Committees Propose Energy Research Funding
BU IN DC
Karen Antman, Provost of the Medical Campus, participated in a workshop on advancing women in biomedical careers at the National Institutes of Health on June 17.
Thomas Bifano of the Photonics Center gave a presentation on photonics devices and systems at the TechConnect World 2014 Conference on June 16.
Azer Bestavros of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering met with computer science officials at the National Science Foundation on June 17 and 18.
COMMITTEES PROPOSE ENERGY RESEARCH FUNDING
The House Appropriations Committee approved a bill this week that would keep funding for both the Office of Science and the Advanced Projects Research-Agency (ARPA-E) at the U.S. Department of Energy flat for fiscal year 2015. Within the $5.07 billion the House panel proposed for the Office of Science, Advanced Computing research would increase by $62.4 million to $541 million. A Senate appropriations subcommittee passed a companion bill with a $15 million increase for the Office of Science, which would bring funding to $5.086 billion next year. While the full U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on its version of the funding measure this month, the bill’s fate is unclear since Senate consideration has been postponed.
MA DELEGATION DEFENDS FEDERAL SCIENCE FUNDING
Two members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation recently delivered high-profile speeches in Boston advocating for increased federal support for scientific research. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) touted the groundbreaking innovations from the National Institutes of Health at an American Cancer Society breakfast on June 16. Three days earlier, Representative Joe Kennedy (D-MA) forcefully defended the federal research enterprise at a breakfast sponsored by the New England Council. Rep. Kennedy, a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, decried Congressional attempts to politicize research at federal agencies and noted the critical role that federally funded research plays in the New England economy.
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD TO GET NEW MEMBERS
On June 17, President Barack Obama announced his intention to appoint six new members to the National Science Board (NSB), the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation. The 24 members of the NSB provide guidance to both the President and Congress on science and engineering policy issues. The new members, who will be sworn in for six year terms in August, are as follows:
- John Anderson, Illinois Institute of Technology
- Roger Beachy, University of California-Davis
- Vicky Chandler, University of Arizona
- Robert Groves, Georgetown University
- James Jackson, University of Michigan
- Sethuraman Panchanathan, Arizona State University