The portfolio was carefully structured to continue the LDRD Program's vigorous support for the strategic vision and long-term goals of DOE, NNSA, and LLNL.
The projects described in this annual report underwent a stringent peer-review selection process and received ongoing management oversight. In FY15, the LDRD Program funded 158 projects for a total allocation of $83M.
Project Category Distribution
The distribution of funding among the project categories is shown in the following pie chart.
Strategic Initiative
Nine SI projects were funded in FY15. Although the SI category represented just under 6% of the total number of LDRD projects for the year, it accounted for about 21% of the budget. The projects were funded up to $3.3M.
Exploratory Research
In the largest project category, 121 ER projects accounted for over 76% of the number of LDRD projects and 72% of the budget for the fiscal year. Projects in this year's ER category were funded up to $1.3M.
Laboratory-Wide Competition
The 18 funded LW projects represent slightly over 11% of the projects for the year and about 6% of the budget. These projects were funded up to $306K.
Feasibility Study
The 10 FS projects funded represent just over 6% of the LDRD projects for the year and about 1% of the budget, with funding at $125K.
Funding Distribution by Dollar Amounts
The following bar chart shows the funding distribution by dollar amount for the 158 projects—almost 60% were in the $101 to $500K range, with less than 4% falling below $100K. Projects in the $501K to $1M funding range accounted for almost 28% of the total, and almost 9% of the projects received more than $1M. The average funding level was about $525K.
Research Category Distribution
Percentage of LDRD funding and number of projects for each research category are shown in the following chart, with the core competency of advanced materials and manufacturing representing the largest project category at 23%, and the strategic focus area of inertial fusion science and technology being the smallest at around 3% of the total number of projects.
