The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recently published a report entitled Science & Technology Highlights the First Year of the Trump Administration detailing many of the Science & Technology (S&T) achievements over the last year. Reading between the lines, this document provides researchers valuable information about the Federal Government’s funding priorities and areas of interest.
Researchers can reasonably anticipate that Federal funding agencies will give priority to the OSTP areas of interest, if not additional or special funding opportunities. For example, NIH’s National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a special notice for funding research on Advancing Research of Effect of Maternal Opioid Exposure on Developing Brain and NSF‘s 2019 budget request (news release 18-012) seeks an increase in funding to accelerate the progress of its “10 Big Ideas for Future Investments“, including special attention for cybersecurity research.
Per the report, “The Trump Administration is committed to advancing technological development and conducting research and development (R&D) to ensure national security, grow the economy, create well-paying jobs, and improve the lives of Americans across this great nation. Over the past year, OSTP has led coordinated Administration efforts to promote emerging technologies, empower Americans to innovate, and defend American technologies abroad. President Trump demonstrated his commitment to the importance of Federal scientific exploration by requesting $151.2 billion for Federal R&D investment in the FY 2018 budget – a 2% increase over FY 2017.1 Furthermore, the President’s FY 2018 Budget Request would result in the highest percent of the budget for the conduct of R&D since the FY 2014 Budget Request.2 In August, OSTP and OMB released the annual Administration R&D budget priorities for FY 2019, advising agencies to prioritize basic and early-stage applied research, the foundation for the development of transformative commercial products and services.”
The S&T areas highlighted in the report include:
- Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy
- Biomedical Innovation
- Connectivity
- Cybersecurity & Government IT Services
- Digital Economy
- Energy Dominance
- Homeland Defense & National Security
- Opioid Epidemic Response
- Scientific Discovery
- Space Exploration
- STEM Education
“These highlights represent only a fraction of the tremendous scientific and technological work conducted across the Federal Government. Every day, Federal scientists and policymakers advance the frontiers of human knowledge and inform national policy to deliver the benefits of these advances to the American people. OSTP looks forward to continuing to advocate for American scientists and technologists in the year ahead, and working together to ensure that the United States continues to lead the world in technological innovation and scientific discovery.”
Additional information on the S&T highlights, including advances for each priority area, can be found in the Science & Technology Highlights report or on the OTSP webpage.