Basic Scientific Research — CFDA 12.431

A $3.16 billion basic-research book

USAspending.gov records $3,156,765,524.28 in obligations under CFDA 12.431. Two thousand two hundred thirty-seven awards produce that stock. A simple average is about $1.41 million per award — typical of multi-year research grants rather than a handful of capital construction awards. That average is a quotient of two packet totals, not a typical laboratory budget.

The assistance-listing title is BASIC SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. CFDA 12.431 is the identifier. Basic and applied scientific research tagged under other CFDA numbers, including 12.300, is not mixed into the $3.16 billion. Combining those codes would invent a combined research total this packet does not contain.

445 organizations across 50 states

Four hundred forty-five recipients share 2,237 awards, or about 5.0 award records per recipient on average. Splitting $3.16 billion evenly would assign about $7.1 million per recipient. That pattern matches a research portfolio in which campuses and labs hold several concurrent awards. The packet does not name the 445. Recipient count is the organizational headcount, not a census of principal investigators.

Fifty states in the geographic count show nationwide coding in the USAspending state field. Research dollars still concentrate at large science campuses. The state count does not flatten those differences. Place-of-performance amounts are on the program table.

Award count is not a project census

Among research listings, 12.431 is a dense file: 2,237 rows against 445 recipients. Competing renewals and supplements can inflate award count relative to unique projects. Award count is therefore a weak proxy for “number of science studies.” Recipients (445) tell you how many named organizations sit on the extract; awards (2,237) tell you how many assistance rows were stored.

The packet does not report publication counts, instrument days, or student enrollments. Citing 2,237 as experiments or papers would be a unit error. Keep the units straight: dollars, awards, recipients, states.

Obligations versus research outlays

The $3.16 billion is an obligation total from USAspending.gov. Outlays — cash paid against these basic-research awards — are not in the packet. A laboratory can show a large obligation stock while draws follow a multi-year grant calendar. Deobligations and upward adjustments both move the total. A remaining-balance question is an outlay question this extract does not answer.

Use CFDA 12.431 to size the Basic Scientific Research listing in the assistance file. Do not use it as a scientific-progress scorecard. Publications and datasets live in other series. This page reports the obligation book tagged 12.431.

What the 12.431 tables omit

The Basic Scientific Research hub lists award-backed obligations from USAspending.gov. It is not a publication index, not a lab roster, and not a combined total with CFDA 12.300. Series that never appear as assistance awards will not show up in the $3,156,765,524.28. That omission is definitional rather than a gap in the 2,237 award rows.

Place-of-performance on 50 states is a coding field. Read the program page before treating those cells as equal shares. Recipient dollars, if shown on the hub, are still obligation amounts, not cash already spent on instruments or staff.

Where the 12.431 table lives

The Basic Scientific Research program page overlays these four facts. The all-programs index ranks 12.431 among other assistance listings. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other science listings. For 12.431 only, start on the program page.

CFDA 12.431’s 2,237 awards spread $3,156,765,524.28 across 445 recipients and 50 states. Quote award count as a record count, recipient count as the organizational headcount, and dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov. About 5.0 award records per recipient is the density story on this listing. Outlays remain a separate column. Source: USAspending.gov assistance awards.

CFDA 12.431 is indexed at $3,156,765,524.28 in obligations, 2,237 awards, 445 recipients, and 50 states on USAspending.gov. Basic Scientific Research should be cited on that CFDA row alone. The $3.16 billion figure sizes the listing in the assistance file. It does not convert obligations into outlays, and it does not convert award count into a service, patient, student, or project census.

Readers who need the overlay tables should start on the program page for CFDA 12.431, then rank the listing on the all-programs index. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other listings; they do not replace the $3,156,765,524.28 obligation stock. Keep the four facts together when quoting Basic Scientific Research: dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov, award count as a stored-row count, recipient count as the organizational headcount (including 0 when the extract stores none), and the state figure as a geographic coding count.

Questions

How much is obligated for Basic Scientific Research CFDA 12.431?

USAspending.gov records $3,156,765,524.28 in obligations for CFDA 12.431. SpendingVault indexes 2,237 awards, 445 recipients, and 50 states. The figure is an obligation sum from assistance awards, not an outlay and not a study count. CFDA 12.431’s $3.16 billion is the USAspending obligation stock.

Is CFDA 12.431 the same as CFDA 12.300?

No. CFDA 12.431 is titled Basic Scientific Research. CFDA 12.300 is a separate listing. This packet’s $3,156,765,524.28, 2,237 awards, 445 recipients, and 50 states apply only to 12.431. Mixing the two codes would invent a combined total this extract does not contain.

How many organizations receive 12.431 awards?

The extract lists 445 recipients. Those are organizational recipients on assistance awards tagged 12.431. Geographic coding covers 50 states. The packet does not name the 445 or publish scientific output. Recipient count is the organizational headcount. CFDA 12.431’s $3.16 billion on 2,237 awards, with 445 recipients and 50 states in this aggregate, is the USAspending obligation stock.

Is $3.16 billion already spent on this research?

Not necessarily. Obligations are commitments. Outlays are payments. CFDA 12.431’s indexed total is the obligation stock from USAspending.gov. This page does not report cash drawn, remaining balances, or research results. The $3.16 billion on 2,237 awards is the obligation figure.