Federally Funded Research and Development Centers

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Description

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) description in government regulations:

Federal Acquisition Regulations System (FAR) 35.017(a)(2)[1]
An FFRDC meets some special long-term research or development need which cannot be met as effectively by existing in-house or contractor resources. FFRDC's enable agencies to use private sector resources to accomplish tasks that are integral to the mission and operation of the sponsoring agency. An FFRDC, in order to discharge its responsibilities to the sponsoring agency, has access, beyond that which is common to the normal contractual relationship, to Government and supplier data, including sensitive and proprietary data, and to employees and facilities. The FFRDC is required to conduct its business in a manner befitting its special relationship with the Government, to operate in the public interest with objectivity and independence, to be free from organizational conflicts of interest, and to have full disclosure of its affairs to the sponsoring agency. It is not the Government's intent that an FFRDC use its privileged information or access to facilities to compete with the private sector. However, an FFRDC may perform work for other than the sponsoring agency under the Economy Act, or other applicable legislation, when the work is not otherwise available from the private sector.

In Fiscal Year 2004, there were 36 FFRDCs working in the fields of defense, energy, aviation, space, health and human services, and tax administration.

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers FY 2004

About the List

Master Government List of 36 Federally Funded Research and Development Centers FY 2004. Each Main Government Agency is a section title. Any bold listing within a section is the Agency Department with direct oversight of the FFDRC(s) listed under it. (Scraped from a National Science Foundation Page, 2005.01.13.)[2]

Department of Defense Managed FFRDCs

Department of Defense - [3]

Department of Energy Managed FFRDCs

Department of Energy - [19]

Department of Health and Human Services Managed FFRDCs

Department of Health and Human Services - [36]

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Managed FFRDCs

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - [38]

National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation (NSF) - [40]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Managed FFRDCs

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) - [46]

Department of Transportation Managed FFRDCs

Department of Transportation (DOT) - [48]

Department of the Treasury Managed FFRDCs

Department of the Treasury - [51]

External links

  • Wikipedia's FFRDC Listing - [54]
  • Elliott, Ronald; "R&D centers growing too fat on federal dole"; Federal Computer Week; 1999.09.20 [55] - good analysis
  • Federation of American Scientists description of FFRDCs - [56]
  • Federal Policy on Research Misconduct (US Office of Science and Technology Policy) - [57]
  • Federal Acquisition Regulations System (FAR) FFRDC Regulations - [58]