The President's budget proposes $145.694 billion for R&D in FY2016, an increase of $7.625 billion (5.5%) over the estimated FY2015 R&D funding level of $138.069 billion. Referred to frequently as the "doubling effort," Congress and Presidents Obama and Bush sought to increase support for the physical sciences and engineering by doubling funding for accounts at three federal agencies with a strong R&D emphasis in these disciplines: the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) core laboratory research and construction of research facilities (collectively referred to as the "targeted accounts"). 110-69 ) and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. The America COMPETES Act and the reauthorization act set appropriations authorization levels consistent with a doubling pace of 7 years and 11 years, respectively. Under President Obama's FY2016 budget request, seven federal agencies would receive more than 95% of total federal R&D funding: the Department of Defense (DOD), 49.5%; Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (primarily the National Institutes of Health (NIH)), 21.3%; Department of Energy (DOE), 8.6%; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 8.4%; National Science Foundation (NSF), 4.3%; Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2.0%; and Department of Commerce (DOC), 1.5%. The largest agency R&D increases in the President's FY2016 request (as measured in dollars), compared with FY2015, are for DOD, $4.670 billion (6.9%); DOE, $861 million (7.3%); DOC, $601 million (39.4%); HHS, $565 million (1.9%); USDA, $438 million (17.9%); and NSF, $310 million (5.2%). Multiagency R&D Initiatives

Although this report focuses primarily on the R&D activities of individual agencies, President Obama's FY2016 budget request supports several multiagency R&D initiatives. The President's request for NNI R&D funding for FY2016 is $1.495 billion. The PMI seeks to build on research and discoveries that allow medical treatments to be tailored to an individual's unique characteristics (e.g., a patient's genes) or the genetic profile of an individual's tumor. Two R&D-focused components of the AMP are the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) and the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The President also included proposals for establishing the NNMI in his FY2014, FY2015 and FY2016 budgets. In addition, the President's FY2016 budget includes a request for $1.9 billion in mandatory funding for NIST for the establishment of 29 additional centers between FY2017 and FY2024, which would bring the total number of centers to 45. In December 2015, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 ( P.L. 114-113 ) providing discretionary appropriations for all federal agencies for FY2016. For some federal agencies it is possible to discern R&D funding levels directly from this act and its accompanying explanatory statement. In these cases, this report reflects the results of P.L. 114-113 ). The Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative is a collaborative effort with the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) . Other accounts . The FY2016 NSF budget request included funding for three multi-agency initiatives: National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI, $416 million), Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD, $1.217 billion), and U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP, $341 million). As in previous requests, the President's FY2016 budget request did not include funding for these "national priorities." Funding for research and development is generally included in accounts with non-R&D funding. Funding for DOT R&D is generally included in appropriations line items that also include non-R&D activities; therefore, it is not possible to identify precisely how much of the funding that would be provided by appropriations bills is allocated to R&D unless funding is provided at the precise level of the request.
President Obama's budget request for FY2016 included $145.694 billion for research and development (R&D), an increase of $7.625 billion (5.5%) over the estimated FY2015 R&D funding level of $138.069 billion. The request represented the President's R&D priorities.
Funding for R&D is concentrated in a few departments and agencies. Under President Obama's FY2016 budget request, seven federal agencies would have received 95.6% of total federal R&D funding, with the Department of Defense (DOD, 49.5%) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, 21.3%) accounting for more than 70% of all federal R&D funding. The largest increases in agency R&D funding in the President's request would have gone to the Department of Defense (DOD, up $4.670 billion, 6.9%), Department of Energy (DOE, up $861 million, 7.3%), and the Department of Commerce (DOC, up $601 million, 39.4%).
Legislation targeted the R&D budgets of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation, and DOE Office of Science seeking to double them from their FY2006 levels. The America COMPETES Act aimed to double funding over 7 years, and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 over 11 years. The President's FY2016 budget requested increases for these accounts, as it did in the President's FY2015 and FY2014 requests. It departs from earlier Obama and Bush Administration budgets that explicitly stated the doubling goal. Enacted funding for FY2015 for these accounts represents a compound annual growth rate of 3.25% since FY2006, a rate that would result in doubling in 22 years.
The President's FY2016 request continued support for three multi-agency R&D initiatives—the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The request also continued support for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative, the Materials Genome Initiative, and the National Robotics Initiative. The President proposed FY2016 discretionary funding for seven new manufacturing institutes as part of his proposed National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), in addition to the nine that have already been planned, competed, or awarded. The President also proposed $1.9 billion in mandatory funding for the establishment of 29 additional institutes between FY2017 and FY2024. In addition, the FY2016 budget proposed a new multiagency R&D initiative, the Precision Medicine Initiative which seeks to build on research and discoveries that allow medical treatments to be tailored to an individual's unique characteristics (e.g., a patient's genes) or the genetic profile of an individual's tumor.
In December 2015, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113) providing discretionary appropriations for all federal agencies for FY2016. For some federal agencies it is possible to discern R&D funding levels directly from this act and its accompanying explanatory statement. In these cases, this report reflects the results of P.L. 114-113. For other federal agencies, R&D is included in appropriations accounts with non-R&D activities and it is not possible to determine specific R&D funding levels until reported by these agencies.
As in recent years, the annual appropriations process was completed after the start of the fiscal year. This can affect agencies' execution of their R&D budgets, including the delay or cancellation of planned R&D activities and acquisition of R&D-related equipment.