Total funding for research and development (R&D) is expected to increase to $338 billion in 2007, an increase of 2.85 percent over the $329 billion funded in 2006. The overall increase is driven by industry funding and industrial performance, while federal support of R&D is expected to slow, according to the joint Battelle-R&D Magazine 2007 R&D Funding Forecast.

      The federal government is expected to spend $98.3 billion funding R&D efforts, a minor 1.8 percent increase over the $96.6 billion spent in 2006.

      Industrial investments on R&D are expected to reach $219 billion in 2007, a healthy increase of 3.4 percent over 2006 levels of $212 billion.

      Academia and other non-profits make up the remaining expenditures on R&D with $20.8 billion for 2007. Academia is set to increase by 1 percent to $11.4 billion and non-profits are expected to increase by 3.6 percent to $9.4 billion.

      “Overriding all themes in this year’s forecast are the dual needs of growing and maintaining the strong technological base that has characterized the U.S. for over 50 years and assuring that the education system provides the critical raw material for the engine that operates our industrial base,” said Jules Duga, a Battelle senior researcher and co-author of the report.

Federal outlook

            Much of the emphasis in government-funded R&D continues to be influenced by the global war on terror. Significant thrusts are being directed toward problems that deal with the detection of instruments or compounds that represent major terror threats, especially in the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of...

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