tions enjoyed by the four major performers of 

 basic research: 



(Percent of total, rounded) 



FY 1968 FY 1977 



Universities and colleges 43 



Federal intramural 24 

 FFRDC's administered by 



universities 13 



Industrial firms' 13 



'Includes FFRDC's administered by industry 



47 

 29 



11 



7 



Trends by Field of Science 



The trends in Federal obligations for basic re- 

 search by field of science are shown in Table 4.3 

 and Figure 4.1 in Chapter 4. The dominance of 

 the life sciences in the period FY 1968-1977 has 

 been constant, and they have enjoyed a growth 

 over the period (73.9 percent) second only to 

 the environmental sciences (98 percent). The rela- 

 tive shares of Federal obligations for basic re- 



Table 3.— Federal obligations for basic research, by major performer, 

 FY 1968-78 



[Dollars in millions] 



1968 



1969 



1970 



1971 



1972 



1973 



1974 



1975 



1976 



1977 1978 



(est.! (est.) 



$2,755 $3,012 



1 ,290 1 ,399 

 791 851 

 201 250 



Current dollars 



Total $1,721 $1,779 $1,762 $1,779 $1,974 $2,001 $2,039 $2,279 $2,425 



Universities and 



colleges 745 740 690 777 901 909 963 1,065 1,137 



Federal intramural . . 410 516 541 491 538 537 611 682 719 



Industrial firms' 217 211 205 182 166 213 131 138 152 



Constant (19721 dollars- 

 Total 2,091 2,064 1,938 1,861 1,974 1,917 1,812 1,829 1,818 



Universities and 



colleges 905 858 759 813 901 871 856 855 852 



Federal intramural . . 499 598 595 514 538 515 543 548 539 



Industrial firms' ... . 264 244 225 190 166 204 117 110 114 



'Includes Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC's). 

 - Based on GNP implicit price deflator with an estimate for fiscal year 1977. 



Source: Division of Science Resources Studies/STIA/NSF 



1,963 2,025 



920 941 

 564 573 

 143 1 68 



Table 4.— Federal obligations for basic research, by performer 



[Dollars in millions] 



Actual Estimates 



Average annual Average annual 



Performer percent change percent change 



1968 1976 1968-1976 1977 1976-1977 1978 



Total $1,721 $2,425 +4.4 $2,755 -H3.6 $3,012 



Federal intramural 410 719 -1-7.3 791 -HO.O 851 



Industrial firms' 217 152 -4.4 201 +32.2 250 



Universities and colleges 745 1,137 +5.4 1,290 +13.5 1,399 



FFRDC's administered by 



universities 225 284 +3.0 315 +10.9 347 



Other nonprofit institutions' ... . 97 108 +1.4 125 +15.7 131 



Other performers 27 25 -1.0 33 +32.0 34 



' Includes Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC's) administered by this sector. 

 Source: Division of Science Resources Studies/STIA/NSF 

 238 INTRODUCTION 



Average annual 



percent change 



19771978 



+9.3 



