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Table 5. Higher education R&D expenditures, by R&D field: FYs 2005–14

(Dollars in thousands)

Field 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
All R&D fieldsa 47,535,201 49,645,341 51,590,017 54,113,750 57,288,415 61,253,743 65,276,179 65,729,338 67,014,807 67,154,642
Science 39,030,577 40,663,615 41,977,651 43,914,300 46,214,473 49,032,201 51,960,292 51,918,706 52,625,229 52,768,749
Computer sciences 1,404,105 1,443,055 1,430,660 1,471,454 1,600,447 1,639,054 1,741,463 1,821,305 2,068,772 1,927,356
Environmental sciences 2,554,468 2,601,097 2,681,473 2,798,750 2,923,404 2,991,852 3,152,405 3,171,932 3,196,119 3,248,721
Atmospheric sciences 460,020 507,583 446,184 423,055 416,826 429,354 481,103 476,584 493,252 500,950
Earth sciences 919,718 897,499 910,886 950,631 1,019,429 1,085,000 1,140,515 1,166,656 1,162,905 1,158,537
Oceanography 812,061 839,504 992,484 1,051,136 1,077,634 1,021,856 1,049,967 1,025,656 1,051,301 1,071,595
Environmental sciences, nec 362,669 356,511 331,919 373,928 409,515 455,642 480,820 503,036 488,661 517,639
Life sciences 27,604,138 28,803,658 29,805,328 31,192,916 32,778,944 34,948,346 37,330,178 37,193,535 37,569,149 37,921,244
Agricultural sciences 2,656,770 2,796,961 2,913,260 2,995,518 3,055,512 2,986,456 3,117,446 3,301,537 3,354,055 3,373,268
Biological sciences 8,843,679 9,049,032 9,207,593 9,760,099 10,146,059 10,935,508 11,845,022 11,601,482 11,680,405 11,703,597
Medical sciences 14,877,626 15,805,806 16,553,616 17,254,161 18,229,453 19,267,742 20,398,316 20,330,157 20,455,692 20,686,408
Life sciences, nec 1,226,063 1,151,859 1,130,859 1,183,138 1,347,920 1,758,640 1,969,394 1,960,359 2,078,997 2,157,971
Mathematical sciences 494,282 532,832 573,070 619,854 546,915 594,244 640,300 674,209 670,773 657,578
Physical sciences 3,702,783 3,813,770 3,863,269 3,931,833 4,282,795 4,622,928 4,781,723 4,722,689 4,648,291 4,616,578
Astronomy 454,354 469,955 467,604 539,112 578,406 573,229 583,843 706,543 558,508 566,910
Chemistry 1,371,984 1,414,311 1,460,415 1,486,721 1,582,562 1,750,222 1,783,208 1,748,576 1,705,020 1,724,364
Physics 1,596,290 1,611,248 1,615,766 1,606,997 1,869,890 1,998,131 2,121,591 1,998,776 2,097,193 2,055,773
Physical sciences, nec 280,155 318,256 319,484 299,003 251,937 301,346 293,081 268,794 287,570 269,531
Psychology 825,009 875,641 872,547 925,069 972,319 1,078,311 1,158,534 1,179,538 1,128,410 1,140,755
Social sciences 1,684,610 1,706,003 1,803,115 1,949,741 2,080,953 1,996,863 2,064,064 2,053,313 2,169,559 2,210,253
Economics 324,685 339,800 349,313 398,730 379,720 350,086 387,251 383,803 407,035 428,736
Political sciences 323,053 317,044 348,310 339,294 368,887 374,503 370,343 390,228 426,605 425,716
Sociology 370,468 399,697 397,748 403,226 408,444 420,284 432,804 459,419 480,613 503,889
Social sciences, nec 666,404 649,462 707,744 808,491 923,902 851,990 873,666 819,863 855,306 851,912
Sciences, nec 761,182 887,559 948,189 1,024,683 1,028,696 1,160,603 1,091,625 1,102,185 1,174,156 1,046,264
Engineering 6,743,373 7,095,085 7,517,262 7,957,504 8,648,525 9,324,604 10,031,879 10,283,173 10,735,342 10,973,790
Aeronautical and astronautical engineering 445,170 385,254 471,097 537,251 613,828 635,234 667,757 662,444 689,553 662,656
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 419,625 477,119 539,137 601,908 648,099 744,124 818,229 872,669 884,993 952,682
Chemical engineering 505,975 560,005 598,944 655,603 695,842 821,040 913,332 903,101 909,962 906,562
Civil engineering 787,548 858,346 862,260 924,620 980,451 1,106,723 1,208,042 1,232,414 1,296,871 1,255,698
Electrical engineering 1,581,700 1,615,996 1,636,983 1,704,953 1,844,482 2,049,832 2,206,026 2,310,804 2,408,774 2,476,925
Mechanical engineering 935,302 1,048,506 1,126,726 1,162,428 1,243,910 1,458,707 1,555,662 1,548,933 1,647,626 1,507,713
Metallurgical and materials engineering 612,016 643,244 632,941 646,523 688,225 703,914 738,047 757,132 812,117 1,197,702
Engineering, nec 1,456,037 1,506,615 1,649,174 1,724,218 1,933,688 1,805,030 1,924,784 1,995,676 2,085,446 2,013,852
Non-S&Ea 1,761,251 1,886,641 2,095,104 2,241,946 2,425,417 2,896,938 3,284,008 3,527,459 3,654,236 3,412,103
Business and management 220,187 247,335 276,280 329,931 343,916 368,461 400,258 443,072 475,941 483,013
Communications, journalism, and library science 75,582 84,784 90,832 89,203 107,484 129,906 153,727 159,930 148,940 166,904
Education 766,416 819,004 905,247 868,830 915,976 994,073 1,118,850 1,232,313 1,218,028 1,242,490
Humanities 192,309 217,263 241,683 246,713 255,289 262,678 312,881 339,910 388,062 399,310
Law 63,118 69,387 74,809 90,907 107,966 98,064 124,763 131,529 173,608 148,440
Social work 87,344 89,993 93,540 123,984 138,283 177,329 194,659 199,318 212,181 224,582
Visual and performing arts 42,135 46,100 46,155 59,285 72,867 66,419 77,328 84,596 87,917 95,775
Non-S&E, nec 314,019 312,774 366,448 432,965 483,636 800,008 901,542 936,791 949,559 651,589
nec = not elsewhere classified; S&E = science and engineering.
aPrior to FY 2010, some institution totals for all fields of R&D expenditures may be lower-bound estimates because the National Science Foundation did not attempt to estimate for nonresponse on non-S&E R&D expenditures item prior to FY 2010.
NOTE: Non-S&E detailed field data may not sum to total non-S&E R&D expenditures because some institutions reporting non-S&E R&D expenditures did not break out total and federal funds by non-S&E fields.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Higher Education Research and Development Survey.