DOE Science Budget to Shrink by 17 percent

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) would receive $35.4 billion in FY 2021, an 8.1 percent decrease from the FY 2020 enacted level of $38.5 billion. Within this request, $5.8 billion (-17 percent) would be directed toward the Office of Science. The Office of Science supports both scientific research and design, development, construction, and operation of scientific user facilities. Approximately 23,000 researchers located at over 300 institutions and the 17 DOE national laboratories are supported by grants from the Office of Science. The budget for the Office of Science includes $475 million for exascale computing, $237 million for quantum information sciences (QIS), and $125 million for AI and machine learning, to support the Administration’s “Industries of the Future” initiative. Funding for Biological and Environmental Research (BER) would be slashed by 31 percent from the FY 2020 level to $517 million, with funds directed to support “fundamental research to understand complex biological, biogeochemical, and physical principles of natural systems at scales extending from the genome of microbes and plants to the environmental and ecological processes at the scale of the planet Earth.” The FY 2021 request for Biological Systems Science prioritizes core research areas of genomic sciences, including foundational genomics that supports secure biosystems design research to modify microorganisms and plants with specific beneficial traits for renew...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news