The response from Dr. Alan I. Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher of Science, was as follows:
"The increases proposed for R&D are extremely gratifying, particularly given the freeze for overall domestic spending. They deliver on the President's commitments to advance science and apply it more vigorously to national and global goals. Having said that, given the overall commitment to keeping the budget constant, it will be very important for the nation to recognize the importance of science and to sustain these increases through the political process."
Other preliminary reactions from AAAS were as follows:
"The total 2011 R&D request is flat, compared with 2010, and there's a huge shift to nondefense-related R&D spending, versus defense-related R&D spending."
"We're pleased to see that NASA's overall budget went up. Of course, there were some changes such as a move away from trying to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. But it's our understanding that space initiatives will instead undergo an essential retooling."
"The 2011 R&D budget request continues a welcomed trend by returning the United States to a real-dollar funding increase for research: There was a real-dollar increase for research in 2009 versus 2008, but that was the only increase until this year, since a peak in 2004, and we are still down 4.4% from that peak in constant Fiscal Year 2010 dollars."
Look for updated analysis online at the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program, http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/.
Also, track the Twitter feed by Program Director Patrick Clemins, http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/.
Also, track the Twitter feed by Program Director Patrick Clemins, http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/.
