National Nanotechnology Initiative's Budget Brief for FY 2013

NNI Manufacturing and Job Creation Focus Reflected in Strong Budget Numbers for FY 2013

A cross-cut budget of $1.8 billion, totaling a 4% increase over FY 2012, shows the Administration’s continued support of the NNI

(February 17, 2012) The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) released its Supplement to the President’s 2013 Budget, revealing substantial growth in the key areas of nanomanufacturing and infrastructure. Both areas are vital to the Nation’s ongoing economic recovery and future growth as part of a new innovation economy, and align well with the President’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) and the Materials Genome Initiative.

The President’s 2013 Budget includes nearly $1.8 billion for nanotechnology research and development, a 4% increase over 2012, a cumulative investment of $18 billion since its inception in 2001. In its second decade, the NNI agencies are focusing on building and sustaining infrastructure through support for research facilities, acquiring the instruments to do the work of nanotechnology, and strategic investments to improve our ability to manufacture materials at the nanoscale and to manufacture products containing nanomaterials. Some budget highlights include:

·         While fundamental research (PCA 1) remains the largest single NNI investment category ($498 million in the 2013 budget), the more applied research in nanodevices and systems (PCA 3) and in the nanomanufacturing (PCA 5) now total over $500 million combined, as some areas mature and applications develop.  

·         NNI investments in instrumentation research, metrology, and standards (PCA 4) and in major research    facilities and instrumentation acquisition (PCA 6) are sustained at about $70 million and $180 million, respectively, during 2011-2013.

·         Consistent with the President’s Strategy for American Innovation and the recommendations by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in its 2012 review of the NNI, the Nanotechnology Signature Initiatives (NSIs) aim to catalyze breakthroughs and harness the science and technology to address critical challenges of the 21st century. The President’s 2013 Budget includes over $300 million in funding for the three NSIs that were introduced in the 2011 Budget: $112 million for Nanotechnology for Solar Energy Collection and Conversion; $84 million for Sustainable Nanomanufacturing; and $110 million for Nanoelectronics for 2020 and Beyond. This represents a 24% increase in NSI investment compared to 2011 actual spending.

These critical investment categories put nanotechnology at the forefront of the materials and manufacturing economies that will contribute to growth and prosperity in America, and represent the progress toward commercialization that the NNI has enabled over the last decade.

Click here to see the NNI’s Supplement to the President’s Budget in its entirety.