Federally funded research and development centers

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are public-private partnerships which conduct research for the United States Government. They are administered in accordance with U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 48, Part 35, Section 35.017 by universities and corporations. There are currently 42 recognized FFRDCs that are sponsored by the U.S. government.[1] FFRDCs are similar to the University Affiliated Research Centers run by the United States Department of Defense.

History of FFRDCs

During World War II scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and other specialists became part of the United States massive war effort -- leading to evolutions in radar, aircraft, computing and, most famously, the development of nuclear weapons through the Manhattan Project. The end of armed conflict did not end the need for organized research and development in support of the government.

As the Cold War became the new reality, government officials and their scientific advisors advanced the idea of a systematic approach to research, development, and acquisitions, one independent of the ups and downs of the marketplace and free of the restrictions on civil service. From this idea arose the concept of FFRDCs -- private entities that would work almost exclusively on behalf of the government, be free of organizational conflicts of interest, and maintain a stable workforce composed of highly trained technical talent.

The U.S. Air Force created the first FFRDC, the RAND Corporation, in 1947. Others grew directly out of their wartime roles. For example, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, founded in 1951, originated as the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, and the Navy's Operation Research Group evolved into the Center for Naval Analyses. The first FFRDCs served the Department of Defense. Since then, other government organizations have sponsored FFRDCs to meet their specific needs. In 1969, the number of FFRDCs peaked at 74. [2][3]

List of FFRDCs

The following list includes all current FFRDCs:

Facility Administrator Location Sponsor
Aerospace Federally Funded Research and Development Center The Aerospace Corporation El Segundo, CA Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force
Ames Laboratory Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA Department of Energy
Argonne National Laboratory UChicago Argonne, LLC Downers Grove Township, IL Department of Energy
Arroyo Center RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA Department of Defense, Department of the Army
Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC Upton, NY Department of Energy
National Security Engineering Center MITRE Bedford, MA, and McLean, VA Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Center for Advanced Aviation System Development MITRE McLean, VA Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
Center for Enterprise Modernization MITRE McLean, VA Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service
Center for Naval Analyses The CNA Corporation Arlington, VA Department of Defense, Department of the Navy
Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, TX Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Centers for Communications and Computing Institute for Defense Analyses Alexandria, VA Department of Defense, National Security Agency
CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare MITRE McLean, VA United States Department of Health and Human Services
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Fermi Research Alliance, LLC Batavia, IL Department of Energy
Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute Analytic Services, Inc. Arlington, VA Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary for Science and Technology
Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute MITRE McLean, VA Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary for Science and Technology
Idaho National Laboratory Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC Idaho Falls, ID Department of Energy
Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Judiciary Engineering and Modernization Center MITRE McLean, VA United States Courts
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory University of California Berkeley, CA Department of Energy
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC Livermore, CA Department of Energy
Lincoln Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lexington, MA Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force
Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Security, LLC Los Alamos, NM Department of Energy
National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center Battelle National Biodefense Institute Frederick, MD Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary for Science and Technology
Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Frederick, MD Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
National Center for Atmospheric Research University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO National Science Foundation
National Cybersecurity FFRDC MITRE Rockville, MD Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Defense Research Institute RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
National Optical Astronomy Observatories Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. Tucson, AZ National Science Foundation
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Associated Universities, Inc. Charlottesville, VA National Science Foundation
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC Golden, CO Department of Energy
Oak Ridge National Laboratory UT-Battelle, LLC Oak Ridge, TN Department of Energy
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Battelle Memorial Institute Richland, WA Department of Energy
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton University Princeton, NJ Department of Energy
Project Air Force RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Stanford University Stanford, CA Department of Energy
Sandia National Laboratories Sandia Corporation, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Albuquerque, NM
Livermore, CA
Department of Energy
Savannah River National Laboratory Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC Aiken, SC Department of Energy
Science and Technology Policy Institute Institute for Defense Analyses Washington, DC National Science Foundation
Software Engineering Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Department of Defense, Department of the Army
Studies and Analyses Center Institute for Defense Analyses Alexandria, VA Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Jefferson Science Associates, LLC Newport News, VA Department of Energy

References

  1. National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (April 2010). "Federally Funded R&D Centers Master Government List". Statistics. Arlington, Virginia: National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  2. Dale, Bruce C. and Timothy D. Moy. The Rise of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, 2000.
  3. FFRDCs-a-primer

Further reading

External links

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