July 18,2014 

M-14-11 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES 

FROM: Brian C. Deese 3(\) Acting Director ' f 

Office of Management and Budget 

Director 

Dr. John P. Holdren ~ 

Office of Science and echnology Policy 

SUBJECT: Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2016 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 of the 21 st century. The Nation depends on science, technology, and innovation to 

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

improve the health of all Americans, move us toward a clean energy future, address global climate 

change, manage competing demands on enviromnental resources, and ensure the security of the 

Nation. 

Federal govermnent 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 the fundamental, curiosity-driven inquiry that has been a 

hallmark of the American research enterprise and a powerful driver of unexpected, new technology. 

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

formulating FY 2016 Budget submissions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The 

priorities covered in this memo require investments in R&D; support for activities, such as science, 

teclmology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, technology transfer, R&D facilities, 

and scientific data collection and management, that enable a robust science and technology 

enterprise; and cooperation among multiple Federal agencies. They build on priorities reflected in 

this Administration's past budgets and documents. 

1 

Agencies should explain in their budget submissions how they are redirecting available resources 

from lower-priority areas to science and technology activities that address the priorities described 

below. Agency submissions must meet the requirements outlined in OMB's FY 2016 Budget 

Guidance memorandum M-14-07. Agencies engaged in complementary activities should consult 

with each other during the budget planning process so that resources are coordinated to maximize 

their impact and to avoid inappropriate duplication, and include summaries of these discussions in 

their OMB budget submissions. 

Multi-agency R&D priorities 

In the FY 2016 Budget, agencies should balance priorities to ensure 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. 

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

revitalizing America' s manufacturing sector, which will require innovation in the products that 

are manufactured and the manufacturing systems themselves. Agencies should give priority to 

those programs that advance the state of the art in manufacturing, with particular emphasis on 

government-industry-university partnerships and enabling technologies for industries of the 

future (such as nanotechnology, robotics, materials development, and cyber-physical systems) 

that benefit multiple sectors, as described in the National Strategic Plan for Advanced 

Manufacturing. 

• 	 Clean energy. The President's all-of-the-above approach to energy includes a goal 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 2016 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 21 51-century transportation sector; and cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and 

factories. In transportation, there is a particular need to reduce the cunent fragmentation of 

R&D activities and funding and to promote a more cohesive R&D framework that links the 

capabilities of the Departments of Energy, Defense, and Transportation. 

• 	 Earth observations. Earth-observation data_serve as the foundation for services that protect 

human life, property, the economy, and national security, as well as advancing fundamental 

understanding of the Earth system. Enhanced interagency coordination is required to ensure 

adequate observational coverage for public services and Earth-system research and to ensure 

complementarity and integration of the resulting data. Agencies should participate in the 

coordination efforts ofthe National Science and Technology Council 's (NSTC) Committee on 

Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability (CENRS) and align their R&D investments 

with the 2014 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations, and comply with the Executive Order 

on Open and Machine Readable Data. 

• 	 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. In improving the nation's 

ability to understand, assess, predict and respond to global change, agencies should prioritize 

2 

activities that strengthen the scientific basis for, as well as the development and use of, 

actionable science, information, and related tools needed to prepare for and reduce climaterelated risks. 

• 	 Information technology and high-performance computing. Agencies should 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. Agencies should also 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, as well as research to 

advance technologies for more efficient use of spectrum and cyber-physical systems. Agencies 

should coordinate with each other and with the private sector to promote innovation in highperformance computing to support national security, scientific discovery, and economic 

competitiveness. 

• 	 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 platform technologies as described in the Administration's 2012 

National Bioeconomy Blueprint (e.g. technologies for the design of biological systems, 

understanding systems biology, and high-throughput biology),the President's BRAIN Initiative, 

and the National Strategy for Biosurveillance. Agencies should prioritize research to fulfill the 

Cross-Agency Priority Goal for Service Members and Veterans Mental Health by suppmting 

research to identify and develop more effective diagnostic and treatment methodologies and 

metrics to improve mental health and substance use outcomes. 

The Administration is committed to combatting the public health and national security 

challenges associated with the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Effectively addressing 

antibiotic resistance will require depmtments and agencies to suppott multi-sectoral efforts that 

promote new and next-generation antibiotic and diagnostics development, strengthen 

surveillance for resistance in animals and humans, and enhance antimicrobial stewardship 

practices in clinical medicine and agriculture. Depmtments and agencies should prioritize 

funding for the identification and development of new bacterial countermeasures, including 

engineering the microbiome, use of small molecules as both antibiotics and synergists, novel 

vaccines, probiotics, and other innovative mechanisms. Agencies should also boost both 

foundational and translational research and development that leads to rapid, point-of-care 

diagnostics to determine with certainty whether antibiotics treatment is warranted. 

• 	 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 provide cutting-edge capabilities to meet 

current and future mission requirements, national security agencies need to support a balanced 

portfolio of basic and applied research and advanced technology development. In particular, 

priority should be given to investments to develop capabilities in hypersonics, countering 

weapons of mass destruction, accelerated training techniques, and handling large data sets for 

national-security mission requirements. 

3 

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

natural resource management protecting health and the environment) benefit from R&D that 

strengthens the scientific basis for decision-making. Both mission-centered agencies and R&D 

agencies should focus on user-driven information and tools to ensure science investments more 

directly support decision-making. 

Research Tools and Infrastructure 

Agencies should support the research tools and infrastructure needed to ensure that U.S. science and 

engineering remain at the leading edge of discovery. Proposals for development, construction, and 

operations costs must be fully justified and balanced against funding for research activities and 

operations of existing facilities. In supporting tools and infrastructure, agencies should look for 

opportunities to leverage resources from other agencies and the private sector. OSTP and OMB 

encourage agencies to consider the best practices for Federal facility pminerships identified in the 

Science and Technology Policy Institute's recent rep01i Best Practices for Federal Research and 

Development Facility Partnerships.

1 

Other R&D Program Guidance 

Within research p01ifolios, Federal agencies are encouraged to identify and pursue clearly defined 

"Grand Challenges"- ambitious goals that require advances in science, technology and innovation 

to achieve- and to support high-risk, high-return research. 

Agencies should consider, where appropriate and authorized, supplementing traditional R&D 

"push" mechanisms (e.g., grants and contracts) with "pull" mechanisms - results-based market 

incentives designed to overcome market failures, engage a wide range of solvers, and catalyze 

innovation, such as incentive prizes and advanced market commitments. 

International scientific partnerships should be pursued to advance the Administration's priorities in 

global health and development, share the financial burden of large research projects, and capitalize 

on complementary research and technology capabilities. Because of the complexity of international 

collaborations, agencies should ensure that such activities adhere to the highest management 

standards. 

At its January 31 meeting, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 

discussed concerns about the reproducibility of scientific research2

. These concerns cut across 

fields of science. Agencies should engage stakeholders to develop ways to improve the 

reproducibility of research in the fields they support. 

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, quantitative 

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

The preservation of knowledge is critical to solving current problems and meeting future 

challenges. Many agencies have collections representing the work of thousands of scientists over 

1 http s: // www.ida.org/~/medi a/Co rporate Files Publications STPIPubs 20 14/ida-p-5148.ashx 2 http :1lw>vw. whitehouse. gov /adm in istration/eop/ostp/pcast/meeti n gs/past 

4 

many years. Preserving and providing access to important and often ineplaceable collections 

should be a priority for agencies with an R&D portfolio. Therefore, agencies are strongly 

encouraged to work together to implement the March 2014 policy on Improving the Management of 

and Access to Scientific Collections to make the most effective use of these important sources of 

information. 

STEM Education Guidance 

Investments in STEM education should adhere to the priorities outlined in the Federal STEM 

Education 5-Year Strategic Plan, by the Committee on STEM Education (Co STEM) under the 

NSTC, and should continue to pursue the goals of reducing program fragmentation and enhancing 

program effectiveness that were supported in the past two budgets. This includes giving priority 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 also ensure that programs are designed to identify and effectively meet 

the needs of those we ' re trying to serve- students, teachers, schools, districts and post-secondary 

institutions. The 2016 Budget proposals should align STEM education investments with the 

Strategic Plan, with attention to initiatives presented in the President's Council of Advisors on 

Science and Technology (PCAST) reports Prepare and Inspire and Engage to Excel and be 

coordinated with other Administration priorities. 

5