White House to Address Research Environments
BU IN DC
School of Public Health Dean Sandro Galea gave a book talk at the Politics & Prose bookstore on May 4.
Katherine Einstein of the College of Arts & Sciences spoke on a Brookings Institution panel on housing policies for the middle class on May 8.
Elizabeth Leary of Government & Community Affairs attended the New England Council’s Washington Leaders’ Conference on May 8 and 9.
WHITE HOUSE TO ADDRESS RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTS
On Tuesday, the White House announced that the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) will establish an initiative to “address issues related to research environment safety, integrity, and productivity.” The NSTC, which is comprised of leaders of the federal science agencies, will charge a committee with examining four issues: administrative burdens on federally-funded research, research rigor and integrity, inclusive and equitable research settings that are free from harassment, and protecting America’s research assets from security threats. The NSTC committee is expected to recommend uniform policy changes across the science agencies
BUZZ BITS…
- A U.S. district court temporarily suspended a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy under which foreign students who overstay their visas could have been barred from re-entering the U.S. for up to 10 years, even if they did not know they had fallen out of compliance. A final decision on the policy’s legality is expected in June.
- The U.S. Air Force recently released its Science and Technology 2030 strategy, outlining its goals over the next ten years. The Air Force plans to prioritize research which will enhance its capabilities in global persistent awareness, resilient information sharing, rapid decision-making, and other areas.
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that Debara Tucci will serve as the next director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Dr. Tucci will join NIH in September after leaving her current position at Duke University.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Department of Defense (DOD) released its latest solicitation for the Minerva Research Initiative, its signature university-led social science research program. This year’s competition will fund research in topics including statecraft, power and deterrence, alliances and burden sharing, economic interdependence and security, multi-domain behavioral complexity, artificial intelligence and social interactions, covert online influence, and automated cyber vulnerability analysis. DOD plans to issue 10 to 12 awards averaging between $150,000 and $1 million per year for a period of three to five years. White papers are strongly encouraged and must be submitted via email no later than June 20.