Alessandra Zimmermann
@alesszimm.bsky.social
Federal R&D Budget Policy at AAAS | Biochem PhD | views are my own | she/her
Today I got to close out the Forum on S&T Policy, and one of the big things I highlighted was that the Historical Dashboard has been revamped! It's out now, with more data, fun new visualizations, and a excel sheet if you want to play with the data yourself
Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...
Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...
Federal R&D Budget Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
October 24, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Today I got to close out the Forum on S&T Policy, and one of the big things I highlighted was that the Historical Dashboard has been revamped! It's out now, with more data, fun new visualizations, and a excel sheet if you want to play with the data yourself
Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...
Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...
Another lit review incoming: this time looking at the impacts of federal shutdowns. While this report is a little bit broader than just the R&D ecosystem, it does provide a picture of what could happen next week, should a funding patch not be signed into law.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
Research on R&D Funding: Impacts of Federal Shutdowns | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
September 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Another lit review incoming: this time looking at the impacts of federal shutdowns. While this report is a little bit broader than just the R&D ecosystem, it does provide a picture of what could happen next week, should a funding patch not be signed into law.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
Today the House committee marked up their LHHS bill, which means all of the House appropriations bills have had their report language released and I could update the House R&D estimates in my report.
You can find the updated report on the same page as before:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
You can find the updated report on the same page as before:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
News | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
September 9, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Today the House committee marked up their LHHS bill, which means all of the House appropriations bills have had their report language released and I could update the House R&D estimates in my report.
You can find the updated report on the same page as before:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
You can find the updated report on the same page as before:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
It's August recess, congress has left DC and I've got another report - this time highlighting what the Senate was up to. Just as with the House, they're missing some bills so we've worked around those gaps to try to bring you the best picture of what they've passed.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Senate R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
August 5, 2025 at 6:48 PM
It's August recess, congress has left DC and I've got another report - this time highlighting what the Senate was up to. Just as with the House, they're missing some bills so we've worked around those gaps to try to bring you the best picture of what they've passed.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
With the House potentially starting their recess early, here's a report on what they've proposed so far for FY 2026 Appropriations.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: House R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
July 22, 2025 at 6:13 PM
With the House potentially starting their recess early, here's a report on what they've proposed so far for FY 2026 Appropriations.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
I've just released a new report that expands on the data that was featured in a certain NYT article last week.
On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Federal R&D Estimates | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
July 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I've just released a new report that expands on the data that was featured in a certain NYT article last week.
On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
A whole lot of bills were just released by the House in the last 24 hours, and I've updated the dashboard with all of them. More details to come as the report language gets released after the markups, but there's already a lot to process:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
July 14, 2025 at 5:35 PM
A whole lot of bills were just released by the House in the last 24 hours, and I've updated the dashboard with all of them. More details to come as the report language gets released after the markups, but there's already a lot to process:
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
All eyes might be on the House and Senate, but I'm not done extracting everything I can from the PBR. So here's the Federal R&D Workforce tracker, that uses the FTE numbers to show historical data on employment at key agencies and programs, plus proposed FY 2026 levels:
www.aaas.org/news/trackin...
www.aaas.org/news/trackin...
Tracking the Federal R&D Workforce | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
July 8, 2025 at 4:13 PM
All eyes might be on the House and Senate, but I'm not done extracting everything I can from the PBR. So here's the Federal R&D Workforce tracker, that uses the FTE numbers to show historical data on employment at key agencies and programs, plus proposed FY 2026 levels:
www.aaas.org/news/trackin...
www.aaas.org/news/trackin...
All the major R&D agencies' budget justifications are now out, and thus the dashboard and PBR report are as complete as I can get them. You can now download the latest report for the (just added) summaries of Defense, NIST and NOAA.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
July 1, 2025 at 2:39 PM
All the major R&D agencies' budget justifications are now out, and thus the dashboard and PBR report are as complete as I can get them. You can now download the latest report for the (just added) summaries of Defense, NIST and NOAA.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
New Report alert! I tried to compile as much of the funding and organizational changes that the FY 2026 PBR outlines for the R&D accounts that we track.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
June 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
New Report alert! I tried to compile as much of the funding and organizational changes that the FY 2026 PBR outlines for the R&D accounts that we track.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
Agencies are starting to upload their FY 2026 congressional justifications, so the Appropriations Dashboard is updating as fast as I can find the documents.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
May 30, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Agencies are starting to upload their FY 2026 congressional justifications, so the Appropriations Dashboard is updating as fast as I can find the documents.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
With the release of the skinny Presidential Budget Request, the FY 2026 season officially kicks off and the dashboard goes live!
Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
May 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
With the release of the skinny Presidential Budget Request, the FY 2026 season officially kicks off and the dashboard goes live!
Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...
Today @aaas.org's CEO, testified before the Senate Appropriations committee and stated that the U.S. is at a crossroads — it needs to decide if it wants to remain a dominant R&D economy or give up the title
Watch the recording here:
www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...
Watch the recording here:
www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...
Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
www.appropriations.senate.gov
April 30, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Today @aaas.org's CEO, testified before the Senate Appropriations committee and stated that the U.S. is at a crossroads — it needs to decide if it wants to remain a dominant R&D economy or give up the title
Watch the recording here:
www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...
Watch the recording here:
www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...
The State Dashboard keeps evolving!
We were donated new data so you can know how many full-time PhD and postdocs are funded by state, institution, and agency.
Check out the new #Researchers tab on the dashboard, plus another data donation coming next week!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
We were donated new data so you can know how many full-time PhD and postdocs are funded by state, institution, and agency.
Check out the new #Researchers tab on the dashboard, plus another data donation coming next week!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
State R&D Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
April 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The State Dashboard keeps evolving!
We were donated new data so you can know how many full-time PhD and postdocs are funded by state, institution, and agency.
Check out the new #Researchers tab on the dashboard, plus another data donation coming next week!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
We were donated new data so you can know how many full-time PhD and postdocs are funded by state, institution, and agency.
Check out the new #Researchers tab on the dashboard, plus another data donation coming next week!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
I know I only launched the state R&D dashboard last week, but the Science is US team granted me access to their data so there's a new tab with all of their analyses; looking at STEMM jobs by state, sector, and economic impact:
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Also, obviously, go read their full report!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Also, obviously, go read their full report!
April 3, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I know I only launched the state R&D dashboard last week, but the Science is US team granted me access to their data so there's a new tab with all of their analyses; looking at STEMM jobs by state, sector, and economic impact:
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Also, obviously, go read their full report!
www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Also, obviously, go read their full report!
Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
March 28, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
It's Hill Visit season in DC, so we created the State R&D Dashboard, which uses (largely NCSES) data to showcase the prevalence of STEM jobs, use of federal R&D funding, and FFRDCs across the 50 states (and Puerto Rico).
Click around and have some fun: www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Click around and have some fun: www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
State R&D Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
March 25, 2025 at 5:29 PM
It's Hill Visit season in DC, so we created the State R&D Dashboard, which uses (largely NCSES) data to showcase the prevalence of STEM jobs, use of federal R&D funding, and FFRDCs across the 50 states (and Puerto Rico).
Click around and have some fun: www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
Click around and have some fun: www.aaas.org/news/state-r...
The full-year CR was signed into law this weekend. While it's quite likely that FY 2025 R&D funding will change again before the fiscal year is through, here's my (first) Final FY 2025 R&D Appropriations Report where I estimate how much R&D will occur under this CR.
www.aaas.org/news/final-f...
www.aaas.org/news/final-f...
Final FY 2025 R&D Appropriations | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
With a full-year CR passed through both the House and Senate on March 14 that will fund the government through September 30, FY 2025 appropriations concludes where it started: with (largely) FY 2024 n...
www.aaas.org
March 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The full-year CR was signed into law this weekend. While it's quite likely that FY 2025 R&D funding will change again before the fiscal year is through, here's my (first) Final FY 2025 R&D Appropriations Report where I estimate how much R&D will occur under this CR.
www.aaas.org/news/final-f...
www.aaas.org/news/final-f...
The US has 3 days of funding left, with either a CR or a shutdown afterwards.
Uncertainty about funding has impacts, and in our latest in the Research on R&D Funding series we summarize the studies that have looked into the effects of funding uncertainty on researchers.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
Uncertainty about funding has impacts, and in our latest in the Research on R&D Funding series we summarize the studies that have looked into the effects of funding uncertainty on researchers.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
News | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
March 11, 2025 at 5:59 PM
The US has 3 days of funding left, with either a CR or a shutdown afterwards.
Uncertainty about funding has impacts, and in our latest in the Research on R&D Funding series we summarize the studies that have looked into the effects of funding uncertainty on researchers.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
Uncertainty about funding has impacts, and in our latest in the Research on R&D Funding series we summarize the studies that have looked into the effects of funding uncertainty on researchers.
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
I've updated the dashboard with the R&D accounts that got anomalies in the CR bill text. All accounts that were not called out will stay at FY 2024 levels and thus show up as blank in the dashboard since there's no change.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2025...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2025...
FY 2025 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
www.aaas.org
March 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I've updated the dashboard with the R&D accounts that got anomalies in the CR bill text. All accounts that were not called out will stay at FY 2024 levels and thus show up as blank in the dashboard since there's no change.
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2025...
www.aaas.org/news/fy-2025...
Are you going to the #AAASMtg in two weeks? Don't know which of the sessions you want to attend?
The Transformative IDEAs Town Hall is here for you! Representatives of sessions that will explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility topics will be there to pitch their sessions to you.
The Transformative IDEAs Town Hall is here for you! Representatives of sessions that will explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility topics will be there to pitch their sessions to you.
January 30, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Are you going to the #AAASMtg in two weeks? Don't know which of the sessions you want to attend?
The Transformative IDEAs Town Hall is here for you! Representatives of sessions that will explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility topics will be there to pitch their sessions to you.
The Transformative IDEAs Town Hall is here for you! Representatives of sessions that will explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility topics will be there to pitch their sessions to you.
Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann
The White House ordered a temporary halt to all federal grant programs, loans, and other forms of financial assistance under a far-reaching review of agency activities.
White House pauses all federal grants as Trump orders flurry of activity
The memo instructs federal agencies to review their activities for anything that may be implicated under Trump’s executive orders.
www.semafor.com
January 28, 2025 at 1:34 PM
The White House ordered a temporary halt to all federal grant programs, loans, and other forms of financial assistance under a far-reaching review of agency activities.
Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann
As more folks come over to this app 🦋 including for #AGU #AGU24 #AGU2024, I’ve brushed off my coding skills and created unofficial #scipol and #scipoljobs feeds. The former follows below, enjoy!
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
December 9, 2024 at 12:52 AM
As more folks come over to this app 🦋 including for #AGU #AGU24 #AGU2024, I’ve brushed off my coding skills and created unofficial #scipol and #scipoljobs feeds. The former follows below, enjoy!
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Want to increase worker productivity at the national scale? Turns out the answer may lie in funding federal nondefense R&D.
I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog:
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog:
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
www.aaas.org
December 9, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Want to increase worker productivity at the national scale? Turns out the answer may lie in funding federal nondefense R&D.
I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog:
www.aaas.org/news/researc...
I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog:
www.aaas.org/news/researc...