Important Numbers - Physical Sciences Funding: 1989 to 2009

Accompanying the recent National Science Board’s “Science and Engineering Indicators 2012,” is a large appendix of statistics. Of note is Appendix table 4-35, “Federal obligations for research, by detailed S&E [Science & Engineering] field: Selected years, FY 1989 – 2009.

This table is particularly useful because in addition to providing funding levels in current dollars it also presents the figures in “Constant FY 2005 $millions.” A note to this table explains “Figures for FY 2009 include obligations from the additional federal R&D funding appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” – more generally known as the stimulus bill.

Selected data from the table follows, shown in millions of constant FY 2005 dollars:

Physics:

1989: $3,150.4 1994: $3,048.5 1999: $2,548.9 2004: $2,683.4 2005: $3,041.3 2006: $2,902.5 2007: $2,758.8 2008: $2,724.3 2009: $3,040.7

Astronomy:

1989: $779.3 1994: $932.9 1999: $869.5 2004: $950.8 2005: $884.9 2006: $766.3 2007: $615.6 2008: $484.4 2009: $608.2

Geological Sciences:

1989: $780.6 1994: $1,045.7 1999: $757.4 2004: $727.5 2005: $673.5 2006: $632.3 2007: $598.8 2008: $474.9 2009: $683.0

Oceanography:

1989: $707.4 1994: $619.9 1999: $753.2 2004: $835.5 2005: $771.5 2006: $721.1 2007: $739.4 2008: $723.7 2009: $755.4

Engineering – Metallurgy and Materials

1989: $749.2 1994: $1,062.4 1999: $904.0 2004: $1,071.0 2005: $1,184.1 2006: $1,208.7 2007: $1,389.0 2008: $1,490.1 2009: $1,560.6