SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INVESTED University of California, Berkeley, chemical engineer Jay D. Keasling works with a reactor in which he grows microbes engineered to make complex molecules, such as a precursor of the antimalarial artemisinin. UC Berkeley ranked 20th among schools that spent the most on chemical engineering R&D in 2003. in constant dollars, compared with 100.9% in current dollars. Spending on basic R&D—which at $30.0 billion accounted for three-quarters of the total academic research budget—expanded 9.9% in terms of current dollars in 2003, a growth rate not too different from the annual average for the previous decade. Spending on applied R&D grew 11.1%, more than twice the 10-year annual average increase for the sector.
TRENDS IN ACADEMIC R&D SPENDING Spending by the chemical research sector grew 79% in 2003, beating 10-year average SOPHIE L. R0VNER, C&EN WASHINGTON
F
ROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT,
fiscal 2003 was another good year for scientists in academe. Spending on academic research and development in science and engineering rose 10.2% to $40.1 billion that year, the latest for which figures are available from the National Science Foundation. Though the increase failed to beat the prior year's expansion of 10.9%, it marked only the
second time in the previous decade that growth had topped 10.0%. Even when inflation is taken into account, the numbers look good: Total R&D spending by universities and colleges rose 8.2% from 2002 to 2003 in terms of constant dollars. The gap between constant and current dollars is more evident over the longer term, however. Between 1993 and 2003, spending grew a total of 67.3%
THE FEDERAL government boosted its investment in academic R&D by 13.1% to $24.7 billion in 2003, significantly outpacing increases provided by other funding sources. As a result, the federal government accounted for 61.7% of academic R&D funds in 2003, its greatest share since 1985. Institutional sources kicked in a further 19.2% in 2003. State and local governments contributed 6.6%, and industry accounted for 5.4%. NSF notes that industry's share sank to its lowest level since 1983, when it was just 4.9%. Academic R&D spending is concentrated in the life sciences, which soaked up 59.3% of the budget in 2003. The sector's two largest components are medical sciences, where spending was $12.8 billion, and biological sciences, which absorbed $7.4 billion. The physical sciences represented just 8.2% of the total R&D budget, with chemistry accounting for a mere 3.0% share of total R&D spending. Chemical R&D spending rose 7.9% to $1.2 billion in 2003, but this respectable growth rate was outpaced by most other sectors. Physicists, for instance, enjoyed an expansion of 10.3% to $1.4 billion. Life scientists did even better, with an increase of 10.9% to $23.8 billion. R&D investment in the sciences as a whole rose 10.5% to $34.1 billion. Chemical engineering R&D, which grew 5 3 % to $454 million, also fared less well than engineering R&D as a whole, which expanded 8.6% to $6.0 billion. On a constant-dollar basis, chemistry
The federal government accounted for 61.7% of academic R&D funds in 2003, its greatest share since 1985. WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FIELDS OF ACADEMIC R&D SPENDING Growth in spending for chemistry lags behind that for other physical sciences ANNUAL CHANGE 1993
$ MILLIONS
ALL SCIENCES Life Physical Physics Chemistry Psychology & social Environmental Computer Mathematical Other ALL ENGINEERING Materials Chemical TOTAL
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
$16,795 $17,672 $18,656 $19,338 $20,531 $21,785 $23,268 $25,512 $27,778 $30,848 $34,079 10,851 11,468 12,188 12,716 13,591 U.596 15,630 17,468 19,216 21,421 23,764 2,130 2,177 2,256 2,258 2,371 2,483 2,605 2,712 2,804 3,016 3,273 940 957 989 988 1,059 1,078 1,149 1,207 1,241 1,287 1,420 740 760 771 802 821 876 919 961 1,007 1,131 1,220
2002-03 1993-2003
10.5% 10.9 8.5 10.3 7.9
7.3% 8.2 4.4 4.2 5.1
7.6 8.3 16.0 10.6 11.5
6.9 5.2 7.9 4.7 6.5
1,246 1,319 608 272 369
1,312 1,397 646 282 390
1,390 1,434 682 279 427
1,478 1,489 690 288 419
1,522 1,533 710 289 515
1,576 1,624 747 310 449
1,716 1,692 861 313 451
1,815 1,765 876 341 535
2,025 1,831 956 360 586
2,258 2,020 1,125 388 620
2,430 2,188 1,305 429 691
$3,156 299 274
$3,355 310 279
$3,515 330 297
$3,707 349 317
$3,839 389 317
$4,069 391 327
$4,261 384 349
$4,554 399 376
$5,019 453 415
$5,522 468 431
$5,999 535 454
8.6% 14.3 5.3
6.6% 6.0 5.2
$19,951 $21,027 $22,170 $23,046 $24,370 $25,855 $27,530 $30,067 $32,797 $36,370 $40,077
10.2%
7.2%
NOTE: Institutional fiscal years. Totals may not add because of rounding. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, WebCASPAR Database System
FEDERALLY FINANCED R&D SPENDING AT UNIVERSITIES Support for chemistry grew slightly faster in 2003 than funding for the physical sciences as a whole ANNUAL CHANGE $ MILLIONS
1993
ALLSCIENCES Life Physical Physics Chemistry Environmental Psychology & social Computer Mathematical Other
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
$10,098 $10,656 $11,231 $11,608 $12,057 $12,797 $13,653 $14,956 $16,372 $18,630 $21,126 6,387 6,738 7,114 7,406 7,764 8,334 8,957 10,068 11,195 12,855 14,645 1,513 1,563 1,638 1,630 1,683 1,762 1,863 1,915 1,973 2,131 2,353 708 727 762 757 803 818 869 902 927 975 1,088 505 518 533 554 552 587 617 631 660 738 816 870 944 962 1,007 1,012 1,076 1,102 1,134 1,186 1,292 1,440
2002-03 1993-2003
13.4% 13.9 10.4 11.6 10.6 11.5
7.7% 8.7 4.5 4.4 4.9 5.2
11.5 21.6 10.1 7.7
7.8 8.3 3.8 6.3
573 423 203 129
599 462 205 145
637 483 205 192
681 502 208 174
680 506 202 210
724 514 214 173
782 583 210 156
841 584 230 184
945 644 242 187
1,093 770 268 221
1,219 936 295 238
$1,858 150 143
$1,993 156 150
$2,102 176 161
$2,232 190 174
$2,256 222 166
$2,354 222 169
$2,447 218 180
$2,579 227 196
$2,851 241 215
$3,230 263 230
$3,608 303 248
11.7% 15.2 7.8
6.9% 7.3 5.7
$11,957 $12,649 $13,332 $13,840 $14,314 $15,150 $16,101 $17,535 $19,223 $21,860 $24,734
13.1%
7.5%
ALL ENGINEERING Materials Chemical TOTAL
1994
ANNUAL CHANGE
7.8%
5.8%
5.4%
3^8%
3.4%
5.8%
6.3%
8.9%
9.6% 13.7% 13.1%
NOTE: Institutional fiscal years. Totals may not add becaiuse of rounding. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, WebCASPAR Database System
spending rose just 6.0% from 2002 to 2003. Between 1993 and 2003, the constant-dollar outlay for chemical R&D grew a total of 37.3%. In current dollars, the budget expanded 64.9% over that time frame. Federal support for chemical R&D totaled $816 million in 2003—an impressive 10.6% rise over the prior year. That increase was more than twice the annual average for the previous decade. The government was also generous with science as a whole, boosting its support 13.4% to $21.1 billion. In engineering, the government raised its 32
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investment 11.7% to $3.6 billion, including a 7.8% hike to $248 million for the chemical engineering sector. For the second year in a row, the University of California, San Francisco, topped the list of schools spending the most on chemical R&D. Its $28.8 million expenditure in 2003 represented a 5.7% increase over the prior year. UCSF was followed by UC Berkeley, which spent $24.9 million, and the University ofTexas, Austin, which invested $23.4 million in 2003. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, came in fourth
with a budget of $20.9 million. Cornell University rounded out the top five, spending $20.8 million. The relative position of schools in terms of chemical R&D spending varies considerablyfromyear to year. The top 10 list added newcomers Cornell University and Harvard University in 2003 but lost Stanford University and Rutgers University. UCSF received the largest share of the federal government's investment in chemical R&D in 2003. The campus's $22.8 million allotment represented a 9.0% increase WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
SCHO OLS SPENDING HOST ON CHEMICAL R&D Unh/en Ity of CaUfornia, S*n Francisco,nrtainad top ranking, wtilla Cornell University and Harvard Unfv
