Table 6. Federally financed higher education R&D expenditures, by R&D field: FYs 2006–15

(Dollars in thousands)

Field 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
All R&D fieldsa 30,908,742 31,240,581 32,100,859 33,442,570 37,475,234 40,765,887 40,140,077 39,443,574 37,960,992 37,876,879
Science 25,823,786 25,974,334 26,546,800 27,541,142 30,789,451 33,370,864 32,494,977 31,762,599 30,401,803 30,349,236
Computer sciences 1,018,483 1,025,809 1,036,436 1,106,879 1,175,343 1,294,280 1,360,430 1,552,301 1,389,883 1,420,628
Environmental sciences 1,767,996 1,807,589 1,827,916 1,890,417 2,013,754 2,181,206 2,203,399 2,094,690 2,050,512 2,067,030
Atmospheric sciences 406,606 354,500 337,720 322,239 338,687 383,740 389,095 397,620 389,391 455,561
Earth sciences 591,714 601,326 603,171 645,073 735,094 799,906 818,785 767,770 740,691 696,323
Oceanography 560,990 671,710 686,106 711,758 666,930 705,852 673,888 662,219 663,270 648,494
Environmental sciences, nec 208,686 180,053 200,919 211,347 273,043 291,708 321,631 267,081 257,160 266,652
Life sciences 18,279,831 18,326,529 18,659,210 19,322,794 21,700,276 23,661,473 22,751,699 22,225,173 21,269,740 21,187,061
Agricultural sciences 883,383 897,109 862,443 863,378 956,744 1,041,577 1,136,584 1,109,312 1,083,403 1,088,905
Biological sciences 6,246,792 6,188,708 6,361,302 6,621,605 7,578,375 8,212,822 7,740,720 7,604,403 7,237,982 7,107,138
Medical sciences 10,438,130 10,563,126 10,748,704 11,057,535 12,068,597 13,184,542 12,681,477 12,287,380 11,742,653 11,749,252
Life sciences, nec 711,526 677,586 686,761 780,276 1,096,560 1,222,532 1,192,918 1,224,078 1,205,702 1,241,766
Mathematical sciences 374,931 408,608 447,399 368,730 417,775 458,966 490,534 464,593 441,406 424,891
Physical sciences 2,700,154 2,688,879 2,742,953 2,963,115 3,384,275 3,527,340 3,474,586 3,311,037 3,156,100 3,116,233
Astronomy 317,423 305,545 353,111 387,905 405,954 408,959 535,180 400,440 380,884 403,025
Chemistry 968,134 975,723 992,275 1,037,432 1,200,120 1,243,708 1,213,495 1,134,945 1,080,299 1,095,108
Physics 1,215,517 1,219,721 1,215,264 1,360,805 1,557,421 1,660,467 1,532,612 1,567,937 1,509,928 1,467,687
Physical sciences, nec 199,080 187,890 182,303 176,973 220,780 214,206 193,299 207,715 184,989 150,413
Psychology 629,253 603,423 634,857 656,196 758,520 835,448 859,500 776,402 750,935 763,177
Social sciences 712,628 762,700 816,045 854,739 900,768 946,948 915,754 897,496 919,848 919,673
Economics 120,316 124,400 127,685 121,542 127,674 148,604 144,332 137,128 138,997 151,226
Political science 106,991 134,811 124,970 137,282 152,542 148,626 141,265 143,375 145,735 136,575
Sociology 216,449 206,881 202,619 201,874 226,462 232,834 247,739 237,479 251,942 262,396
Social sciences, nec 268,872 296,608 360,771 394,041 394,090 416,884 382,418 379,514 383,174 369,476
Sciences, nec 340,510 350,797 381,984 378,272 438,740 465,203 439,075 440,907 423,379 450,543
Engineering 4,307,793 4,455,842 4,724,843 5,034,998 5,718,632 6,275,367 6,442,873 6,499,378 6,423,386 6,455,847
Aeronautical and astronautical engineering 287,578 340,102 399,378 431,389 466,991 504,536 501,722 513,134 474,613 516,080
Bioengineering and biomedical engineering 294,830 320,808 364,144 385,536 470,212 515,430 552,442 556,522 606,952 606,394
Chemical engineering 319,993 322,324 341,043 359,726 421,269 490,918 504,753 478,542 471,514 462,729
Civil engineering 334,655 355,597 385,333 400,280 460,880 544,992 570,303 578,390 577,958 570,786
Electrical engineering 1,076,684 1,065,059 1,111,187 1,200,129 1,373,311 1,511,458 1,601,917 1,642,771 1,742,317 1,772,453
Mechanical engineering 685,716 695,961 737,220 800,903 953,244 1,032,641 1,035,551 1,061,270 946,889 957,792
Metallurgical and materials engineering 386,147 377,631 376,879 389,255 429,412 455,722 462,246 465,657 494,375 496,449
Engineering, nec 922,190 978,360 1,009,659 1,067,780 1,143,313 1,219,670 1,213,939 1,203,092 1,108,768 1,073,164
Non-S&Ea 777,163 810,405 829,216 866,430 967,151 1,119,656 1,202,227 1,181,597 1,135,803 1,071,796
Business and management 52,569 54,612 65,318 67,456 86,440 99,661 96,659 95,227 77,275 69,936
Communications, journalism, and library science 29,915 30,998 28,652 29,609 41,339 53,266 53,337 51,060 54,337 42,475
Education 436,424 473,204 448,853 474,571 535,744 632,117 689,060 666,586 662,800 642,799
Humanities 56,216 60,071 56,090 60,248 57,510 61,420 67,692 76,804 75,115 60,031
Law 28,261 29,590 28,476 23,206 19,338 27,388 24,575 22,522 23,792 24,444
Social work 40,685 40,657 59,163 61,899 94,422 105,661 109,359 111,693 109,175 101,927
Visual and performing arts 3,604 4,012 3,722 4,193 4,843 6,521 10,435 7,039 9,056 8,609
Non-S&E, nec 129,489 117,261 138,942 145,248 127,515 133,622 151,110 150,666 124,253 121,575