Science Spending as a fraction of GDP

Published by Marcos on June 30, 2008 under General

The National Science Foundation has an excellent statistics in the appendices to the 2008 Science and Engineering Indicators Report.

I used the excel versions of Tables 4-1, Gross domestic product and implicit price deflators: 1953–2007, and Table 4-32, Federal obligations for total research, by detailed S&E field: FY 1986–2007 to produce this chart:

To be clear, I took the constant 2000 dollar values for Physics and Astronomy and Physical Sciences spending from Table 4-32, and divided those into the constant dollars GDP number from Table 4-1.

Physical Sciences, Astronomy, and Physics spending as a fraction of GDP

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Download a High Resolution PNG here

According the data, all Physical Science spending in 2005 is equal to Physics spending alone 20 years ago. Grim.

Senate Passes Supplemental

Published by Marcos on June 27, 2008 under General

Or more specifically they passed “Motion To Concur In House Amdts To Senate Amdt To House Amdt To Senate Amdt To H.R. 2642.” As described previously, this includes funding for the NSF, NASA, and DOE Office of Science.

The money is included in a very broad war supplemental funding bill negotiated between the White House and the House of Representatives.

Science money in the House Supplemental

Published by Marcos on June 19, 2008 under General

The compromise supplemental funding bill does indeed include money for science. Specifically:

  • NASA - The amended bill includes $62,500,000 for Science, Aeronautics and Exploration.
  • NSF - Research and Related Activities - The amended bill includes $22,500,000 for Research and Related Activities, of which $5,000,000 shall be available solely for activities authorized by section 7002(b)(2)(A)(iv) of Public Law 110-69. This is for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCOR.
  • NSF Education And Human Resources - The amended bill includes $40,000,000 for Education and Related Activities of which $20,000,000 is for section 10 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1) and $20,000,000, is for activities authorized by section 10A of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1a). This is the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
  • DOE - Science - The amended bill includes an additional $62,500,000 for Science. The Department of Energy is instructed to utilize this funding to eliminate all furloughs and reductions in force which are a direct result of budgetary constraints. Workforce reductions which are a result of completed work or realignment of mission should proceed as planned. This funding is intended to maintain technical expertise and capability at the Office of Science, and may be used for National Laboratory Research and Development including research related to new neutrino initiatives. Funding for research efforts shall not be allocated until the Office of Science has fully funded all personnel requirements.

The bill should be voted on in the House today or Friday, and then will be considered in the Senate.

Updated - You can see the text of the amendments yourself at the Government Printing Office (PDF) view of the Congressional Record.

Also, my favorite part of the Congressional record daily digest for June 20 is this:

Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008: The House agreed to the Senate amendments to the House amendments to the Senate amendment with an amendment, made in order by the rule and printed in H. Rept. 110-720…

That is a lot of amending.