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S&T Budget Priorities The Obama Administration’s FY 2017 budget requests for agencies such as the National Science Foundation, NASA, DOE Office of Science, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will reflect a recent White House memo entitled Multi-Agency Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2017 Budget. The memo from OMB Director Shaun Donovan and OSTP Director John Holdren highlights federal government funding for basic research; it does not include budget numbers.

Federal agency managers will spend the next few months developing their FY 2017 budget requests for submission to the Office of Management and Budget for review. These budget submissions should reflect a 5 percent reduction from the planning figure contained in the FY 2016 request.  OMB will comment on the FY 2017 requests by late November, with the budget going to Congress in early February 2016.

The memo defines the following nine R&D priorities:

  • Global climate change
  • Clean energy
  • Earth observations
  • Advanced manufacturing and industries of the future
  • Innovation in life sciences, biology and neuroscience
  • National and homeland security
  • Information technology and high-performance computing
  • Ocean and Arctic issues
  • R&D for informed policy-making and management

The memo recommends that investments in STEM education should be guided by the priorities outlined in the Federal STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan and should continue to pursue the goals of enhancing program effectiveness and reducing program fragmentation.

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