FY 1990: Big Bucks For Big Science

The budget pledges more money for science, but whether this will translate into support for individual scientists remains. WASHINGTON, D.C.--For scientists who depend on funds from NSF and NIH, one important implication of President Reagan's final budget is a new emphasis on raising the size of individual grants. But it's not all good news: The budget, barring radical surgery by Congress, may fund fewer new grants than might be expected. And Reagan's desire to spend more on interdisciplinary centers and other types of "big" science has done little to erase worries that individual scientists in some areas of research could be left out in the cold. Overall, Reagan's budget once again reflects his support for science. It requests a 14% rise in funding for NSF, 5.3% more for NIH (including a 25% hike in AIDS research), 9% more for the space science and applications portion of the NASA budget, and 14% more for the Department of Energy's basic civilian research program (including $150 million to begin construction of the superconducting supercollider). President Bush is expected to modify portions of Reagan's total $1.15 trillion request, but not in ways that would significantly alter federal spending on basic research. But the Reagan/Bush figures for the fiscal year that begins October 1 may not translate into more grants to individual investigators. At NSF, for example, much of the increase will be used instead to boost the average size of awards."We need to go up to $110,000 or $120,000 over time," NSF director Erich Bloch says about the size of a typical investigator-initiated grant, which now averages $75,000. "You're always tempted to give a little less [to each grantee] so that you can fund more people. But after a while it catches up with you. Math is a particular area of concern, but the problem affects all fields." NIH officials are likewise trying to raise the size of existing grants. This comes after two years of penny-pinching that left grantees wondering if they could sustain the quality of their research with less money than they had requested (see story, page 1). While total spending on individual investigator grants is projected to rise by nearly $300 million, to $4.3 billion, that money will support 220 fewer grants. The number of competing grants - either first-time awards or competitive renewals - will be particularly hard-hit, shrinking by more than 600 to 4,719. Major changes in grant size and number, however, are not the only important messages in the proposed budget. The 1,100-page, two-volume document also sends a clear signal of support for science centers, which bring together large numbers of researchers from different fields. NSF would receive $47 million, nearly double its current amount, to fund a second round of its campus-based science and technology centers. The money would be divided between an existing collection of 11 centers, which were designated just two months ago, and a new group of eight to 10 centers to be named in the summer of 1990. NSF also plans to add three sites to its existing network of 18 engineering research centers. The cost of that existing program, which began in 1985, will rise by 20% next year, to $45 million. Some scientists are worried that these centers will steal funds from grants to individual investigators; such grants, they believe, are the most effective means of expanding the frontiers of knowledge. In response, Bloch and other NSF officials insist that the centers have not distorted NSF's overall allocation of funds. In fact, they point out that investigator-initiated work still receives 60% of the foundation's research budget - and by their calculations will receive a boost of $131 million in Reagan's proposal. But even NSF officials admit that the centers might put the squeeze on scientists in particular areas of research. One example is the agency's proposed budget for high-temperature superconductivity. NSF budget documents call for a 50% increase in this high-profile topic over two years, from $16.5 million in fiscal 1988 to a proposed $25 million for fiscal 1990. But more than half of that increase will go to support a new science and technology center at the University of Illinois. "There isn't going to be much left for new awards to individuals," notes Richard Nicholson, NSF assistant director for mathematics and physical sciences. The same problem crops up with the government's heralded effort to map and sequence the human genome. The 1990 NIH budget will devote $100 million to the project, up from only $28 million this year. But if NIH shares the view of those scientists who attended the first meeting of a panel set up to advise the new office, it will preferentially fund large centers over the traditional investigator-initiated grants. Similarly, the Energy Department, the second federal agency involved in the genome project, plans to give most of its proposed $28 million, up from $17 million this year, to three national laboratories that have been selected to spearhead the effort. Of course, the Reagan/Bush 1990 spending proposals are far from being cast in stone. Many observers believe that the wrangling over the budget will be particularly intense this year as the Democrat-led Congress tries to both push its own agenda and test President Bush's commitment not to raise taxes. Serious negotiations are not expected to take place before late summer, and the final budget might look very different from the current proposal. How might science fare in the upcoming budget battles? If size were the only criterion, science might slip through relatively unnoticed and unscathed; after all, basic research occupies barely 1% of the total federal budget. (Even if the development of weapons systems is included, R&D's share of the budget is only 6%.) But this year, science is an irrevocable part of such high-profile political issues as economic competitiveness, the trade deficit, AIDS, and global warming. In addition, projects like the space station, the superconducting supercollider, and the human genome effort have become much ballyhooed symbols of the nation's resolve to retain world leadership in the sciences. As a result, the National Academy of Sciences and other groups are campaigning hard to convince the administration and Congress that its decisions must be shaped by technical as well as political analyses. "The United States can no longer afford its current, haphazard review of S&T programs across the entire budget," says NAS president Frank Press, in explaining a recent academy report to the Senate Budget Committee on setting budget priorities. "Federal officials need to see the big picture to ensure that science dollars have the maximum impact on meeting national goals." Recognizing that changes will inevitably be made before the year is out, here is a brief look at how the major science agencies fare in the president's proposed 1990 budget: National Science Foundation: The bulk of its $262 million increase - a total of $218 million - would be spent on research programs across all disciplines. Computing science would get a 25% hike, followed by 12.8% for engineering, 11.7% for the biological and social sciences, and 10% for both geosciences and the mathematical and physical sciences. Educational programs would receive $19 million more (an 11% increase), while the Antarctic program would get a $25 million (or 19%) boost. Within individual fields, new funds include: $15 million to upgrade the five supercomputing centers and $5 million to expand NSF; $11 million for studies on biological diversity, including both new grants to individuals and the broadening of a network of centers; $12 million more for the global geosciences program, as part of NSF's lead role in the government's overall effort to understand global environmental change; $12 million for a competition to select a site for a $100 million high magnetic field facility; $10 million to begin what is projected as a five-year, $180 million effort to tackle the environmental and safety problems in the Antarctic caused by 30 years of research on the continent; $7 million to add 100 graduate fellowships, raising the total to 2,280, and to create 80 slots for a new Women in Engineering fellowship program. National Institutes of Health: AIDS continues to be the fastest growing segment of the NIH budget, rising by a proposed $150 million to $752 million. Most of the work is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; in fact, spending on AIDS research is rapidly approaching half of that institute's overall $855 million budget. The rest of the NIH budget would grow by only 3.7%, to $6.77 billion. The human genome effort is listed separately, and will receive $100 million. Within individual institutes, non-AIDS research receives only single-digit percentage increases. The major exceptions are a 14% increase within the general medicine sciences institute (NIGMS) and a 14% decrease in the Division of Research Resources (DRR), numbers that reflect the partial dismantling of DRR and the transfer of some of its programs to the NIGMS. The NIH budget is traditionally more of a political football than are the budgets of the other research agencies. The administration frequently proposes sharp cuts or the elimination of programs with the full expectation that Congress will restore, or even raise, funding levels. Along these lines, a plan to phase out the $57 million in biomedical research support grants will likely be reversed, and there will be strong pressure to provide some money, where none is requested, for extramural research facilities. Department of Energy: Although the proposed overall DOE budget would grow by over a billion dollars (7.7%) in 1990, much of that is devoted to a $677 million increase in the department's cleanup and oversight efforts at its troubled nuclear weapons plants. Basic research is up $302 million (14%), due mostly to the $250 million sought for the superconducting supercollider. If Congress again decides to postpone starting construction, as it did last year, funding for the project is likely to remain constant at around $100 million to develop the superconducting magnets. DOE continues to battle Congress over funding for solar research. The department has requested only $71 million, $20 million less than was spent this year. But because Congress traditionally increases funding for this type of research, directors at the major solar labs aren't ready to throw in the towel yet. "I think it's reasonable to believe that Congress will take a more moderate view," says H.M. Hubbard, director of the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, Colo. But with Congressional support comes micro- management and onerous oversight. In the case of SERI's proposed second research facility, which was denied construction funds for the second year in a row,"DOE may well force us into a pork barrel situation," says Hubbard. NASA: Reagan's proposed budget would bring the space agency a $2.4 billion increase, nearly half of which is earmarked for the space station. It is far less than NASA Administrator James Fletcher wanted. He told reporters last month that the budget was down to "bare bones," and that any further cuts by Congress "would require a complete reexamination of the entire NASA program." In fact, many observers believe that the budget increase, however small, will not survive Congressional scrutiny. "We'll have to wait and see how much political muscle Bush is willing to put behind it," says John Pike, space policy analyst for the Federation of American Scientists. "The absence of a new NASA administrator (as of mid-January) shows that space is not a big Bush priority." On the other hand Lennard Fisk, deputy administrator for space science, believes that funding for the space station, at least, has a good chance of going through Congress because of the European and Japanese support the project has acquired. NASA's only proposed new start in 1990 will be $30 million to begin its CRAF/Cassini project. The $1.6 billion mission would launch two spacecraft, in 1995 and 1996, to explore the planet Saturn and the comet Kopff.

FY 1990: Big Bucks For Big Science

Feb 5, 1989

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of