NSF’s Higher Education R&D Survey Update

Ronda Britt

2012 NCURA Annual MeetingNovember 6, 2012

National Science FoundationNational Center for Science and Engineering Statistics

www.nsf.gov/statistics/

Presentation Outline

• Overview of NCSES• Overview of Higher Education R&D survey• WebCASPAR tutorial• Examples of custom data analyses• Upcoming activities• Q&A

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)

• A federal statistical agency that reports to the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences.

• NCSES provides data users with objective, high-quality U.S. and international statistical information on science, engineering, technology, and R&D, and fosters research that improves the measurement and understanding of science and engineering enterprise.

NCSES Higher Education Surveys

• Higher Education R&D Survey

• Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities

• Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and

Engineering (GSS)

• Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

• Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities,

Colleges and Nonprofit Institutions (as reported by federal agencies)

Types of NCSES Publications

• InfoBriefs highlighting results from recent surveys and analyses

• Detailed Statistical Tables (DSTs) containing extensive tabulated survey data

• Periodic reports compiling data from multiple surveys and sources such as “Science and Engineering Indicators”

• Databases and data tools “National Patterns of R&D Resources” SESTAT (Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System) WebCASPAR “Women, Minorities, and Persons With Disabilities in Science

and Engineering”

Higher Education R&D SurveyOverview

• Conducted annually from FY 1972 – FY 2011, significantly redesigned for FY 2010 cycle

• Prior to 2010, known as the Survey of R&D Expenditures at Universities and Colleges

• Census of all universities and colleges with minimum of $150,000 of R&D spending (N = 912 in FY 2011)

• Web-based

• Voluntary (response rates consistently over 95%)

• Requests expenditures for all separately budgeted R&D performed at

institutions during previous academic FY

• Detailed statistical tables published at the institution level

Higher Education R&D SurveyOverview

•Types of data collected: Federally funded R&D expenditures by federal agency source

and field of R&D Agency names and R&D expenditures totals for top ten federal

agency sources within “Other agencies” category Nonfederally funded R&D expenditures by source and field of

R&D (sources are state/local government, business, nonprofit orgs, institutional, and other)

R&D expenditures by character of work (basic research, applied research, and development)

Amount expended on research equipment, by field Amount passed through to subrecipients or received as a

subrecipient

Higher Education R&D SurveyOverview

• Types of data collected (continued): R&D expenditures funded by foreign sources

R&D expenditures within a medical school

Federal and nonfederal clinical trial R&D expenditures

R&D expenditures by type of funding agreement: contracts vs. grants

R&D expenditures from ARRA awards

Specific cost elements of R&D expenditures (salaries, software, equipment, etc.)

Headcounts of personnel and postdocs paid from R&D accounts

Higher Education R&D SurveyFY 2010 R&D Expenditures by Source of Funds

($61.2 Billion)

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics,Higher Education R&D Survey, FY 2010.

Higher Education R&D SurveyFY 2010 R&D Expenditures by Type of Cost ($61.2 Billion)

Note: Detail may not add to total due to rounding.SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics,Higher Education R&D Survey, FY 2010.

WebCASPAR Tutorial

WebCASPAR Tutorial

List of analysis variables arranged by years of data available

WebCASPAR Tutorial

Analysis variable(s) chosen appear here

Current year is default classification variable

List of classification variables available for use with selected analysis variables

WebCASPAR Tutorial

List of classification variables selected

Click to select values displayed

Use survey-specific variables when creating tables with only one survey

WebCASPAR Tutorial

Click to sort by descending amounts to get rank order

WebCASPAR Tutorial

Click to download table in Excel, SAS or CSV

Examples of Custom Data AnalysesTen institutions reporting largest amounts of business-

funded R&D expenditures, by field(Millions)

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics,Higher Education R&D Survey, FY 2010.

Examples of Custom Data AnalysesTen institutions reporting largest amounts of nonprofit-

funded R&D expenditures, by field(Millions)

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics,Higher Education R&D Survey, FY 2010.

Examples of Custom Data AnalysesOther Questions

Q: Universities in which state received the most business funding for engineering R&D?A: New York : $112 million

Q: Which university received the most nonprofit funding for biological sciences R&D?

A: Harvard: $24 million

Q: Which university reported the most principal investigators?A: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor: 4,135

Upcoming Activities

• FY 2011 data release info brief expected mid-November 2012; once released, data tables available on request

• FY 2012 survey begins in mid-November 2012; deadline of January 31, 2013

• FY 2012 survey changes:

• Institutions reporting less than $1 million in FY 2011 will receive a short form version of the survey (29% of the survey population)

• Instructions on institution funds clarified and new checklist question added to determine what types of spending are currently included within institution funds (next slide)

New Question for FY 2012 Survey

Questions?

For more information contact:Ronda Britt

703-292-7765rbritt@nsf.gov