Alessandra Zimmermann

Want to learn about the federal R&D budget? You have ample chances: Mini-case workshop 2.12 1:30 MT 50 years of R&D Data 1.12 11:30 MT In the mind of an appropriator workshop 2.14 10:00 MT Government Relations Office House 2.14 3:30 MT

Want to learn about the federal R&D budget? Want to celebrate the R&D Budget and Policy program turning 50? Feel the urge to roleplay a congressman? Have burning questions about the budget process?
The #AAASmtg will have a talk for each of your highly specific needs. Come hang out with me in Phoenix

I posted it yesterday morning - so all the numbers still stand, they just hadn't been voted on yet.

2- Approps bills signed into law is not the end of the story for FY 2026. It's more important than ever that the funds are spent as appropriated.

And of course, we'll be back soon with the FY 2027 data as that starts in the next few months.

Some reminders as you read:
1- The R&D estimates are calculated off of the administrations plans for the fiscal year, so they are always estimates but especially so this year, where we had to adjust around proposed restructurings, defundings, etc that did not materialize throughout the process

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Final R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

With appropriations for FY 2026 96% finalized, I offer to you my report on how science funding fared so far. From the numbers Congress has provided for the agencies, funding looks like approximately FY 2025 levels for most.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Even with these moves in Congress, the budget process is always evolving. Check out our FY26 approps dashboard to keep up with the story as it's being written.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science

With that context in mind, I noted that science funding might be ok for FY26, as long as it gets spent as appropriated.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...

Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science

The NYT published a story that highlights how Congress has pulled back from the PBR's proposed cuts. The numbers show more favorable outcomes in the House and Senate for R&D. Damage was done in 2025, but these potential funding outcomes are better than what was feared.

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

I come back from my winter PTO and day one Congress drops the text of a minibus. The dashboard has been updated with the Senate Homeland numbers, and all the info in the CJS-Int-E&W minibus. A House vote is scheduled tomorrow night, and Senate likely later this week.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

Federal R&D Budget Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Today I got to close out the Forum on S&T Policy, and one of the big things I highlighted was that the Historical Dashboard has been revamped! It's out now, with more data, fun new visualizations, and a excel sheet if you want to play with the data yourself
Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...

It could also be the case that the employees would be fired prior to the shutdown starting, or the RIF become enforceable immediately after a shutdown is ended - but again, it's hard to know for sure how it would be handled.

Historically firings during a shutdown have not been possible, but as far as I can tell no one has formally determined that they are illegal. I have been reporting saying that it is likely illegal, but anything definite is hard to come by at the moment.

Research on R&D Funding: Impacts of Federal Shutdowns | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Another lit review incoming: this time looking at the impacts of federal shutdowns. While this report is a little bit broader than just the R&D ecosystem, it does provide a picture of what could happen next week, should a funding patch not be signed into law.

www.aaas.org/news/researc...

Research on R&D Funding: The Different Functions of Public and Private R&D | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Also released today is a new literature review, looking at the different character of basic research in the public and private sectors, and cites studies that show how the two work together, not separately, to bring about American innovation.
You can read it here: www.aaas.org/news/researc...

Today the House committee marked up their LHHS bill, which means all of the House appropriations bills have had their report language released and I could update the House R&D estimates in my report.
You can find the updated report on the same page as before:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Senate R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

It's August recess, congress has left DC and I've got another report - this time highlighting what the Senate was up to. Just as with the House, they're missing some bills so we've worked around those gaps to try to bring you the best picture of what they've passed.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

In it we show the R&D capacity of agencies based on the levels the House has provided (minus HHS and Education, since their bill isn't out yet) and agency highlights showing exactly what has been provided in terms of program funding and organizational changes.

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: House R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

With the House potentially starting their recess early, here's a report on what they've proposed so far for FY 2026 Appropriations.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

I've just released a new report that expands on the data that was featured in a certain NYT article last week.
On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

A whole lot of bills were just released by the House in the last 24 hours, and I've updated the dashboard with all of them. More details to come as the report language gets released after the markups, but there's already a lot to process:

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

Note that the way the early retirements were structured, and the date at which the data was requested from agencies means that FY 2025 numbers are not going to reflect the cuts we've been hearing about.

Tracking the Federal R&D Workforce | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

All eyes might be on the House and Senate, but I'm not done extracting everything I can from the PBR. So here's the Federal R&D Workforce tracker, that uses the FTE numbers to show historical data on employment at key agencies and programs, plus proposed FY 2026 levels:
www.aaas.org/news/trackin...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

All the major R&D agencies' budget justifications are now out, and thus the dashboard and PBR report are as complete as I can get them. You can now download the latest report for the (just added) summaries of Defense, NIST and NOAA.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

We're also updating the appropriations dashboard as well, who now includes all the latest House Approps markup numbers.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

It is not comprehensive, and we are missing a few agencies that haven't published enough details to write up a section on, but the report highlights the major elements and we will keep updating the report as new details come out.

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

New Report alert! I tried to compile as much of the funding and organizational changes that the FY 2026 PBR outlines for the R&D accounts that we track.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Agencies are starting to upload their FY 2026 congressional justifications, so the Appropriations Dashboard is updating as fast as I can find the documents.

www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

With the release of the skinny Presidential Budget Request, the FY 2026 season officially kicks off and the dashboard goes live!
Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

That I'm populating the dashboard right now, hopefully to release soon!