White House Issues Annual S&T Guidance for FY 2016 Budget
On July 18, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued their joint annual memorandum to federal agencies outlining “Science and Technology Priorities for the FY 2016 Budget.” Each year, OMB and OSTP outline specific White House S&T priorities for federal investment, which is meant to inform federal agencies’ development of the fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget submission to Congress. Similar to past memoranda, the FY 2016 guidance asks federal agencies to allocate resources to a number of multi-agency research activities, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, earth observations, global climate change, information technology and high-performance computing, neuroscience, national and homeland security, and R&D for informed policy-making and management. The guidance further asks agencies 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.” Investment in STEM education also remains a high priority.