The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News is reporting that the $790 billion economic stimulus package approved by House and Senate conferees last night includes "significant funding increases" for science and technology, including $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, which funds particle physics.
Now the compromise bill goes back to the full House and Senate for final approval.
The AIP bulletin quotes the following from a statement issued by the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
“Investing in Scientific Research (More than $15 Billion)
“Provides $3 billion for the National Science Foundation, for basic research in fundamental science and engineering - which spurs discovery and innovation.“Provides $1.6 billion for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, which funds research in such areas as climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics, nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences - areas crucial to our energy future.
“Provides $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency in collaboration with industry.
“Provides $580 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including the Technology Innovation Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
“Provides $8.5 billion for NIH, including expanding good jobs in biomedical research to study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, and heart disease.
“Provides $1 billion for NASA, including $400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research.
“Provides $1.5 billion for NIH to renovate university research facilities and help them compete for biomedical research grants.”
For the Office of Science, the compromise offers essentially the same level of funding as the House version of the bill--$2 billion overall, with $400 of it going to ARPA-E. The Senate version had designated $330 million for Office of Science, to be used for laboratory construction and infrastructure.
This is the first, broad-brush look at what the compromise bill holds for basic science; stay tuned for details.
