 
In February, President Bush released his proposed budget
for fiscal year (FY) 2009. Within a flat domestic budget, the 2009 budget continues
to propose large increases for the three physical sciences agencies in the American
Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), increases for human spacecraft development,
flat funding for biomedical research in the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
and mostly increases in other parts of the federal research and development (R&D)
portfolio but cuts to key environmental and agricultural R&D agencies. Defense
R&D would continue to increase, and next year defense basic research in the
physical sciences would share in the gains. Despite tough budget conditions, the
overall federal investment in R&D would increase $4.9 billion or 3.5 percent
to $147.4 billion, driven primarily by increases in development funding. The federal
investment in basic and applied research would fall 0.3 percent to $57.3 billion
in 2009 as proposed gains in the ACI agencies would be offset by cuts in other
agencies' research funding, primarily cuts in congressional earmarks. Federal
research funding would fall for the fifth year in a row in real dollars..
The
newly published AAAS Report XXXIII: Research and Development
FY 2009 is a comprehensive analysis of R&D in the proposed federal
budget for FY 2009. The report, an annual effort produced in collaboration with
nearly 20 science and engineering associations, is now available on the AAAS R&D
web site and in print. The 280-page report, including nearly 40 tables and 25
chapters on R&D by agency, theme, and discipline, is an authoritative reference
on R&D in the budget. A 16-page summary of the report is available as the
AAAS Analysis of R&D in the FY 2009 Budget. More detailed analyses of
FY 2009 funding proposals are also available on the AAAS R&D web site on the
FY 2009 R&D page. - Revised April 18, 2008
 Since
1976, the R&D Budget and Policy Program has been providing timely, comprehensive,
and independent analyses of R&D funding trends in the federal budget as a
service to the science, engineering and policymaking communities.
Through its
Web site and email list, the Program makes available continually updated coverage
of R&D funding trends, ongoing budget debates in Congress and the Executive
Branch, and potential impacts of budget legislation. The Web site also offers
a guide to R&D funding data as well as downloadable copies of its printed
reports. Every spring, the Program hosts the annual AAAS
Forum on Science and Technology Policy (formerly the AAAS Colloquium), the
nation’s premier conference devoted to S&T policy. The next Forum will
be held May 8-9, 2008, in Washington, DC.
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