“Federal R&D funding” by Horizon Institute for Public Service

Home / Policy levers / Federal R&D funding Contents ▾ Policy Levers Updated 3rd Jun 2026 51 min read Share Federal R&D funding Overview Federal R&D funding—public dollars allocated by the US government to support scientific and technological progress—is among the strongest policy tools for shaping national innovation. Spawned out of Cold War ambitions to ---Outline:(00:19) Federal R&D funding(00:24) Overview(01:54) Why does the government invest in R&D?(04:54) Federal R&D funding basics(08:06) Funding models and mechanisms(11:47) Federal R&D funding and emerging technology(15:33) Why (not) work on federal R&D funding?(15:38) The case for impact(18:58) The case for professional growth(20:49) Some tradeoffs(24:05) The funding process: Who's involved?(25:48) Budget and policy direction setting(26:32) Grant-making and program execution(28:28) Conducting the actual R&D(31:04) Coordination(33:43) Oversight(35:39) Working on R&D funding: types of roles and career opportunities(36:16) Preparing for R&D funding roles(40:12) Appendices: Day-in-the-life & a brief history of federal R&D funding(40:20) Further reading(40:26) Subscribe to the Emerging Tech Policy Careers Newsletter(40:37) Notes --- If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests. The original text contained 27 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: February 14th, 2026 Source: https://emergingtechpolicy.org/policy-levers/federal-rd-funding ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.