FIGURE R&D-2 Federal research and development spending, in millions of dollars, by agency, for applied research, development, facilities, and equipment, 2004-2006.

SOURCE: Executive Office of the President. Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2006, Part Two: Analytical Perspectives. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2005. P. 67. Available at: http://www.ostp.gov/html/budget/2006/FY06RDChapterFinal.pdf.

Especially when budgets are tight, basic research can be displaced by the more immediate needs of applied research and technology development. In fact, less than half of all federal R&D funding is allocated for basic and applied research (see Figure R&D-3). The FS&T budget has increased since 2000, but these increases are primarily due to increases in funding of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Nondefense-related R&D funding has