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Digest of Education Statistics
2011 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 391. Federal obligations for research, development, and R&D plant, by category of obligation, performers, and fields of science: Fiscal years 2002 through 2010
[In millions of current dollars]
Category of obligation, performers, and fields of science Actual Estimated
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Percent change, 2009 to 2010
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total obligations for research, development, and
        R&D plant
$90,157.7 $97,927.9 $105,370.7 $112,994.6 $112,270.6 $129,431.2 $129,049.5 $123,243.0 $118,559.4 -3.8
                     
Research and development obligations 85,853.0 93,661.3 101,376.5 109,223.5 110,145.8 127,262.9 127,105.7 119,730.6 116,274.5 -2.9
Performers                    
Federal intramural1 21,044.8 22,861.6 22,423.2 24,125.4 25,563.2 29,932.5 29,637.9 28,354.1 29,935.5 5.6
Industrial firms 29,538.2 33,852.7 39,214.6 44,112.5 44,152.9 55,342.3 56,337.6 46,444.9 42,817.7 -7.8
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 1,351.1 1,507.6 1,543.1 1,612.1 1,421.9 2,691.6 4,119.9 2,572.3 2,410.3 -6.3
Universities and colleges 21,290.1 22,693.5 24,169.7 24,841.5 24,336.3 25,547.8 26,026.5 28,867.1 27,810.8 -3.7
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and colleges 4,641.2 4,754.2 5,400.9 5,686.1 5,439.1 4,171.2 1,988.6 3,931.1 3,910.9 -0.5
Other nonprofit institutions 5,739.1 5,706.7 5,623.7 5,910.0 6,000.1 5,984.4 5,965.0 6,316.5 6,182.1 -2.1
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 1,404.8 1,352.8 1,443.2 1,649.2 1,816.0 2,520.3 2,083.0 2,260.6 2,275.7 0.7
State and local governments 452.2 400.0 880.1 660.8 619.6 362.0 389.0 431.9 385.7 -10.7
Foreign 391.6 532.4 677.9 625.8 796.7 710.6 558.1 551.9 545.8 -1.1
                     
Research obligations 48,006.7 51,071.8 53,357.8 53,738.2 53,535.7 54,093.6 53,893.7 59,429.9 58,354.8 -1.8
Performers                    
Federal intramural1  11,857.4 12,419.6 12,085.2 12,349.9 12,261.6 11,816.4 11,921.7 12,839.1 13,222.5 3.0
Industrial firms 5,786.8 6,042.4 6,782.7 6,456.4 6,436.3 6,074.2 5,782.4 6,692.9 6,164.1 -7.9
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 937.3 1,103.5 1,131.6 1,082.0 947.9 1,863.0 2,929.7 1,591.8 1,782.0 12.0
Universities and colleges 20,285.4 21,676.5 22,699.1 23,156.0 22,809.4 23,966.9 24,323.2 27,231.6 26,222.3 -3.7
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and colleges 3,219.4 3,272.6 3,687.3 3,743.4 3,783.0 2,942.4 1,623.1 3,123.0 3,130.9 0.3
Other nonprofit institutions 4,723.0 5,196.3 5,216.4 5,295.8 5,448.9 5,416.7 5,397.5 5,863.7 5,729.5 -2.3
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 749.6 779.0 795.5 907.8 1,028.6 1,283.0 1,205.7 1,331.1 1,370.1 2.9
State and local governments 275.5 305.8 532.9 376.8 417.9 297.6 338.8 355.9 337.5 -5.2
Foreign 172.3 276.1 427.0 370.2 402.1 433.3 371.5 400.9 396.0 -1.2
Fields of science                    
Life sciences 25,476.8 27,772.2 27,728.5 28,127.8 27,927.7 29,463.6 28,918.8 30,466.4 30,636.9 0.6
Psychology 905.9 1,104.4 1,854.9 1,891.8 1,747.3 1,837.9 1,740.8 1,842.3 1,875.6 1.8
Physical sciences 4,983.2 5,021.6 5,211.1 5,493.7 5,351.1 5,136.1 5,072.6 6,070.9 5,788.4 -4.7
Environmental sciences 3,418.3 3,740.9 3,741.6 3,502.6 3,430.6 3,170.5 2,984.6 3,646.2 3,385.6 -7.1
Mathematics and computer sciences 2,630.7 1,104.4 2,949.4 2,983.4 2,814.9 2,945.7 3,047.3 3,707.0 3,364.1 -9.2
Engineering 8,274.9 8,405.1 8,866.4 8,552.9 8,678.7 8,989.7 8,975.5 9,872.5 9,589.1 -2.9
Social sciences 1,038.5 1,025.8 1,089.6 1,097.1 1,123.9 1,147.1 977.0 1,260.8 1,278.7 1.4
Other sciences 1,278.4 1,329.3 1,916.3 2,088.9 2,461.3 1,403.1 2,177.1 2,564.0 2,436.3 -5.0
                     
Basic research obligations 23,668.3 24,751.4 26,120.7 27,140.3 26,584.6 26,865.8 27,154.0 30,935.4 29,847.6 -3.5
Performers                    
Federal intramural1 4,460.0 4,662.1 4,671.6 4,772.7 4,763.9 4,572.2 4,767.5 5,106.6 5,127.4 0.4
Industrial firms 1,231.9 1,279.6 1,969.4 2,051.0 1,858.9 1,736.2 1,545.4 1,852.5 1,712.8 -7.5
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 239.6 312.8 292.2 270.1 220.4 341.3 574.9 507.9 574.6 13.1
Universities and colleges 12,668.2 13,151.8 13,398.5 13,989.9 13,657.6 14,220.3 14,645.7 17,108.1 16,118.1 -5.8
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and
           colleges
1,805.2 1,827.8 2,005.8 2,021.2 2,096.8 1,982.8 1,484.3 1,786.5 1,856.5 3.9
Other nonprofit institutions 2,531.7 2,703.9 2,746.1 2,914.2 2,867.4 2,793.8 2,935.2 3,237.9 3,086.6 -4.7
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 563.4 582.1 606.8 670.7 755.8 889.5 915.8 1,030.6 1,075.5 4.4
State and local governments 71.5 85.4 197.9 235.9 152.7 101.3 75.9 88.8 82.1 -7.5
Foreign 96.8 146.1 232.3 214.6 211.2 228.4 209.1 216.6 214.0 -1.2
Fields of science                    
Life sciences 14,024.1 14,765.3 14,490.0 15,247.6 14,934.4 15,643.5 15,557.4 16,468.3 16,454.8 -0.1
Psychology 464.6 543.8 979.2 1,040.1 944.9 978.8 936.0 980.3 988.6 0.8
Physical sciences 3,405.9 3,454.0 3,662.6 3,738.7 3,515.5 3,544.5 3,403.1 4,284.4 4,024.5 -6.1
Environmental sciences 1,833.3 1,899.5 2,022.9 1,966.1 1,849.5 1,727.8 1,593.1 2,128.4 1,891.0 -11.2
Mathematics and computer sciences 998.7 1,120.2 1,239.1 1,228.4 1,208.2 1,293.5 1,407.4 1,876.3 1,641.4 -12.5
Engineering 1,864.9 1,913.1 2,271.7 2,300.5 2,364.6 2,629.9 2,736.0 3,200.4 3,027.1 -5.4
Social sciences 361.7 352.8 419.3 391.4 381.0 361.3 330.0 442.1 386.8 -12.5
Other sciences 715.2 702.7 1,035.9 1,227.5 1,386.5 686.4 1,190.9 1,555.2 1,433.3 -7.8
                     
Applied research obligations 24,338.4 26,320.4 27,237.1 26,597.9 26,951.1 27,227.8 26,739.7 28,494.5 28,507.2 #
Performers                    
Federal intramural1 7,397.4 7,757.5 7,413.6 7,577.2 7,498.0 7,244.2 7,154.2 7,732.5 8,095.1 4.7
Industrial firms 4,554.9 4,762.8 4,813.3 4,405.4 4,577.4 4,338.0 4,237.0 4,840.4 4,451.3 -8.0
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 697.7 790.7 839.3 811.9 727.5 1,521.6 2,354.8 1,083.9 1,207.4 11.4
Universities and colleges 7,617.2 8,524.7 9,300.6 9,166.1 9,151.8 9,746.6 9,677.5 10,123.4 10,104.2 -0.2
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and
           colleges
1,414.1 1,444.8 1,681.6 1,722.2 1,686.2 959.6 138.5 1,336.5 1,274.4 -4.6
Other nonprofit institutions 2,191.3 2,492.5 2,470.3 2,381.6 2,581.5 2,622.9 2,462.3 2,625.8 2,642.8 0.7
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 186.2 197.0 188.7 237.1 272.8 393.5 289.9 300.5 294.6 -2.0
State and local governments 204.0 220.4 335.0 140.9 265.1 196.3 262.9 267.1 255.3 -4.4
Foreign 75.6 130.0 194.7 155.6 190.9 205.0 162.4 184.3 182.1 -1.2
Fields of science                    
Life sciences 11,452.7 13,007.0 13,238.5 12,880.2 12,993.3 13,820.1 13,361.5 13,998.1 14,182.1 1.3
Psychology 441.3 560.6 875.6 851.6 802.4 859.1 804.8 861.9 887.0 2.9
Physical sciences 1,577.4 1,567.6 1,548.6 1,755.0 1,835.6 1,591.6 1,669.5 1,786.5 1,763.9 -1.3
Environmental sciences 1,585.0 1,841.4 1,718.7 1,536.5 1,581.1 1,442.7 1,391.5 1,517.8 1,494.7 -1.5
Mathematics and computer sciences 1,632.0 1,552.2 1,710.3 1,754.9 1,606.7 1,652.1 1,639.8 1,830.7 1,722.7 -5.9
Engineering 6,410.0 6,492.0 6,594.7 6,252.5 6,314.2 6,359.8 6,239.5 6,672.0 6,562.0 -1.6
Social sciences 676.9 673.0 670.3 705.8 742.9 785.9 647.0 818.7 891.9 8.9
Other sciences 563.3 626.6 880.5 861.4 1,074.9 716.7 986.2 1,008.8 1,003.0 -0.6
                     
Development obligations 37,846.3 42,589.5 48,018.7 55,485.3 56,610.2 73,169.3 73,212.0 60,300.7 57,919.7 -3.9
Performers                    
Federal intramural1  9,187.4 10,442.0 10,338.0 11,775.5 13,301.6 18,116.1 17,716.1 15,515.0 16,713.0 7.7
Industrial firms 23,751.4 27,810.3 32,431.8 37,656.1 37,716.6 49,268.1 50,555.2 39,752.1 36,653.6 -7.8
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 413.7 404.1 411.6 530.1 474.0 828.6 1,190.2 980.6 628.3 -35.9
Universities and colleges 1,004.7 1,017.0 1,470.6 1,685.6 1,526.9 1,580.9 1,703.3 1,635.6 1,588.6 -2.9
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and colleges 1,421.8 1,481.6 1,713.5 1,942.8 1,656.1 1,228.8 365.5 808.2 780.0 -3.5
Other nonprofit institutions 1,016.1 510.3 407.4 614.1 551.2 567.7 567.5 452.8 452.6 #
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 655.2 573.7 647.7 741.5 787.4 1,237.3 877.3 929.5 905.8 -2.6
State and local governments 176.7 94.1 347.2 284.1 201.7 64.4 50.2 76.0 48.2 -36.6
Foreign 219.2 256.3 250.9 255.6 394.6 277.3 186.6 151.0 149.8 -0.8
                     
R&D plant obligations 4,304.7 4,266.5 3,994.2 3,771.1 2,124.8 2,168.4 1,943.9 3,512.4 2,284.9 -34.9
Performers                    
Federal intramural1 414.8 609.7 961.3 859.3 662.8 593.4 494.0 1,070.5 642.3 -40.0
Industrial firms 2,524.9 1,817.0 1,442.0 1,381.4 265.8 401.4 449.0 565.1 476.5 -15.7
FFRDCs2  administered by industrial firms 109.1 145.7 188.3 125.7 82.7 27.6 175.6 52.8 46.9 -11.2
Universities and colleges 241.1 686.9 354.3 423.0 262.5 265.6 210.2 658.5 260.9 -60.4
FFRDCs2  administered by universities and colleges 583.3 578.4 603.9 558.3 519.3 498.4 334.4 676.6 423.5 -37.4
Other nonprofit institutions 29.1 70.7 164.5 134.6 127.3 79.7 23.7 69.8 26.1 -62.6
FFRDCs2  administered by nonprofit institutions 388.8 333.9 252.4 218.0 201.6 296.2 253.8 410.0 405.5 -1.1
State and local governments 2.0 0.8 15.8 55.2 2.6 # # # # #
Foreign 11.7 23.4 11.7 15.6 0.3 6.1 3.1 9.1 3.1 -65.9
#Rounds to zero.
1 Includes costs associated with the administration of intramural and extramural programs by federal personnel as well as actual intramural performance.
2 Federally funded research and development centers.
NOTE: Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Totals do not include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Federal Funds for Research and Development, 2002 through 2010. (This table was prepared August 2011.)

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