The federal government pays for a wide range of goods and services that are expected to contribute to the economy for some years in the future. Those purchases, called investment, fall into three categories: physical capital, research and development (R&D), and education and training. There are several economic rationales for federal…

The partnership between the government and American research universities lies at the heart of the U.S. scientific and higher educational enterprise. This unique and historic partnership has advanced human health, enhanced national security, and produced human capital that has fueled technological innovation and economic growth, created entire new…

As described in "Go8 Backgrounder 24: Answering the Global Challenge--Experiences from European Excellence Initiatives," Germany began a debate about how to strengthen its position as an excellent location for science and research in 2004. This debate focussed in particular on the competitiveness of the country's universities and…

The challenge of creating evidence-based practice bedevils a number of fields. In education, the federal government has historically placed substantial responsibility for translational research in the hands of the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs), which were established in 1966 as part of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act…

Historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) have long struggled to compete with traditionally White institutions (TWIs) when it comes to breakthrough research. Of the 908 U.S. institutions that received National Science Foundation research funding in fiscal year 2005, only 72 were historically Black, and they took in $294.2 million in…

This joint report by the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) is based on a survey of 20 U.S. research universities that conduct significant amounts of federal research. It follows up on a 2003/2004 survey of the same institutions. The new report shows that, despite the concerns and…

Canada weathered the global economic crisis well, mainly reflecting sustained growth in domestic pending, and the economy is continuing to grow despite the persistence of international turbulence, most recently stemming from the euro zone sovereign debt crisis. In Canada's case, several factors are acting in its favour. Federal fiscal plans are…

Over the past few decades there has been a rise in the number of federally funded large scientific research initiatives, with increased calls to evaluate their processes and outcomes. This article describes efforts to evaluate such initiatives in one agency within the U.S. federal government. The authors introduce the Evaluation of Large…

Adequate financial support for research and development (R&D) activities at universities and colleges in the United States is essential for enabling academic researchers to perform world-class research. This brief focuses on the main sources of financial support for academic R&D and the changes that have taken place over the last two…

This report describes federal funding mechanisms used, including relative magnitudes of support, by the six federal agencies that support most of the scientific research at universities and examines trends of how the use of these mechanisms has changed over time. The six agencies are the National Institutes of Health, the National Science…

Institutions of higher education perform about half of the nation's basic research. Consequently, the level, distribution, and characteristics of federal academic support are of much interest to officials at all government levels and in nongovernmental sectors. Federal legislation requires that the National Science Foundation (NSF) determine the…

This annual report contains information on federal funding of the research and development components of agency programs as proposed by the administration for Fiscal Year 1995. Research and development data are classified into the same federal budget function categories as those used in the "Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year…

This brief examines changes in research and development emphasis in the academic sector--which conducts roughly half of the nation's basic research--by analyzing shifts in the science and engineering field shares during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Both the shifting distribution of overall funds among science and engineering fields and the effects…

This data brief reviews the financial obligations of federal agencies for academic sciences and engineering activities in fiscal year 1997. Federal agencies were obligated more than 4% above the fiscal year 1996 levels. When adjusted for inflation, federal academic science and engineering activities support was up 2% in fiscal year 1997. This…

Discussed are the efforts of the Pentagon to help U.S. companies remain competitive in high-tech civilian markets. The tug-of-war for these companies between Congress, which has come to view them as a vehicle for pork-barrel funding, and the administration, which is trying to rein them in, is described. (KR)