News Update on 2015 Funding for NSF

Reprinted with permission from the American Institute of Physics' FYI: The Bulletin of Science Policy News

Slightly more than last year's budget, up 2.4 percent

President Obama signed a $1.1 trillion bill to fund, among other things, science research. The approval for this spending would last through September 2015 (except for Homeland Security spending which will be funded through early 2015.)

National Science Foundation

The FY 2014 appropriation was $7,171.9 million;

The FY 2015 request is $7,255.0 million, an increase of $83.1 million or 1.2 percent;

The final bill provides $7,344.2 million, an increase of $172.3 million or 2.4 percent above current funding

There was no overall report language.

Within the National Science Foundation are the following budget accounts:

Research and Related Activities

The FY 2014 appropriation was $5,808.9 million;

The FY 2015 request is $5,807.5 million, a decrease of $1.5 million or 0.03 percent;

The final bill provides $5,933.7 million, an increase of $124.8 million or 2.2 percent above current funding

The report language pertains only to "neuroscience".

Education and Human Resources

The FY 2014 appropriation was $846.5 million;

The FY 2015 request is $889.8 million, an increase of $43.3 million or 5.1 percent;

The final bill provides $866.0 million, an increase of $19.5 million or 2.3 percent above current funding

Report language lists funding levels for specific programs and has a section on "broadening participation programs".

Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction

The FY 2014 appropriation was $200.0 million;

The FY 2015 request is $200.8 million, an increase of $0.8 million or 0.4 percent;

The final bill provides $200.8 million, essentially flat funding.

There was no report language.

Read the bill

The section on the National Science Foundation is found on PDF pages 48-50, with a funding table on PDF pages 68-69. Note that language in the previous House and Senate appropriations reports stands unless modified by language in the conference report.

Published December 18, 2014