image for PDF)
NSF Funding Mechanisms
The small increases for the research directorates continue the squeeze
on NSF funding of competitively awarded research grants. The success rate for NSF research grant applications
would be 21 percent in FY 2006, essentially unchanged from 2005
and 2004. ENG expects to fund only 18 percent of its research grant
applications, while CISE would fund 16 percent; both directorates’ success
rates would be up from just 15 percent last year and this year.
In the conference report, Congress instructs NSF to explore prizes as another
funding mechanism for research. These prizes, called “innovation inducement
awards,” could encourage broad participation in contests to solve specific
scientific problems. Recently, the Department of Defense (DOD) made
headlines and attracted dozens of participants in the DARPA Grand Challenge
by offering a prize for the winner of an unmanned vehicle contest. In
2006, NSF will work with the National Academies to craft prizes and
competitions relevant to NSF’s scientific goals.
Possible Impacts
NSF enjoyed mostly
steady budget growth until 2004, as shown in Figure 2, but is now on
the decline. After declines in the mid-1990s in the push toward a balanced
budget, growth resumed after FY 1998 and momentum began to build to
double the budget over five years, culminating in the NSF authorization
bill of December 2002. But when the budget surplus years of 1998-2001
were followed by the current string of budget deficits, budget growth
slowed down to just ahead of the inflation rate in FY 2004 and reversed
with FY 2005 budget cuts. The FY 2006 appropriation barely keeps pace
with inflation, and the NSF R&D portfolio
winds up below the 2003, 2004, and 2005 funding levels in real terms.
These smaller increases or cuts in recent years have created downward
pressures on NSF grant sizes and success rates.
Figure 3. (click on the image for PDF)
NSF is the only federal agency
with responsibility for research in all major science and engineering fields.
As shown in Figure 3, NSF has historically had a balanced research portfolio covering the breadth of science and
engineering. In most fields, NSF is the largest or second-largest source of
federal funding. In the past, NSF has distributed its budget increases unevenly
depending on then-current research priorities. In particular, NSF support for
computer sciences research has increased dramatically over the past decade, as
fundamental IT research has grown as a national priority. NSF support of
engineering research has also grown substantially over the last decade, boosted
even more in recent years with growth in nanotechnology support. But the recent
stagnation in NSF funding could result in flat or falling support for all
disciplines, as Figure 2 with its trends for the discipline-based directorates
makes clear.
NSF’s longstanding
leadership role in federal support of basic research continues to have
a big impact on the nation’s colleges
and universities. NSF sends 80 percent of its R&D money to colleges
and universities, by far the highest ratio of any R&D funding agency.
NSF is the second-largest federal supporter of academic R&D, behind
the NIH, and dominates federal support in most non-biomedical fields.
NSF operates no laboratories of its own, but spends 8 percent of its
R&D budget at federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs),
government-owned but contractor-operated laboratories including the
National Corporation for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the National
Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
Figure 4. (click on the image for PDF)
Because of the concentration of
research-intensive universities in only a few states, NSF spending is highly
concentrated (see Figure 4). Seven states collectively win a majority of NSF’s
R&D funds. The NSF EPSCoR program aims to help
states that have traditionally received fewer NSF funds to become more
competitive in grant and center competitions. Collectively, the 24 NSF EPSCoR states (and Puerto Rico)
received 11.5 percent of NSF’s R&D portfolio in FY 2002, far less than California
alone.
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December 22, 2005
(This analysis is one of a series of AAAS R&D Funding
Updates on FY 2006 congressional appropriations. The complete series
of AAAS R&D Funding Updates, including continually updated analyses
of R&D in FY 2006 appropriations, is available on the AAAS
R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd) in the "FY
2006 R&D" or the "What's New"
sections.)
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607; -6600
AAAS R&D
Web site: www.aaas.org/spp/rd
