Pardee Center hosts White House OSTP’s Kei Koizumi

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future hosted Kei Koizumi, Assistant Director of Federal Research and Development at the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), for a lunch discussion with the Pardee Graduate Summer Fellows on Tuesday, July 28.

Koizumi, a Boston University graduate, spoke at length about the role of the OSTP as an advisor to the President, and as the office within the executive branch which both formulates and implements policy for science and technology enterprises, and which ensures that the best science and technology information is incorporated into federal policy. Specifically, he described his role in tracking the $140 billion of annual federal funding for research and development, which accounts for roughly 60-65% of all university research funding (and for about 80% of the research conducted at BU). 

A thoughtful discussion with the Summer Fellows followed about the future of federal research funding amid increasing Congressional polarization, tightening budgets, and declining grant proposal success rates. Koizumi concluded with helpful advice on how to identify effective strategies and vehicles to communicate science and technology information to policy-oriented audiences.

For more information about the Summer Fellows, click here.