On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1). The $789 billion stimulus measure is aimed at reviving the American economy by providing an infusion of funds for infrastructure priorities, including scientific research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Veterans Affairs (VA) and NASA will all receive additional funding under the provisions of the stimulus. The terms of the legislation stipulate that most of the funds must be spent before September 30, 2010, and recipients of stimulus money will be subject to new reporting requirements aimed at increasing government transparency.[1]
For more information on how the funds are being distributed at the agency level, see the links below:
NIH
Thanks to the leadership and vision of Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), the NIH will receive a total of $10.4 billion of stimulus funding. $8.2 billion is allocated to the Office of the Director, $7.4 billion of which will go to the Institutes and Centers and to the Common Fund. The remaining $800 million will be retained in the Office of the Director to fund priority areas of science that can be expected to make measurable progress within two years.
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) will receive $1 billion for construction and renovation of extramural research facilities and $300 million for shared instrumentation and other capital research equipment. Another $500 million will fund high-priority repair, construction and improvement projects for the NIH intramural campus. The remaining $400 million will go to conduct comparative effectiveness research.
The fact that the stimulus money must be spent in the next two years represents a significant challenge for the NIH. With many details yet to be worked out, the NIH has released a broad outline of how the money will be allocated. The research funding will be spent in three categories:
- Funding for highly meritorious R01 applications that have already been submitted and peer-reviewed. Some new R01s that can be expected to make progress in two years may also be funded.
- Targeted supplements to existing grants.
- New two-year challenge grants that will provide $500,000 per year for two years.
More information about how NIH plans to distribute the money is available here: http://www.nih.gov/about/director/newsletter/newsletter.pdf
and here:
http://www.nih.gov/recovery/
NSF
The stimulus bill provides $3.0 billion for the NSF, divided between Research and Related Activities ($2.5 billion), Education and Human Resources ($100 million) and Major Research and Facilities Construction ($400 million).
Of the $2.5 billion for Research and Related Activities, $300 million will go to Major Research Instrumentation and $200 million is for Academic Research Infrastructure to modernize facilities. The remaining $2 billion is for research grants.
Of the $100 million for E&HR, $60 million will go to the Noyce Teacher Scholarship program; $25 million is for the Math and Science Partnership program and $15 million will go to Professional Masters of Science programs.
With the addition of $3.0 billion from the stimulus package, the FY 2009 NSF budget will exceed the $7.3 billion funding level authorized under the America COMPETES Act of 2007. This will put NSF on the track to double its budget over the next ten years.
For more information on how the funds are being distributed at NSF:
http://nsf.gov/recovery/
Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration will receive $1.25 billion in stimulus funds. While the legislation does not specifically designate funds for medical research, $1 billion will go to maintenance of medical facilities. The remaining $250 million includes $50 million for Information Technology Systems, $150 million for General Operating Expenses, and $50 million for National Cemetery Administration.
For more information on how the funds are being distributed at Veterans Affairs:
http://www.va.gov/recovery/
NASA
The stimulus plan allocates $1 billion for NASA. Of that total, $400 million will go to NASA Science programs, with an emphasis on climate change research. Other stimulus funding will go to Aeronautics research ($150 million), repairs to NASA facilities damaged by recent natural disasters ($50 million), and development of Constellation Systems, the human spaceflight program that is slated to succeed the shuttle program when it is retired ($400 million).
For more information on how the funds are being distributed at NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov/recovery/
- 1. Information on stimulus spending will be made available to the public through the website: http://www.recovery.gov.