AIP FYI #107: Bush Administration’s R&D Priorities for FY 2005 Budget

In recent presentations to the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel
and the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, Patrick Looney,
the OSTP Assistant Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering,
described attempts within the Administration to take a broad view of
the entire federal science portfolio. OSTP, he explained, is
seeking ways to assess which areas deserve highest priority, which
proposed facilities are most valuable and timely, and how activities
and instruments in one field impact upon other fields of science.
“Not looking at programs across government as one larger program, in
a coordinated fashion” results in inefficiency, imbalance, and
waste, Looney said. He quoted from a June OSTP/OMB memo on FY 2005
funding priorities which states, “Consistent with the President’s
Management Agenda, it is imperative that, where appropriate, federal
R&D investments be managed as a portfolio of potentially
interconnected activities to optimize scientific discovery through
interagency coordination of related research areas.”

The June 5 memorandum was issued by OSTP Director John Marburger and
former OMB Director Mitch Daniels to heads of federal agencies, to
provide guidance on R&D priorities for fiscal year 2005. Entitled
“FY 2005 Interagency Research and Development Priorities,” the memo
lays out five areas of R&D that should “receive particular
attention” in preparation of the FY 2005 budget request. The
priority areas, with selected explanatory quotations from the memo,
follow:

1. R&D FOR COMBATING TERRORISM: “Agencies are encouraged to promote
R&D efforts, with emphasis on applied technologies, to address our
nation’s ability to detect, prevent, treat, remediate, and attribute
acts of terrorism.” Seven research priorities are listed under this
heading: “enhancing detection, treatment and remediation of
chemical, biological and radiological threats;” “developing and
transitioning technology” to first responders; promoting development
of next-generation “vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics;”
converting intelligence data into “actionable knowledge;” “assessing
the social and behavioral aspects of terrorism;” facilitating
inspections at ports-of-entry; and “securing critical
infrastructure.”

2. NANOTECHNOLOGY: “The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)
continues to offer great promise broadly across many scientific
fields and most sectors of the economy, and remains an
Administration priority. The NNI supports both fundamental and
applied R&D in nanotechnology and nanoscience across a broad range
of areas, development of nanoscale instrumentation and metrology,
and the dissemination of new technical capabilities to industry.
Nanoscale R&D priority areas continue to include material science
and research relevant to medical care and homeland security.”

3. NETWORKING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY R&D: “Efforts that
contribute to other interagency R&D priorities (research related to
critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity, for example)
are especially important, and may also require broader coordination
with other NSTC [National Science and Technology Council] entities.
Research on networking is another high priority area.”

4. MOLECULAR-LEVEL UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE PROCESSES: “Methods for
characterizing plants, animals and microorganisms have evolved from
observation at the level of the whole organism, to deconstruction
and manipulation at the cellular and molecular levels. New computer
algorithms permit the synthesis of sequence data with experimental
evidence of function across species…. The NSTC coordination
process…will assist in identifying R&D opportunities and needs to
most effectively utilize federal resources and take better advantage
of current biological, computational and bioinformatics
technologies.”

5. ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY: Three areas of R&D are highlighted.
Climate Change: “The Administration’s R&D investments responding to
the challenge of global climate change will increase our
understanding of climate change science to provide sound climate
policy decision-making.” Environmental Observations: “A key goal of
the Administration’s R&D investments is to enhance capabilities to
assess and predict key environmental systems.” Hydrogen Fuel R&D:
“Agency research efforts should address key technology barriers such
as lowering the cost of hydrogen production, creating effective
hydrogen storage, and developing affordable hydrogen fuel cells.”

“Science and technology,” the memo states, “contribute significantly
to the highest priorities of this Administration: winning the war on
terrorism, securing the homeland, and strengthening the economy.”
It continues, “The combination of limited resources and a multitude
of opportunities requires careful attention to funding priorities.”
The memo calls for rigorous justification of new programs and
reevaluation of existing programs, and warns that “agencies should
fund new, high-priority activities by reallocating resources from
lower-priority or recently completed activities.”

Regarding the balance between the life and physical sciences, the
memo has this to say: “The President’s Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology has urged increased investment in certain
areas of physical science, citing opportunities for continued
scientific discovery and the fact that such discoveries often drive
advances in other areas of science. Budgetary proposals for these
or any other area must be specific regarding how the programs will
expand scientific frontiers in a manner consistent with stated
agency missions and national goals and demonstrate coordination with
similar programs in other agencies. The desire to achieve parity in
funding levels among disciplines does not by itself suffice to
justify funding increases.”

The memo also discusses the Administration’s efforts “to build upon
lessons learned from previous and ongoing practice” to develop
“explicit R&D investment criteria.” The memo states, “While the
criteria are intended to apply to all types of R&D, the
Administration is aware that predicting and assessing the outcomes
of basic research in particular is never easy. Serendipitous
results are often the most interesting and ultimately may have the
most value. Taking risks and working towards difficult-to-attain
goals are important aspects of good research management, and
innovation and breakthroughs are among the results. However, there
is no inherent conflict between these facts and a call for clearer
information about program goals and performance towards achieving
those goals. The Administration expects agencies to focus on
improving the management of their research programs and adopting
effective practices, and not on predicting the unpredictable.”

The full text of the memo can be found on the OSTP web site at:
http://www.ostp.gov/html/OSTP-OMB%20Memo.pdf.

Audrey T. Leath

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094