Budgets Finalized, ARPA-E, Research Collaborators
BU IN DC
Ambassador Mark Storella led a group of Pardee School of Global Studies graduate students who met with officials at government agencies and international organizations from March 6th through 9th.
Nahid Bhadelia of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research announced she is a Visiting Fellow for pandemic preparedness policy and response at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on March 7th.
President Joe Biden nominated Jonathan Woodson of the Questrom School of Business, the School of Medicine, and the School of Public Health to be vice chair of the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on March 9th.
CONGRESS BOOSTS RESEARCH, FINANCIAL AID PROGRAMS
Five months after the start of fiscal year 2022, Congress passed the annual spending bills that determine federal agency budgets. The final spending package approved by both chambers of Congress this week would increase science and student aid funding as follows:
- National Institutes of Health: $45.2 billion, a 4.7% increase
- National Science Foundation: $8.84 billion, a 4.1% increase
- Department of Energy Office of Science: $7.5 billion, a 6.4% increase
- NASA Science: $7.6 billion, a 4.3% increase.
- Department of Defense Basic Research: $2.8 billion, a 3.4% increase
- Pell Grant maximum award: $6,895, a 6.2% increase
- National Endowment for the Humanities: $180 million, a 7.5% increase
- Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health: creates a new $1 billion agency to spur medical breakthroughs
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 shortly.
BUZZ BITS…
- On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Dr. Evelyn Wang as director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E). Dr. Wang is currently the head of the mechanical engineering department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Last week, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) asked the public for feedback on how federal agencies can implement sound scientific integrity policies and practices. OSTP has asked for comments on how scientific integrity policies can address diversity, equity, and inclusion and how to evaluate the policies. Comments are due by April 4th.
- The House Small Business Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to examine the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. This is the third in a series of hearings as the Committee seeks to renew the programs, which provide grants to commercialize scientific advancements.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
In our rapidly changing world, collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific approaches can strengthen research and scholarship by enabling new knowledge and real-world solutions. Yet finding potential collaborators remains a challenging and time consuming process. The Office of Research is hosting a virtual workshop on Thursday, March 24th at 1 p.m. to highlight the suite of resources at BU to help you identify collaborators for your research. Joe Farmer, Program Manager and Data Analyst in the Office of Research, will provide an overview of available tools, including SciVal, Dimensions, the BU Experts database, and BU Profiles, as well as techniques for using these tools to build valuable relationships.