Table 2. Summary of federal obligations and outlays for research, development, and R&D plant, by type of R&D, performer, and field of science and engineering: FYs 2015–17

(Dollars in millions)

Type of R&D, performer, and field 2015 2016 Preliminary
2017 % change 2016–17
Outlays for R&D and R&D plant 130,222.8 110,772.6 112,762.3 1.8
R&D 127,817.7 108,544.5 109,973.0 1.3
R&D plant 2,405.1 2,228.1 2,789.3 25.2
Obligations for R&D and R&D plant 131,398.2 117,481.4 121,310.2 3.3
R&D 128,573.2 115,040.4 118,294.2 2.8
Performer
Intramurala 34,925.1 32,019.6 32,900.7 2.8
Industry 47,455.2 35,591.0 36,377.5 2.2
Industry-administered FFRDCs 3,935.8 4,119.4 4,586.2 11.3
Universities and colleges 27,414.7 28,193.3 28,409.5 0.8
University-administered FFRDCs 3,911.7 4,034.1 4,035.1 **
Other nonprofit institutions 6,136.2 6,465.8 6,457.2 -0.1
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 3,271.4 3,250.4 3,933.6 21.0
State and local governments 487.0 542.5 524.4 -3.3
Foreign 1,036.0 824.3 1,070.2 29.8
Research 63,645.3 66,722.4 66,504.1 -0.3
Performer
Intramurala 15,006.5 15,931.0 16,108.8 1.1
Industry 8,110.4 8,334.0 7,886.9 -5.4
Industry-administered FFRDCs 3,098.0 3,533.6 3,711.4 5.0
Universities and colleges 25,962.1 26,857.6 27,060.0 0.8
University-administered FFRDCs 3,226.8 3,224.1 3,086.5 -4.3
Other nonprofit institutions 5,710.6 6,054.3 6,041.8 -0.2
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 1,616.9 1,891.8 1,783.2 -5.7
State and local governments 420.3 420.2 412.1 -1.9
Foreign 493.7 475.8 413.4 -13.1
Field of science and engineering
Computer sciences and mathematics 3,862.7 4,222.8 4,225.4 0.1
Engineering 11,955.6 12,769.4 12,703.9 -0.5
Environmental sciences 4,413.7 4,427.9 4,149.9 -6.3
Life sciences 30,473.0 31,923.6 32,042.7 0.4
Physical sciences 6,510.3 6,669.8 5,915.1 -11.3
Psychology 1,994.9 2,021.4 2,041.9 1.0
Social sciences 1,136.3 1,226.7 1,152.5 -6.1
Other sciences nec 3,298.8 3,460.8 4,272.7 23.5
Basic research 31,527.1 32,286.6 32,331.7 0.1
Performer
Intramurala 5,813.7 6,120.5 6,276.7 2.6
Industry 2,536.5 2,446.5 2,399.4 -1.9
Industry-administered FFRDCs 507.0 472.0 495.4 5.0
Universities and colleges 15,295.5 15,544.5 15,692.3 1.0
University-administered FFRDCs 2,920.5 2,845.0 2,719.5 -4.4
Other nonprofit institutions 2,985.7 3,179.4 3,211.4 1.0
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 1,200.2 1,393.3 1,277.1 -8.3
State and local governments 61.2 81.4 77.6 -4.6
Foreign 206.7 203.9 182.5 -10.5
Field of science and engineering
Computer sciences and mathematics 1,984.5 2,109.7 1,995.4 -5.4
Engineering 3,694.0 3,651.6 3,631.8 -0.5
Environmental sciences 2,738.4 2,765.0 2,660.9 -3.8
Life sciences 15,209.7 15,577.0 15,864.6 1.8
Physical sciences 4,620.8 4,706.9 4,671.4 -0.8
Psychology 999.9 989.8 1,000.7 1.1
Social sciences 344.7 378.1 392.8 3.9
Other sciences nec 1,935.1 2,108.5 2,114.0 0.3
Applied research 32,118.2 34,435.8 34,172.4 -0.8
Performer
Intramurala 9,192.8 9,810.4 9,832.1 0.2
Industry 5,573.8 5,887.5 5,487.5 -6.8
Industry-administered FFRDCs 2,591.0 3,061.6 3,216.1 5.0
Universities and colleges 10,666.6 11,313.1 11,367.7 0.5
University-administered FFRDCs 306.3 379.1 367.0 -3.2
Other nonprofit institutions 2,724.9 2,874.9 2,830.4 -1.5
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 416.7 498.5 506.2 1.5
State and local governments 359.1 338.8 334.5 -1.3
Foreign 287.0 271.9 230.9 -15.1
Field of science and engineering
Computer sciences and mathematics 1,878.2 2,113.1 2,229.9 5.5
Engineering 8,261.7 9,117.8 9,072.1 -0.5
Environmental sciences 1,675.4 1,662.9 1,489.0 -10.5
Life sciences 15,263.2 16,346.6 16,178.1 -1.0
Physical sciences 1,889.5 1,962.9 1,243.6 -36.6
Psychology 995.0 1,031.6 1,041.1 0.9
Social sciences 791.6 848.6 759.7 -10.5
Other sciences nec 1,363.7 1,352.3 2,158.7 59.6
Development 64,927.8 48,318.0 51,790.1 7.2
Performer
Intramurala 19,918.5 16,088.7 16,791.9 4.4
Industry 39,344.9 27,256.9 28,490.6 4.5
Industry-administered FFRDCs 837.8 585.8 874.7 49.3
Universities and colleges 1,452.6 1,335.7 1,349.5 1.0
University-administered FFRDCs 684.9 810.0 948.6 17.1
Other nonprofit institutions 425.6 411.5 415.4 1.0
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 1,654.5 1,358.5 2,150.3 58.3
State and local governments 66.7 122.4 112.3 -8.3
Foreign 542.3 348.5 656.8 88.5
R&D plant 2,825.1 2,441.0 3,016.0 23.6
Performer
Intramurala 1,417.2 646.2 1,017.7 57.5
Industry 275.6 344.9 458.3 32.9
Industry-administered FFRDCs 101.7 71.3 79.0 10.8
Universities and colleges 292.2 284.1 294.1 3.5
University-administered FFRDCs 376.3 591.2 576.5 -2.5
Other nonprofit institutions 151.3 289.8 304.2 5.0
Nonprofit-administered FFRDCs 210.6 202.4 260.8 28.9
State and local governments * 0.6 0.7 5.3
Foreign 0.1 10.5 24.6 135.6