The upcoming changes in government leadership will create temporary issues in the government’s network of research labs until new strategies are defined and funded.
Many government R&D laboratory executives face a tough couple of months ahead. These anxieties are fueled by 1) possible management, technical direction, and budgetary changes in their agencies due to changes in the federal administration; 2) frozen operating budgets until March 2009 due to the Continuing Resolution (CR) attachment to the recent banking bailout bill; and 3) the financial fallout from the economic downturn.
These and other pertinent questions regarding their R&D operations were addressed in R&D Magazine’s 9th Annual Government R&D Executive Roundtable held on Oct. 16, 2008, in conjunction with the 46th Annual R&D 100 Awards at Chicago’s Navy Pier.
Most members of this year’s government executive panel were hesitant to speculate on the changes that might occur in their labs as a result of the new administration. The exception to this stand was the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Robert Hawsey. “No matter who wins [the Roundtable was held before the Nov. 4th Presidential election], we expect to see continued support,” says Hawsey. “All of our cooperative research facilities are over-subscribed and we’re looking at how we can expand them.” Obviously, renewable energy is a hot button in the administration and likely to get increased financial backing to help meet our country’s energy independence goals.
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While the CR action gives us a flat budget for the first half of this fiscal year, our actual research costs have generally increased due to inflationary pressures.
- Michelle Buchanan
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When pressed, the panel was mostly optimistic about their future support, stating that external threats to the U.S. have not changed, and research work associated with homeland security and national defense is unlikely to see drastic change.
“We have a strong portfolio in life science and don’t expect any changes,” says Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) Michelle Buchanan.
Ongoing federally funded work at the national labs that was started before the Oct. 1st start of the FY2009 fiscal year will continue without any changes—those funds are unaffected by the CR action. This applies as well to any building or laboratory construction. The CR action, however, has stopped the kickoff of many new research programs. “Nothing new can be started,” says NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Nona Cheeks.
The CR action came as a surprise to most Executive Roundtable panelists. “While the CR action gives us a flat budget for the first half of this fiscal year, our actual research costs have generally increased due to inflationary pressures,” says ORNL’s Buchanan. “We’re going to have to reduce something; the Dept. of Energy (DOE) is still formulating a plan.”
To partially address this, some cost-cutting measures have already been put in place. NASA, for example, has cut some of their discretionary travel and expense (T&E) budgets by about 70%, according to the NASA panel participants. The DOE’s T&E budgets have not been affected.
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Corporate R&D budgets have not increased as fast as we expected them to for our user facilities. We expected a 15% corporate increase and are now only seeing 5%. - Stephen Ban
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As a result of the CR actions, some labs are also starting to more actively explore alternative third party funding for their capital expenditures, such as new building construction programs. This includes having private parties build and lease facilities on the government lab sites, which would then be at least partially staffed by government researchers. This strategy has been in place already at Battelle/Univ. of Tennessee-operated ORNL.
While the economic downturn has seen some effects already in the industrial sector, the Executive Roundtable panel universally acknowledged that they have not seen any effect on their operations, other than a drop in some industrial-sponsored collaborative programs. Use of some unique facilities at government laboratories, such as the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), might be affected at some later date by industrial pharmaceutical companies, which are currently experiencing financial difficulties.
Hiring changesThe employment situation at government research laboratories is both varied from one lab to another and changing from previous models. “Hiring remains steady and accelerating,” says ORNL’s Buchanan. “However, some of our employees may not choose to retire because they cannot afford to now with the economic downturn and stock market decline.”
The staffing situation at ANL, however, is different, according to ANL’s Stephen Ban. “Our staffing level is frozen, due to a fall-off of industry-sponsored research,” says Ban. “Corporate R&D budgets have not increased as fast as we expected them to for our user facilities. We expected a 15% corporate [pharmaceutical] R&D budget increase and are now only seeing 5%.”
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NASA has an agency-wide ceiling for full-time equivalent (FTE) employees to which we must manage. Each center has been given a ceiling each year through 2014.
- Woodrow Whitlow, Jr.
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In other labs, the falling housing market has affected prospects that the government labs are looking to hire. Relocation of these researchers has become a significant hardship if those researchers own a home. They cannot sell their existing homes in today’s housing market. “For the post-doctoral researchers we're hiring, this is less of an issue,” says Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) Monya Lane.
On the other hand, NASA has an agency-wide ceiling for full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, and each center has been given a ceiling for each year through 2014. The centers are allowed to hire when the number of employees goes below this level. This allows them to change their skill mix over time as long as they hold to the ceiling, according to NASA Glenn Research Center’s Woodrow Whitlow, Jr.
NREL is at the other end of the spectrum due to its R&D mission to develop alternative energy technologies. “We expect to increase our staff by 15% in 2009,” says NREL’s Hawsey. While NREL’s unique situation appears attractive, they too have problems in hiring trained staff because of the problems in relocation and in finding qualified candidates. NREL recruiters are looking at changes in their recruitment strategies.
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All of our cooperative research facilities are over-subscribed and we're looking at how we can expand them. - Robert Hawsey
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International collaborations aboundResearchers at government laboratories continue to expand their domestic and foreign collaborations with positive and not-so-positive results. “Because of our focus on automotive technologies, we’ve seen a number of collaborations with General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes [Daimler],” says ANL’s Ban. “However, the advanced battery technologies that we developed several years ago are now, unfortunately, being manufactured in Japan and China.”
There are obviously many NASA collaborations with the International Space Station (ISS). “We still expect to contract with Russia for Soyuz launch services for NASA astronauts to the ISS after the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010 [and until the Ares-Constellation system is developed in 2015],” says NASA Glenn’s Whitlow.
[Editor’s note: While both Senator McCain and President-Elect Obama have expressed their disapproval of the Russian Soyuz dependence, there appear to be few remaining alternatives. Extending the life of the Space Shuttle is not a realistic option due to the shutdown of several manufacturing facilities for Space Shuttle booster components.]
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LANL is continuing its long-standing relationship with India on nuclear development programs, resulting in more clarity in nuclear non-proliferation.
- Herbert Funsten
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NASA Glenn has also recently obtained approval from the U.S. State Dept. to partner with Sweden to do pre-competitive research on environmentally green rocket propellants, according to Whitlow. The other panel members also noted numerous specific collaborations at their facilities. NREL, for example, has memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Brazil and India for the joint development of biofuels, says NREL’s Hawsey.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is also continuing its long-standing relationship with India on nuclear development programs, while there are several programs with several countries on space-based nuclear weapon detection systems, according to LANL’s Herbert Funsten. These programs have resulted in more clarity in nuclear non-proliferation.
Similarly, researchers at LLNL have had long-standing development collaborations with France on laser fusion research facilities, says LLNL’s Monya Lane. And ORNL’s Buchanan notes that there are many DOE researchers from many facilities that collaborate around the world in locations such as CERN, Japan, Russia, and other countries on materials, nuclear research, high-energy physics, nanotechnology, and more.
Domestic collaborationsThere are continuing improvements in U.S. industrial collaborations, according to the Executive Board panel. These include increasing partnerships with many industries, academia, and other government laboratories, says LLNL’s Lane. “This is bound to be a continuing trend in the years to come.”
The EPAC 2005 (Energy Policy Act of 2005) effects are just starting to be felt in government research laboratories. Many relationships are being pursued in cluster arrangements with other government labs. “We’re also working much harder than in the past with local universities, like the Univ. of Chicago, Northwestern Univ., Illinois Institute of Technology, and Northern Illinois Univ. for recruitment and joint appointments,” says ANL’s Ban.
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Increasing partnerships with many industries, academia, and other government laboratories is bound to be a continuing trend in the years to come.
- Monya Lane
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“A lot of our work is tied to industrial CRADAs (Cooperative Research and Development Agreements), and we don’t see any let up in that area,” says ORNL’s Buchanan.
Over the past two and a half years, researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center have expanded formal agreements with other government labs on the design and development of space flight hardware, according to Glenn’s Whitlow. Much of this work used to be done at one location, which is a major change in the operating procedures for NASA research facilities. This work is concentrated on the development of the Ares-Constellation manned space launch system, the follow-on system for the Space Shuttle.
Energy, energy, energyOver the past two years, there has been a very significant increase in the number of alternative energy development programs at a wide range of government research laboratories. NASA Glenn now has a whole division that focuses solely on power research, and combustion researchers are exploring the development of alternative fuels for aviation. And ANL has more sustainable energy development programs as well on biofuels and nuclear fuel cycles. ANL also has an increasing research focus on basic energy science. “We had three labs devoted to this area in 2007, and we now have five labs in 2008,” says ANL’s Ban. “Taking risks in these areas is promoted more now than in the past because the potential rewards are so much greater.”
Oak Ridge researchers are looking at applied research on how nanotechnology-based materials can be used to support the development and enhancement of energy-based systems. They’re working on a much closer coupling of science to technology as well, according to ORNL’s Buchanan. “We have a greater focus on the transition of basic research to applied research now.”
And researchers at NASA Goddard are putting their research efforts on earth observing satellites and climate modeling techniques in an effort to supply data on the effects of current and alternative energy systems, according to Goddard’s Nona Cheeks. LANL researchers are working in similar areas as they attempt to apply their nuclear modeling software to climate models.
NREL, of course, has always focused on alternative energy sources—it’s their mission. But now their scientists are increasing their research emphasis on systems or integrated research. “There’s a huge sense of urgency in renewable energy systems,” says NREL’s Hawsey.
Published in R & D magazine: Vol. 50, No. 7, December, 2008, p.10-12
