News Release

National Nanotechnology Initiative releases its fiscal year 2009 budget and highlights

Budget and highlights to accompany the president's 2009 budget

Business Announcement

National Nanotechnology Coordination Office

February 14, 2008, 10 a.m.—A summary of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Fiscal Year 2009 Budget was released today by the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council's Committee on Technology. The report is a supplement to the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2009, providing additional details on the NNI budget request, as well as highlights of planned activities to be conducted under that budget.

Described in the report are the programs and activities taking place across all 25 of the Federal agencies participating in the NNI. The document is available online from the home page of the NNI Web site (www.nano.gov) or directly at http://www.nano.gov/NNI_FY09_budget_summary.pdf.

The 2009 budget request provides $1.5 billion for the NNI, reflecting steady growth in the NNI investment. This sustained major investment in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) across the Federal Government over the past nine fiscal years of the NNI reflects the broad support of the Administration and of Congress for this program.

The NNI remains focused on fulfilling the Federal role of supporting basic research, infrastructure development, and technology transfer, in the expectation that the resulting advances and capabilities will make important contributions to national priorities, with applications across a wide range of industries including healthcare, electronics, aeronautics and energy. Increasing investments by mission agencies in nanotechnology-related research since 2001 reflect a recognition of the potential for nanotechnology research to support agency missions and responsibilities.

Key points from the report:

  • The 2009 NNI budget provides increased support for research on fundamental nanoscale phenomena and processes, from $481 million in 2007 to $551 million in 2009.
  • The proposed budget reflects substantial ongoing growth in funding for instrumentation research, metrology and standards (from $53 million in 2007 to $82 million in 2009) and in nanomanufacturing research (from $48 million in 2007 to $62 million in 2009).
  • Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) R&D funding in 2009 ($76 million) is more than double the level of actual funding in 2005 ($35 million)—the first year this data was collected. The steady growth in EHS R&D spending follows the NNI strategy of expanding the capacity to do high-quality research in this field.

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About the National Science and Technology Council and the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee. The Federal Government’s nanotechnology research programs, in general, fall under the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Coordination of research in the field takes place through the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council. The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office provides technical and administrative support to the NSET Subcommittee and serves as a central point of contact for the NNI.


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