Federally Funded R&D Centers Report 6% Increase in R&D Spending in FY 2021

NSF 22-334

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July 28, 2022

The nation’s 43 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) spent $24.9 billion on research and development in FY 2021, an annual increase of 6.0% in current dollars (table 1). The federal government’s share of support reached $24.5 billion in FY 2021 and represented a 5.9% increase in federal R&D support to FFRDCs—the eighth consecutive year of nominal growth after performance declines in FYs 2011–13. In constant dollars, total FFRDC R&D expenditures rose an average of 1.8% annually from FY 2012 to FY 2021 (figure 1). These and the other statistics in this report come from the FY 2021 FFRDC Research and Development Survey, conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation.

R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers, by source of funds: FYs 2012–21

(Thousands of current dollars)
Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, FFRDC Research and Development Survey.

Total R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers: FYs 2012–21
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Total R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers: FYs 2012–21

(Millions of dollars)
Fiscal year Constant (2012) dollars Current dollars
2012 18,281 18,281
2013 17,363 17,667
2014 17,095 17,719
2015 17,631 18,458
2016 18,177 19,220
2017 18,597 20,038
2018 19,191 21,172
2019 20,249 22,738
2020 20,690 23,514
2021 21,545 24,921
Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, FFRDC Research and Development Survey.

R&D by Funding Source

FFRDCs are privately operated R&D organizations that are exclusively or substantially financed by the federal government. The federal government funded 98.4% ($24.5 billion) of FFRDC R&D expenditures in FY 2021 (table 1). Nonfederal sources funded the remaining R&D, totaling about $411.8 million, including businesses ($196.0 million); nonprofit organizations ($49.0 million); state and local governments ($43.8 million); and all other sources ($123.0 million), such as funds from foreign governments and foreign or U.S. universities.

Federal Agency Sources of R&D Funding

Four agencies were responsible for 91.3% of federally funded R&D expenditures at FFRDCs: the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (table 2). DOE ($13.0 billion) accounted for 53.0% of federally funded R&D spending. DOD ($5.5 billion, or 22.3%); NASA ($2.6 billion, or 10.7%); and HHS ($1.3 billion, or 5.3%), which includes the National Institutes of Health, were the only other agencies with funding greater than $1 billion.

Federally financed R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers, by federal agency and FFRDC: FY 2021

(Thousands of current dollars)

DHS = Department of Homeland Security; DOD = Department of Defense; DOE = Department of Energy; DOT = Department of Transportation; FFRDC = federally funded research and development center; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NSF = National Science Foundation.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, FFRDC Research and Development Survey, FY 2021.

Expenditures by Type of R&D

In FY 2021, basic research activities accounted for 20.1% of total FFRDC R&D expenditures (table 4). The remaining R&D expenditures were divided evenly between applied research and experimental development (39.9% each). Overall, total basic research expenditures at FFRDCs increased by $910 million in current dollars from FY 2017 to FY 2021. Applied research expenditures and experimental development each increased by around $2.0 billion during the same period.

R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers, by type of R&D: FYs 2017–21

(Millions of current dollars and percent)
Note(s):

Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Source(s):

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, FFRDC Research and Development Survey.

Data Sources, Limitations, and Availability

The statistics on FFRDC R&D expenditures presented in this report come from the FY 2021 FFRDC Research and Development Survey. This annual survey is completed by FFRDC administrators and collects data from FFRDCs on R&D expenditures by source of funds (federal government, state and local governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations, or other); federal agency source; type of R&D (basic research, applied research, or experimental development); type of cost (salaries, software, equipment, subcontracts, other direct costs, and indirect costs); and total operating budget. This survey has been a census of the full population of FFRDCs since FY 2001. For a list of criteria used to define the set of FFRDCs, see the general guidelines of the Master Government List of FFRDCs at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/#guide&gennotes.

The full set of data tables from this survey and more information on the survey methodology are available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22332/.

Notes

1The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics was informed in June 2021 that the Green Bank Observatory separated from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in October 2016 to become an independent institution; both retained FFRDC status. The Master Government List of FFRDCs was subsequently updated to reflect this change.

2See table 1 in the full set of data tables for annual totals from FY 2001 to FY 2021 (available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22332/).

3Comparative R&D totals for the Green Bank Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory are not available for FYs 2020–21 because they reported together for FY 2020 but reported separately for FY 2021. The combined totals for FY 2021 are 2.8% greater than what was reported in FY 2020.

Suggested Citation

Gibbons MT; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2022. Federally Funded R&D Centers Report 6% Increase in R&D Spending in FY 2021. NSF 22-334. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22334/.

Contact Us

Report Author

Michael T. Gibbons
Survey Manager
Research and Development Statistics Program, NCSES
Tel: (703) 292-4590
E-mail: mgibbons@nsf.gov

NCSES

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
National Science Foundation
2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W14200
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: (703) 292-8780
FIRS: (800) 877-8339
TDD: (800) 281-8749
E-mail: ncsesweb@nsf.gov

NSF 22-334

 | 

July 28, 2022