USM867.jpg Researchers examine fish samples, primarily croaker in the lab of the University of Southern Mississippi's research vessel Tommy Munro off the Biloxi coast, Wednesday, June 16, 2010. They will collect brain, liver, gill and sex organs for signs of contaminates from the oil spill.From left to right: Nancy Brown-Peterson, Research Associate, Department of Coastal Sciences; Arthur Karels, Research Tech; and Rachel Ryan, Research associate and molecular toxicology. (TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE) Federal funding for higher education research and development continued to fall for the third straight year in fiscal year 2014, according to a new report by the National Science Foundation. Funding declined by more than 5 percent compared to the previous year and has fallen 11 percent since its peak in the 2011 budget cycle. The trend represents the longest multiyear decline in federal funding for academic research and development since the data was first collected in 1972, the foundation said in a news release. To make up for the loss of federal funds, U.S. universities increased the amount they spent research and development by more than 5 percent in 2014 compared to the year before. Much of that money went into the fields of medical science, biological science and engineering, which accounted for close to 65 percent of the total spent in the 2014 fiscal year. State and local governments, businesses and nonprofits also footed more of the bill than they previously had for research and development costs, according to the report. See the full report below
A new report published by the American National Science Foundation has found that Federal funding for higher education research and development fell for the third year in a row last year, with funding down 5% on the previous year, and falling more than 11% in total since peaking in 2011. The report, titled “State of Higher Education Research & Development: Trends from 2011 to 2012,” was released today at an event hosted by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.