Federally Funded R&D Centers Spent $26.5 Billion on R&D in FY 2022

Federal funding sources accounted for 97.9% ($26.0 billion) of FFRDC R&D expenditures in FY 2022 (table 1). This level of support is typical for FFRDCs, which are privately operated R&D organizations that are exclusively or substantially financed by the federal government. Nonfederal sources funded the remaining R&D, totaling $562.0 million, including businesses ($367.7 million); nonprofit organizations ($49.1 million); state and local governments ($38.6 million); and all other sources ($106.6 million), such as funds from foreign governments and foreign or U.S. universities. The most notable change in the nonfederal funding sectors since FY 2021 was the 87.7% increase in R&D expenditures funded by businesses, which was attributable primarily to the $157.9 million increase at Los Alamos National Laboratory.^{​See detailed R&D reporting for each FFRDC in the microdata files at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdc/pub_data.cfm for publicly reported data for FFRDCs from FY 1979 to FY 2022.See detailed R&D reporting for each FFRDC in the microdata files at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdc/pub_data.cfm for publicly reported data for FFRDCs from FY 1979 to FY 2022.}

Four agencies accounted for 91.8% 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) (figure 2). DOE accounted for 55.8% ($14.5 billion) of federally funded R&D spending. DOD ($5.4 billion, or 20.8%); NASA ($2.7 billion, or 10.3%); and HHS ($1.3 billion, or 4.9%), which includes the National Institutes of Health, were the only other agencies funding expenditures greater than $1 billion in FY 2022.

DOD funded R&D at more FFRDCs (31) than any other federal agency, followed by DOE (24) and NASA (23) (table 2). DOD-funded R&D surpassed $1 billion at three FFRDCs in FY 2022. DOE-funded R&D surpassed $1 billion at four FFRDCs, while five other FFRDCs surpassed $500 million in R&D funded by DOE. Three FFRDCs accounted for at least 70% of their sponsoring agency’s total funding to FFRDCs in FY 2022:

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory accounted for 91% ($2.4 billion) of NASA-funded expenditures at FFRDCs,
• Center for Advanced Aviation System Development accounted for 79% ($165 million) of the Department of Transportation’s funding of FFRDC expenditures,
• Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research accounted for 71% ($904 million) of HHS-funded FFRDC expenditures.

FFRDCs spent $5.4 billion more on R&D in FY 2022 than in FY 2018, with all but six reporting higher totals over this period (table 3). The majority of FFRDCs (31 centers) increased R&D spending in FY 2022 compared with FY 2021; 11 FFRDCs reported lower R&D totals in FY 2022 than in FY 2021. Ten FFRDCs reported more than $1 billion each (a combined $19.4 billion) in R&D expenditures for FY 2022—the NASA-sponsored Jet Propulsion Laboratory; six DOE-sponsored national laboratories specializing in energy and the environment, national security, and nuclear science (Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories); the DOD-sponsored National Security Engineering Center and Lincoln Laboratory; and the Aerospace FFRDC, which is jointly sponsored by DOD and the Air Force.^{​See table 6 in the full set of data tables for FFRDC sponsoring agencies and locations. The Master Government List of FFRDCs also provides details on sponsoring agencies, administrator types, locations, general and historical notes.See table 6 in the full set of data tables for FFRDC sponsoring agencies and locations. The Master Government List of FFRDCs also provides details on sponsoring agencies, administrator types, locations, general and historical notes.} Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories were the two largest performers, each with more than $3.8 billion in total R&D. From FY 2021, Los Alamos increased its R&D performance by $837 million and Sandia increased by $269 million. Three other FFRDCs reported R&D expenditure increases greater than $100 million: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ($126 million), Idaho National Laboratory ($121 million), and Argonne National Laboratory ($106 million).

The statistics on FFRDC R&D expenditures presented in this report come from the FY 2022 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); R&D personnel headcounts and full-time equivalents; 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/surveys/ffrdc-research-development/2022.

Gibbons MT; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2023. Federally Funded R&D Centers Spent $26.5 Billion on R&D in FY 2022. NSF 23-348. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23348/.

Michael T. Gibbons
Survey Manager
NCSES
Tel: (703) 292-4590
E-mail: mgibbons@nsf.gov

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