Recovery act-funded research projects aid communities across t...( In the five months since passage of ...)

In the five months since passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), thousands of research-related awards have been made, supporting important scientific efforts across the country. ARRA delivered the largest increase in basic research funding in American history - $21.5 billion. The bulk of the money is for scientific research and education projects, while $3.5 billion is allocated for research facilities and capital equipment. Universities are helping researchers apply for ARRA funding and the federal science agencies tasked with distributing that money are reviewing tens of thousands of grant applications all in a compressed timeframe and under new reporting requirements. As a result, in every state and the District of Columbia, ARRA-funded research grants are creating jobs, allowing the purchase of equipment, and supporting science-related construction projects.

An influx of ARRA funds has enabled public and private research universities from Maryland to California to post 'help wanted' ads, providing a boon to the local economies. Through the National Institutes of Health's ARRA-funded summer experience program, more than 3,000 educators and students are spending their summers in the nation's leading biomedical research laboratories. The Department of Energy's Office of Science is using ARRA funding to establish 16 Energy Frontier Research Centers on university campuses. These centers will bring together interdisciplinary teams of experts to accelerate development of new energy technologies, with each center supporting a full staff of researchers, technicians, and graduate and postdoctoral students. ARRA funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology is supporting the construction of major new academic research facilities in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

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