Federally Funded R&D Centers Report 13% Increase in R&D Spending in FY 2023

Federal funding sources accounted for 98.5% ($28.9 billion) of FFRDC R&D expenditures in FY 2023 (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, which totaled $436.9 million: businesses ($224.4 million); nonprofit organizations ($42.3 million); state and local governments ($35.4 million); and all other sources ($134.8 million), such as funds from foreign governments and foreign or U.S. universities.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD) combined to account for 77.4% of federally funded R&D expenditures at FFRDCs (table 2). DOE accounted for 56.7% ($16.4 billion) of the federally funded spending, and DOD accounted for 20.7% ($6.0 billion). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ($2.9 billion, or 10.1% of the total) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ($1.3 billion, or 4.6% of the total), which includes the National Institutes of Health, were the only other agencies funding greater than $1 billion. Almost $2.3 billion of federally funded R&D came from agencies other than the largest four. FFRDCs identified 21 other agencies as sources of federal funding in FY 2023 (table 3).

FFRDCs spent $6.6 billion more on R&D in FY 2023 than in FY 2019 (table 4). The majority of FFRDCs (37 centers) increased R&D spending in FY 2023 compared with FY 2022; 5 FFRDCs reported lower R&D totals in FY 2023. Eleven FFRDCs reported more than $1 billion each (a combined $22.6 billion) in R&D expenditures for FY 2023—the NASA-sponsored Jet Propulsion Laboratory; seven DOE-sponsored national laboratories specializing in energy and the environment, national security, and nuclear science (Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories); the DOD-sponsored National Security Engineering Center, Lincoln Laboratory, and Aerospace FFRDC.^{​For FFRDC sponsoring agencies and locations, see the full set of data tables: table 6. The Master Government List of FFRDCs also provides details on sponsoring agencies, administrator types, locations, general and historical notes.For FFRDC sponsoring agencies and locations, see the full set of data tables: table 6. The Master Government List of FFRDCs also provides details on sponsoring agencies, administrator types, locations, general and historical notes.} Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory were the two largest performers with $4.3 billion and $3.8 billion in total R&D, respectively. Between FY 2022 and FY 2023, three FFRDCs each increased their R&D expenditures by more than $400 million: Los Alamos ($473.8 million), Sandia ($464.0 million), and Lawrence Livermore ($451.1 million). Three other FFRDCs reported R&D expenditure increases greater than $200 million: Argonne National Laboratory ($271.7 million), Jet Propulsion Laboratory ($253.7 million), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory ($215.7 million).

In FY 2023, basic research activities accounted for 20% of total FFRDC R&D expenditures or $5.9 billion (figure 2). The remaining R&D expenditures were closely divided between applied research (40.7%, or $11.9 billion) and experimental development (39.4%, or $11.5 billion). These shares have changed only slightly over the last 5 fiscal years.^{​For type of R&D from FY 2001 to FY 2023, see the full set of data tables: table 2.For type of R&D from FY 2001 to FY 2023, see the full set of data tables: table 2.}

The statistics on FFRDC R&D expenditures presented in this report come from the FY 2023 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://ncses.nsf.gov/resource/master-gov-lists-ffrdc/general-notes.

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/2023.

Gibbons MT; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2024. Federally Funded R&D Centers Report 13% Increase in R&D Spending in FY 2023. NSF 24-330. Alexandria, VA: U.S. National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf24330/.

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

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