2026年美国科学与工程状况报告

2026 The State of U.S. Science andEngineering 2026 NSB-SEP-2026-1|May 04, 2026 Preface The National Science Board (Board, NSB) is required under the National Science Foundation (NSF) Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1863 (j)(1) to prepare the biennialScience and Engineering Indicators(Indicators) report for and transmit it to the president andCongress every even-numbered year. The report is prepared by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics(NCSES) within NSF under the guidance of the Board. Indicatorsprovides information on the state of the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) enterprise over time and within aglobal context. The report is a policy-relevant, policy-neutral source of high-quality U.S. and international data. The indicatorspresented in the report are quantitative representations relevant to the scope, quality, and vitality of the S&E enterprise. This report,The State of U.S. Science and Engineering,summarizes key findings from the thematic reports that make upIndicatorsand presents new findings,providing in-depth data and information on science, technology, engineering, andmathematics (STEM) education at all degree levels; the STEM workforce; U.S. and international research and developmentperformance; technology transfer, invention and innovation, and business dynamics; and U.S. competitiveness in high-technology industries.Indicatorsalso includes theState Indicators data toolthat enables state comparisons on a variety ofS&E indicators. This report, the thematic reports, and the online data tool together make up the fullIndicatorssuite ofproducts. Table Of Contents Executive Summary The U.S. Science and Engineering Enterprise in a Changing World|STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce|Discovery: R&D Activity and Research Publications|Translation to Impact: U.S. and Global Science, Technology, and Innovation Output Overview The U.S. Science and Engineering Enterprise in a Changing World|U.S. Emphasis on Critical and Emerging Technologies|The U.S. Science and Engineering Enterprise STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce Discovery: R&D Activity and Research Publications Global R&D|U.S. R&D Performance and Funding|Research Publications Translation to Impact: U.S. and Global Science, Technology, and Innovation Output Total Factor Productivity|Knowledge and Technology Transfer|Innovation|Business Dynamics and Venture Capital|Production Patterns of Knowledge- and Technology-Intensive Industries|Trade in Knowledge- and Technology-Intensive Industries Conclusion73 Glossary Definitions|Key to Acronyms and Abbreviations References80 Notes87 Acknowledgments and Citation Acknowledgments|Cover Image Credit|Recommended Citation Contact Us Executive Summary The U.S. Science and Engineering Enterprise in a Changing World The past quarter century has fundamentally reshaped the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) enterprise through the businesssector’s dominant role in funding and performing research and development (R&D), the concentration of innovation activity ininformation technologies and critical and emerging technology (CET) areas, and the rise of China as a competitor. Chinaperforms strongly in several key science and technology (S&T) areas: in 2024, it is estimated to have surpassed the UnitedStates for the first time as the largest performer of R&D according to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) when adjusted for international comparability, it awards the most S&E doctoratesglobally, produces the largest volume of research publications, and leads the global high-technology manufacturing trade.The United States is among the world’s most R&D-intensive economies. The U.S. S&E enterprise is characterized by private-sector R&D funding and performance, especially of experimental development, with an emphasis on software, biotechnology,and artificial intelligence (AI). The United States maintains comparative advantages in highly cited research publications andpatents, venture capital (VC)-backed innovation, and knowledge- and technology-intensive (KTI) services, where U.S. firmsdominate global trade. The U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce grew at a faster rate than the non-STEMworkforce from 2014 to 2024. STEM workers experienced lower unemployment rates and higher median annual earningsthan their counterparts in non-STEM occupations. U.S. institutions have awarded increased numbers of S&E degrees at alllevels between 2014 and 2024, and they awarded the second-highest number of S&E doctorates globally in 2022, the lastyear with internationally comparable data. In 2024, temporary visa holders accounted for more than half of doctoral degreesawarded by U.S. institutions of higher education in S&E fields such as computer and information sciences, engineering, andmathematics and statistics. In addition, longitudinal data confirm that most temporary visa S&E doctorate recipients rem