July 9, 2015 

M-15-16 


OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES 

FROM: 

g~:~: P Holdren \k, rJJ/1~ Office of Science a~fechno!O;} ~~~icy 

SUBJECT: Multi-Agency Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2017 Budget 

Scientific discovery, technological breakthroughs, and innovation are the primary engines 

for expanding the frontiers of human knowledge and are vital for responding to the challenges and 

opportunities ofthe 2P1 century. The Nation depends on science, technology, and innovation to 

promote economic growth and job creation, maintain a safe and sufficient food supply, improve the 

health of Americans, move toward a clean energy future, address global climate change, manage 

competing demands on environmental resources, and ensure the Nation's security. 

Federal government funding for research and development (R&D) is essential to address 

societal needs in areas in which the private sector does not have sufficient economic incentive to 

make the required investments. Key among these is basic research- the fundamental, curiositydriven inquiry that is a hallmark of the American research enterprise and a powerful driver of new 

technology. Simply supporting research is not sufficient, however, Federal agencies should ensure 

that the results of that research are made available to other scientists, to the public, and to innovators 

who can translate them into the businesses and products that will improve all of our lives. 

This memorandum outlines the Administration' s multi-agency science and technology 

priorities for formulating FY 2017 Budget submissions to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). The priorities covered in this memo require investments in R&D; science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; STEM workforce development; technology 

transfer; R&D infrastructure; and scientific-collection management. The priorities in this 
memorandum build on priorities reflected in this Administration's past budgets and priorities 

directives. 

Agencies should label the sections of their budget submissions that address priorities 

described below. Agencies engaged in complementary activities should consult with each other 

during the budget planning process to coordinate resources, maximize impact, and avoid 

inappropriate duplication, and they should include summaries ofthese discussions in their OMB 

budget submissions. Agency proposals aligned with multi-agency R&D priorities and 

demonstrating interagency coordination are more likely to be prioritized in FY 2017 Budget 

deliberations. 

Multi-Agency R&D priorities 

In the FY 2017 Budget, agencies should balance priorities to ensure that resources are 

adequately allocated for agency-specific, mission-driven research, including fundamental research, 

while focusing resources, where appropriate, on the following multi-agency research activities that 

cannot be addressed effectively by a single agency. 

• 	 Global climate change. Agencies should advance the goals and objectives of the 2012-2021 

U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Strategic Plan, as well as the complementary 

science agenda that underpins the President's Climate Action Plan. Agencies should prioritize 

activities that foster the development and use of actionable data, information, and related tools 

needed to prepare for and reduce climate-related risks and should prioritize investments that 

support technical assistance for community climate-preparedness efforts. 

• 	 Clean energy. The President has stated a goal for the United States to lead the world in clean 

energy. His Climate Action Plan outlines several key objectives in this domain that should be 

given priority in the 2017 Budget, including promoting American leadership in renewable 

energy (including manufacturing for these technologies and a modernized electric grid); 

unlocking innovation in other key clean energy technologies; building a clean and efficient 21st_ 

century transportation sector; and cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories. In 

transportation, there is a particular need to support R&D that can advance multiple 

transportation modes and fill knowledge and technology gaps. As part of this focus, agencies 

should also support technology development that has the dual benefit of reducing greenhouse 

gas (GHG) emissions and bolstering the resilience of our communities. For example, agencies 

might consider technology development that leverages renewable energy to power water 

desalination or purification - reducing the GHG footprint of drinking water and bolstering the 

resilience of communities in drought-prone areas. 

• 	 Earth observations. Earth-observation data are instrumental to services that protect human life, 

property, the economy, and national security, and advance understanding the Earth as a 

system. Federal agencies should advance the goals of the 2014 National Plan for Civil Earth 

Observations. Agencies are encouraged to accelerate the development and demonstration of 

innovative approaches for observations, including technology for low-cost satellites and 

disaggregated instrumentation. In addition, space weather observations and R&D are essential 

to address the growing societal needs for accurate and timely space weather information. 

Agencies should prioritize investments in space weather science and preparedness according to 

the 2015 National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan. 

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• 	 Advanced manufacturing and industries ofthe future. The Administration is committed to the 

continued strengthening of America's manufacturing sector. Agencies should prioritize 

programs that advance the state of the art in manufacturing, as described in the National 

Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing. Agencies should also prioritize investments in 

enablingtechnologies that benefit multiple sectors of the economy, such as nanotechnology, 

robotics, the Materials Genome Initiative, and cyber-physical systems and their application to 

smart cities. 

• 	 Innovation in life sciences, biology, and neuroscience. Agencies should give priority to 

programs that support fundamental biological discovery research that could generate 

unexpected, high-impact scientific and technological advances in health, energy, and food 

security, particularly in the President's BRAIN Initiative, the National Strategy for Combating 

Antibiotic Resistance, and the National Strategy for Biosurveillance (e.g. , infectious-disease 

forecasting capabilities). Priority should also be placed on research that seeks fundamental 

principles that cut across habitats and biological systems, such as those that govern the 

behaviors of micro biomes in diverse environments. Agencies should prioritize researchguided by the National Research Action Plan for Improving Access to Mental Health Services 

for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families- to identify and develop effective 

diagnostic and treatment methodologies and metrics with the aim of improved mental health and 

reduction in substance-use disorders. In addition, the Administration has committed to 

launching the Precision Medicine Initiative, aimed at tailoring medical care to the individual 

patient. Agencies should support investments on improving interoperability of health records, 

addressing privacy concerns, and launching research that will enable discoveries derived from 

Big Data. 

• 	 National and homeland security. National and Homeland Security and Intelligence mission 

agencies should invest in science and technology to meet the threats of the future and develop 

innovative new security capabilities. In order to better understand threats and prioritize 

investments, agencies should build on recent efforts to integrate and coordinate intelligence 

gathering and analysis focused on science, technology, and innovation, and assure those efforts 

are adequately resourced. Priority should be given to investments to develop capabilities in 

countering weapons of mass destruction, addressing the immediate risks to our national security 

posed by climate change, handling large data sets for national security mission requirements, 

advancing hypersonics, and developing accelerated training techniques. 

• 	 Information technology and high-performance computing. Agencies should prioritize research 

guided by the Trustworthy Cyberspace: Strategic Plan for Cybersecurity R&D Programs to 

develop technologies that can protect U.S. systems against cyber-attacks. Agencies should 

coordinate with each other and with the private sector to promote innovation in highperformance computing; modeling and simulation; and advanced hardware technology to 

support national security, scientific discovery, and economic competitiveness. Agencies should 

also give priority to investments that address the challenges and opportunities afforded by the 

expansion of Big Data to advance agency missions and further scientific discovery and 

innovation while providing appropriate privacy protections for personal data. 

• 	 Ocean and Arctic issues. Member agencies of the National Ocean Council should give priority 

to investments in science and technology that supp01i the National Ocean Policy 

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Implementation Plan and responsible ocean stewardship, including observations, modeling, and 

data accessibility needed to support ecosystem-based management, as well as to advance 

understanding and inform responses to current and future climate impacts on oceans, Great 

Lakes, and surrounding communities. Agencies should also advance the objectives of the 

Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Arctic Research Plan (FY 2013-201 7) and the 

newly-created Arctic Executive Steering Committee, which coordinates efforts on Arctic 

science, resource management, conservation, indigenous peoples, and international engagement 

through the 2015-17 U.S. Chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council. 

• 	 R&D for informed policy-making and management. A diverse range of agency missions (e.g. 

natural resource management protecting health and the environment; global health security 

needs to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging infectious diseases) benefit from R&D that 

strengthens the scientific basis for decision-making. In order to maximize the societal benefits 

of R&D investments, research planning and design should be guided by stakeholder and user 

engagement. Both mission-centered agencies and R&D agencies should focus on creating userdriven information and tools that enable the translation of scientific observations to decisionmaking frameworks. 

R&D Infrastructure 

Agencies should support the R&D infrastructure (e.g. facilities, platform technologies, IT, 

digital tools) needed to ensure that U.S. science and engineering remain at the leading edge, and 

leverage resources from other agencies, state and local governments, the private sector, and 

international partners. Proposals for development, construction, and operations costs for new 

facilities must be fully justified and balanced against funding for ongoing programs and operations 

of existing facilities. In addition, agencies should take steps to ensure that underused existing 

facilities are made available to additional users through transparent and competitive methods. 

Other R&D Program Guidance 

Transforming research results and technologies to new products and services is a key step in 

realizing the economic and quality-of-life improvements the taxpayer expects from Federal 

investments in R&D. Commercialization of Federal R&D is therefore one of the core 

responsibilities of each R&D supporting agency. Agency budget proposals should prioritize and 

highlight contributions to the Lab-to-Market Cross-Agency Priority Goal, such as entrepreneurial 

personnel exchanges, commercialization training, and other programs that have the potential to 

accelerate and improve the transfer of new technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace. 

In accordance with OMB Circular A-ll and the GPRA Modernization Act of2010, agencies 

should describe the targeted outcomes of R&D programs using meaningful, measurable, and 

quantitative metrics where possible and describe how they plan to evaluate the success of those 

programs. Agencies should consider opportunities for improved measurements of R&D activities 

and outcomes by linking management and financial information about R&D in their DATA Act 

implementation plans. Agencies are encouraged to collaborate and identify best practices for 

linking management information on R&D with budget and financial data. 

Agencies are encouraged to use approaches to foster innovation such as Grand Challenges, 

incentive prizes, citizen science, and collaboration with members of the Maker Movement. 

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Preserving and improving access to scientific collections, research data, other results of 

Federally-funded research, open datasets, and open educational resources should be a priority for 

agencies. 

Agencies should ensure that Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small 

Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards and programs contribute to the above multi-agency 

science and technology priorities. 

Following engagement with stakeholders, agencies should implement policies and prioritize 

activities to improve the reproducibility of research in the fields they support. 

STEM Education Guidance 

Investments in STEM education should be guided by the priorities outlined in the Federal 

STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan developed by the Committee on STEM Education under the 

National Science and Technology Council, and should continue to pursue the goals of enhancing 

program effectiveness and reducing program fragmentation. Priority should be given to programs 

that use evidence to guide program design and implementation or that build evidence about what 

works in STEM education, using appropriate metrics and improving the measurement of outcomes. 

Agencies should give priority to policies and actions identified by research as having the greatest 

potential to increase inclusion and diversity in STEM education, research, and careers such as 

changes in STEM instruction; changing the image of STEM education and careers; and reducing 

explicit, implicit, and structural biases against girls, women, and members of underrepresented 

minority groups. 

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