Table 1 .—Federal R&D obligations, by character of work, 

 FY 1968-78 



[Dollars In millionsl 



1968 



1969 



1970 



1971 



1972 



1973 



1974 



1975 



1976 



1977 1978 



(est.) (est.) 



Current dollars 



R&D total .... $15,921 $15,641 $15,340 $15,545 $16,498 $16,800 



Basic research .... 1,721 1,779 1,762 1,779 1,974 2,001 



Applied research .. 3,140 2,956 3,455 3,720 3,867 3,914 



Development 11,060 10,906 10,123 10,045 10,657 10,885 



617,415 $19,013 $20,759 $24,465 $26,317 



2,039 2,279 2,425 2,755 3,012 



4,472 4,798 5,448 6,099 6,479 



10,904 11,936 12,885 15,612 16,826 



Constant (1972) dollars' 



R&D total 19,346 18,145 16,876 16,261 16,498 16,092 



Basic research .... 2,091 2,064 1,938 1,861 1,974 1,917 



Applied research .. 3,815 3,430 3,801 3,892 3,867 3,749 



Development ... 13,439 12,652 11,136 10,508 10,657 10,426 



15,480 15,260 15,561 17,438 17,698 



1,812 1,829 1,818 1,963 2,025 



3,975 3,851 4,084 4,347 4,357 



9,693 9,580 9,659 11,128 11,316 



Based on GfslP implicit deflator with estimates for fiscal years 1977 and 1978. 

 Source: Division of Science Resources Studies/STI A/NSF 



Figure 2— Trends in Federal basic research 

 obligations 



($ Billions 



3.0 



2.5 



2.0 



1.5 



Percent 



of 



R&D total 



18 



1 



1968-74 2.9 



1974-76 9,0 



1976-77 3.6 



1977-78 9.3 



_L 



_L 



J_ 



_L 



1968 



70 



72 74 



Fiscal Year 



76 



78 



SOURCE: Division of Science Resources Studies/STIA/National 

 Science Foundation. 



budget request ($3,012 million for basic research) 

 represented a fjurther 9.3 percent gain. 



Despite this encouraging trend in funding since 

 1976, basic research obligations for 1978 — at the 

 level proposed by the President — still would be 5 

 percent lower than they were in 1968 in constant 

 (1972) dollars. In relation to other types of re- 

 search, the basic research share of Federal R&D 

 obligations has remained fairly constant (Figure 

 2), ranging between 11 and 12 percent (the shares 

 for 1977 and 1978 are both estimated to be 1 1 per- 

 cent). 



Agency Trends 



Seven agencies provided more than 96 percent 

 of Federal basic research funds in FY 1977. They 

 are: the Departments of Agriculture (DOA), De- 

 fense (DOD), Health, Education and Welfare 

 (HEW), and Interior, the Energy Research and 

 Development Administration (ERDA) (now the 

 Department of Energy), the National Aeronautics 

 and Space Administration (NASA), and the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation (NSF). 



236 



INTRODUCTION 



