US federal research funding saw 6% growth

The amount of money that the US federal government spends on research rose by $3.7 billion (£2.6 billion), or 6%, between fiscal years 2013 and 2014, according to a new data released by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The figure is projected to remain relatively flat at $63.4 billion in 2015 but then rise by $2.7 billion, or 4%, to $66.2 billion in 2016.

Spending on basic research grew 6% between 2013 and 2014, to $31.6 billion, and obligations for applied research also rose by 6%, to $31.3 billion. Regarding changes at particular agencies, research spending at the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health, increased by 4% over the same period to reach $30.6 billion, and at the Department of Energy it jumped 10%, to $8.1 billion. In addition, research funding at the Department of Defense increased by 13%, to $6.7 billion, and the NSF’s research funding rose by 9%, to $5.4 billion. Meanwhile, funding for research at Nasa fell 2%, to $5.3 billion.