NSF Unveils Future Investment Areas
BU IN DC
Scott Solberg, Eve Manz, Lynsey Gibbons, Elizabeth Bettini and Kimberly Howard of the School of Education met with officials at the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education to discuss funding opportunities on May 5 and 6.
NSF UNVEILS FUTURE INVESTMENT AREAS
National Science Foundation (NSF) Director France Cordova gave a presentation to the National Science Board (NSB) last week about nine key areas in which NSF could invest significant resources in the coming years: harnessing data; human-technology interactions; predicting phenotypes; the quantum revolution; navigating the new Arctic; multi-messenger astrophysics; growing convergence research; mid-scale research infrastructure; and “NSF 2050,” an integrative fund to support breakthrough scientific pathways. The NSB was supportive of the proposals, and they are likely to be included in NSF’s fiscal year 2018 budget request and its next strategic plan, due to be released in spring 2018. Additionally, NSB announced that Maria Zuber, vice president for research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Diane Souvaine, vice provost for research at Tufts University, will serve as the Board’s new chair and vice chair, respectively.
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SENATE COMMITTEE DISCUSSES FEDERAL RESEARCH
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to examine the current state of the federal research enterprise. Witnesses from industry, academia, and think tanks testified to the value of basic research, how to improve participation in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, and the important role social science plays. The Committee hope to introduce legislation soon that will reauthorize the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; the agencies received their last authorization via the America COMPETES Act in 2010.
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BUZZ BITS…
- The U.S. Department of Education released a “Beyond the Box” resource guide encouraging colleges to reassess whether to ask prospective students to disclose their criminal histories.
- Federal student loan interest rates will drop to their lowest levels in a decade for the 2016-2017 academic year as a result of Wednesday’s Treasury Department auction of 10-year notes. The rates for undergraduate loans will drop to 3.76% from 4.29%, and graduate student loans will drop to 5.31% from 5.84%.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking input from the public on how student loan servicers can better communicate to borrowers in order to reduce default rates and improve borrower outcomes. Comments are due by June 12.