Strong Government Labs And University Research Key To Economic Future In Southern Atlantic Region

(Washington, DC) - The strength of the government laboratories and university research systems in four Southern Atlantic states - Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia - will help the region hold on to its federal R&D funding next year, but the long-term forecast is still unpredictable.

A new report released today by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) indicates that increases in R&D activities expected in 1998 may be short-lived due to the cuts being proposed in the year 2000 and beyond to balance the budget. The report, The Future of Science and Technology in the South Atlantic: Trends and Indicators, points out that the four states play a key role in the U.S. R&D enterprise, receiving $9.1 billion, or 13.1 percent of the total federal R&D funds in 1995 (the last year for which data is available). The report is being released at the annual meeting of the Southern Governors' Association in Hot Springs, Virginia.

"Federally-funded R&D is a keystone of the region's high-tech economy," said Al Teich, director of the AAAS Science and Policy Programs who will present the report at the meeting. "Thanks to the proposed increases next year in health and environmental research - two areas where the region excels - the short-term outlook is good. The long-term outlook, however, remains to be seen."

The report notes that the region's scientific and technological strength comes from the diversity of the R&D performed in each of the states. Defense dollars, in particular, have helped boost the region's economy. In 1995, Georgia received $3.9 billion, mostly for the development of the F-22 fighter plane. According to Teich, the state's share of federal R&D funding upon completion of the research component of the F-22 project is not known, leaving the region open for a drastic drop in federal R&D funding in 3-4 years.

Georgia is the nation's third largest recipient of federal R&D funds, receiving $4.4 billion in FY 1995. Virginia ranks fifth with $3.7 billion, followed by North Carolina at 21st ($851 million) and South Carolina at 37th (with $181 million).

The report is the seventh in a series of regional reports published by the AAAS Center for Science, Technology, and Congress to inform scientific and engineering communities about local impacts of trends in federal spending. Reports have been published on Alaska, California, Georgia, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, and New England.

The Association is the world's largest federation of scientists with more than 143,000 members and nearly 300 affiliated scientific and engineering societies. It conducts a variety of programs in science education and career development, science policy, and international scientific cooperation. It publishes the weekly peer-reviewed journal Science and administers EurekAlert! [www.eurekalert.org], the online news service featuring discoveries in science, medicine, and technology.

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Attached: Highlights of the report by state

EDITOR'S NOTE: Media interested in copies of the report must contact Dave Amber at 202-326-6434.

Georgia

• Georgia received $4.4 billion in federal R&D funds in FY 1995; more than the other three South Atlantic states.
• Of the nation as a whole, Georgia is the third largest recipient of federal R&D funds, behind only California and Maryland.
• Georgia receives a massive amount of R&D funding from the Department of Defense (DOD), $3.9 billion in FY 1995. This amounts to almost 90 percent of the state's total federal R&D funds. Georgia gets this large amount of funding because Lockheed Martin in Marietta has a contract for development of the F-22 fighter plane, the latest generation air superiority fighter.
• Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Georgia are all among the top 100 university recipients of federal R&D funds, ranking 48th, 49th, and 83rd, respectively. Most of Emory's federal R&D funds are from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for health-related research. Georgia Tech is a major recipient of DOD R&D funds, totaling $44 million in FY 1995. The University of Georgia, as the state's land-grant institution, receives support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($13 million in FY 1995).
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta lead the nation's effort to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, CDC employs about 4,600 people in numerous offices in the Atlanta area.

North Carolina

• North Carolina received $851 million in federal R&D funds in FY 1995, ranking it 21st of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• Over half of North Carolina's federal R&D funds come from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Most of this HHS funding supported research at the state's universities.
• Of the nations top 100 university recipients of federal R&D funds, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked 20th, Duke University 21st, North Carolina State University at Raleigh 62nd, and Wake Forest University 69th. Almost all of these universities received the majority of their federal funds from HHS. The exception is NC State at Raleigh, which received most of its federal R&D funds from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense.
• North Carolina receives over a fifth of EPA's R&D funds. North Carolina is home to several EPA-operated labs, as well as NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

South Carolina

• South Carolina's R&D effort is modest compared to the other South Atlantic states, but it is expanding rapidly. The state received $181 million in federal R&D funds in FY 1995, placing it 37th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. South Carolina receives 0.3 percent of the nation's total federal R&D funds, far less than the state's 1.4 percent share of the U.S. population.
• South Carolina is one of 18 states (and Puerto Rico) involved in the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR was begun by NSF to help states that traditionally have been underrepresented as recipients of federal R&D funds to become more competitive in winning federal R&D dollars.
• Gains in federal R&D at South Carolina's universities outpace those of neighboring states, as well as the nation as a whole, increasing by 70 percent between FY 1987 and FY 1995.
• The largest university recipients of federal R&D funds to South Carolina are the Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
• Although South Carolina has relatively few federal labs, it is home to a federally-funded research and development center, the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC). SRTC performs environmental R&D related to cleaning up nuclear waste, as well as nuclear weapons R&D.

Virginia

• The commonwealth of Virginia is a major recipient of federal R&D funding, ranking fifth out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. The state's R&D funds totaled $3.7 billion in FY 1995.
• Almost 70 percent of Virginia's federal R&D funds come from the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD funds numerous federal labs in the state, as well as four federally funded research and development centers.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is Virginia's second-largest source of federal R&D funds, providing $626 million to the state in FY 1995. The NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton is the nation's premier aeronautics research facility. NASA also supports the Wallops Flight Facility, near Chincoteague, which performs research involving suborbital rocket launches.
• Virginia has three schools in the top 100 university recipients of federal R&D funds. The University of Virginia (UVA) is ranked 47th, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) 66th, and Virginia Commonwealth University is 82nd. UVA and Virginia Commonwealth both receive most of their federal R&D funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for health-related research. Virginia Tech receives most of its federal R&D funds from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation.
• Virginia is home to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, which is funded by DOE. The facility houses a continuous electron beam accelerator which is used to study subatomic particles.
• Private industry in Virginia received $1.5 billion from the federal government for R&D in FY 1995, 89 percent of which came from DOD and NASA.

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