| Highlights
- Funding for
civilian physics‑related research programs at the Department of
Energy (DOE) would decline by 4.0 percent from current year funding. Several
major new facilities and centers, including the Spallation Neutron Source
and four Nanoscale Science Research Centers, would begin operations in FY 2006, while operating
times at some older facilities would be reduced.
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At the National Science Foundation (NSF), the budget for the Physics Division
would increase 2.3 percent over this year (see Table
II-7). The budget for the Materials Research Division would increase
2.2 percent.
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The budget for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST)
Physics Laboratory would increase 9.5 percent over the current year. The
Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory budget would see a 3.0 percent
increase.
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“Research in the physical sciences and engineering is at the heart of
technological innovation for priority areas of space exploration, nanotechnology,
networking and information technologies, and defense technologies,” declared a FY 2006 budget document issued by the Office
of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Although physical sciences research
has long been recognized as the foundation for multibillion dollar industries,
significant advances in medical research and technologies, and a stronger
national defense, federal obligations for total research in the physical
sciences have, when adjusted for inflation, had an annual growth rate
of just 0.5 percent in the period 1982-2001. For physics, the average
annual funding rate declined 0.5 percent during the same period.
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A large portion of civilian research in physics and materials research
is funded by DOE’s Office of Science and NSF, with additional support
from NIST in the Department of Commerce. Research in the physical sciences
is also provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department
of Defense (DOD). See chapters 10, 8,
and 6, respectively, for analyses of these budget
requests.
Department of Energy (DOE)
DOE’s
Office of Science is the primary federal supporter of R&D in physics
and the physical sciences. More than 19,000 scientists from academia,
industry and government use its civilian national laboratories and world‑class
scientific user facilities to explore the fundamental nature of matter
and energy. The Office of Science supports the research of over 23,000
PhD and postdoctoral scientists and graduate students. DOE (along with
NSF) also participates in the construction of the international Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland and in the International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (ITER) burning plasma fusion experiment, for which a site has
not yet been selected.
According
to Office of Science Director Ray Orbach, the request gives priority to
new facilities over many older ones, to keep U.S. science “at the very forefront” of world scientific
leadership.
High
Energy Physics: The High Energy
Physics (HEP) program conducts basic research into the nature of matter
and the forces that act on it. This research is conducted primarily at
the Tevatron at Fermilab in Illinois and at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
in California. Additionally, DOE participates in the construction
of the LHC. The HEP program also supports research into black holes, dark
energy, and other non‑accelerator physics.
The
FY 2006 request of $714 million for HEP R&D represents a decrease
of 3.1 percent, or $23 million, from FY 2005 funding of $736 million (see
Table II-11 for DOE funding details). Part
of the requested decrease for FY 2006 would be due to a transfer of $30
million to the DOE Basic Energy Sciences program for operation of a facility
at SLAC. Operating times would be increased over FY 2005 levels for both
the Fermilab Tevatron (by 6 percent) and SLAC (by 54 percent). A proposed
new experiment at Fermilab, the BTeV, would be cancelled.
Nuclear
Physics: DOE’s Nuclear Physics
program conducts research to understand atomic nuclei and nuclear matter,
using facilities at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
(TJNAF) in Virginia, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York, and other laboratory and university facilities.
The
FY 2006 request of $371 million for nuclear physics R&D represents
a decrease of 8.4 percent, or $34 million, from FY 2005 funding of $405
million. This decrease would substantially affect operating times at TJNAF
and RHIC, which would be reduced by 29 percent and 61 percent, respectively.
Additionally, funding would be reduced for R&D on the proposed new
Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA).
Fusion
Energy Sciences: The Fusion
Energy Sciences (FES) program seeks to investigate and control plasmas
and the process of fusion. In addition to participation in the international
ITER project, the FES
program would support operations at the DIII‑D in California and the Alcator C‑Mod in Massachusetts.
The
FY 2006 request of $291 million represents an increase of 6.1 percent,
or $17 million, over FY 2005 funding of $274 million. The request would
increase funding for U.S. participation in ITER, and support the first year of
equipment fabrication for the U.S. contribution. Two of the three primary U.S. facilities (DIII‑D and Alcator C‑Mod) would
operate at below FY 2005 levels, while the third facility, the National
Spherical Tokamak Experiment in New Jersey, would not operate in FY 2006. Fabrication of the National
Compact Stellarator Experiment in New Jersey would continue.
Basic
Energy Sciences: R&D within
the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program provides the foundation for new
and enhanced energy technologies. The request of $1.1 billion represents
an increase of 3.7 percent, or $41 million, over FY 2005 funding. In FY
2006, construction will be completed, and operations started, on the Spallation
Neutron Source in Tennessee, which will be the world’s most powerful neutron scattering
facility. Also scheduled to begin operations in FY 2006 are four of the
five planned Nanoscale Science Research Centers, while construction will
continue on the fifth. Funding would be increased for the President’s
Hydrogen Initiative, and for engineering, design and construction of a
Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC. As part of this project, $30 million
has been transferred from HEP to operate the SLAC Linac.
Biological
and Environmental Research:
This program supports research to clean and protect the environment, develop
energy alternatives, and enhance health and medical care. The FY 2006
request of $456 million represents a decrease of 21.7 percent, or $126
million, from FY 2005 funding of $582 million. Funding would increase
for the Genomics: GTL program, while funding for the Human Genome and
Climate Change programs would be maintained close to FY 2005 levels. (For
more on the DOE budget, please see Chapter 9.)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The
National Science Foundation supports research that is generally of an
exploratory nature at academic institutions. The foundation provides 32
percent of federal funding for basic research in physics at academic institutions,
and 55 percent of similar work in materials research. The foundation funds
researchers ranging from single investigators to large research teams,
and invests in equipment from small tabletop instruments to large facilities
providing cutting-edge opportunities in a variety of fields. As was true
in FY 2005, Nanoscale Science and Engineering is one of NSF’s priority
areas in FY 2006.
Physics
Division: NSF requested a 2.3
percent increase in the Physics Division’s budget for FY 2006. Funding
would increase $5 million, from $225 million to $230 million. The FY 2005
budget is less than that for FY 2004, which was $228 million (see Table
II-7). There
are three major components of the budget request of $230 million. Research
and Education Grants funding would total $127 million or 55.2 percent
of the request. The Centers Programs request is $26 million. The remaining
$78 million, or 33.9 percent of the request, would provide funding for
four large facilities.
The
Physics Division supports ten Physics Frontiers Centers, two Nanoscale
Science and Engineering Centers, and a Science and Technology Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology.
In
the budget submission to Congress, the highest Physics Division priority
in FY 2006 is implementing the recommendations of a National Research
Council report and a National Science and Technology Council Report. NSF,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and DOE would examine
important questions at the interface of physics and astronomy in an effort
entitled the Physics of the Universe. Ten important questions were identified
for study, including those surrounding the nature of dark energy and dark
matter.
The
highest facility stewardship priority involves increased funding (up 28.6
percent) for maintenance, operations and data analysis support for early
operations of two detectors at the LHC.
The
Division would also give priority to maintaining a robust program of research
and education grants, emphasizing cyberinfrastructure and cyberscience,
theoretical research, and biological physics.
The
budget submission also requests level funding for operational support
at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana. Support for the Rare Symmetry Violating Process (RSVP)
project is being transferred from the Division to the Major Research Equipment
and Facilities Construction account. Funding will continue at the FY 2005
level for the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory in Michigan and decline by 11.5 percent for the Cornell Electron
Storage Ring in New
York.
Materials
Research Division: NSF is seeking
a 2.2 percent increase in the Materials Research Division budget. Under
this request, funding would increase $5 million, from $241 million to
$246 million. The current budget is less than that for FY 2004, which
was $251 million.
As
is true for the Physics Division, the Materials Research Division has
three components. Of the $246 million request, $138 million, or 56.1 percent,
would be devoted to Research and Education Grants. The Centers Program
would receive $69 million, or 28.0 percent of the request. The remaining
$38 million would be allocated to Facilities.
Interdisciplinary
problems in materials and condensed matter sciences are studied in 27
Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers. Important support is provided to 11 centers that conduct
research in nanoscience and other materials sciences, as well as six International
Materials Institutes based at U.S. universities.
The
Division identified three priorities for FY 2006. They are maintaining
strong support for programs that will emphasize “research on materials
and condensed-matter phenomena at the nanoscale, biomolecular and bio-inspired
materials, computational and theoretical materials research, and materials
for future cyberinfrastructure.” The Division will also broaden participation
in materials research at several educational levels, and continue its
support for user facilities.
Level
funding would be provided for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
in Florida and for the National Nanofabrication Infrastructure
Network of 13 user facilities across the U.S.
Major
Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC): NSF has a separate account for “the acquisition, construction
and commissioning of major research facilities and equipment.” Within
this account, $51 million would go to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
that is being built under the ice at the South Pole (FY 2005 funding of
$48 million) that will provide unique data on cosmic phenomena. Full operation
is scheduled for FY 2011. NSF requested $42 million for the international
Rare Symmetry Violating Process project that is being conducted by almost
30 institutions. FY 2005 funding is $15 million. This research will advance
the frontiers of particle physics, and is expected to have the first data
runs in FY 2010. (For more on NSF, please see Chapter
7.)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
NIST
funds important physics research at several of its in-house laboratories.
The Physics Laboratory supports work on physical standards and measurement
methods for electronic, optical, and radiation technologies. The Materials
Science and Engineering Laboratory conducts research on materials measurement
and standards, and manages the only cold neutron research facility in
the U.S.
The
Administration has requested an increase of 9.5 percent in the Physics
Laboratory budget for FY 2006. Under its request, funding would increase
$4 million, from $41 million to $45 million. The Materials Science and
Engineering budget would increase $1 million, from $33 million to $34
million. (For more on NIST, please see Chapter 13.)
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