Since IBO’s article on federal R&D obligations from fiscal 2013 (FY13) to FY15 (see IBO 6/15/15), the NSF has released additional and more detailed tables on funding. The tables include information on obligations for individual departments within agencies, such as obligations by performer.

The table below lists nine federal agencies and departments that are major participants in R&D activities and their percentage changes in obligations for R&D over three years. Most experienced lower obligations in FY13 and increases in FY14, due likely to sequestration. Four of the departments recovered from the budget cuts between FY12 and FY14: R&D obligations for the NIST, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), DOE Office of Science and FDA rose 22.8%, 3.9%, 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively. Over the same period, obligations for the CDC, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, EPA, NIH and NSF fell 23.3%, 11.4%, 7.9%, 2.6% and 0.1%, respectively.

For these nine departments together, the three FY14 R&D performers that received the most funding were intramural, industry and academia. In sum, they accounted for 86% of the departments’ estimated FY14 R&D obligations. At 40%, the largest share of the DOE Office of Science’s R&D obligations was to university-administered federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs). Although the USDA ARS had no industry obligations, intramural obligations accounted for 93% of its estimated total. At 27% of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s total, nonprofit-administered FFRDCs accounted for the largest share of R&D obligations. Of the NSF’s FY14 R&D obligations, 82% were to universities and colleges.