Spending Stopgap, Social Science, NSF TIP
BU IN DC
Provost ad interim Kenneth Lutchen, along with Dean Scott Taylor and Rachel Brulé of the Pardee School of Global Studies, addressed the Alliance for Afghan Women’s Economic Resilience (AWER) Summit on February 27th. AWER is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and BU.
Dean Mariette DiChristina of the College of Communication attended a meeting of the National Academies Climate Crossroads Advisory Committee, of which she is a member, on February 15th and 16th.
BUZZ BITS…
- Congress approved a stopgap spending bill this week that will keep the government operating as lawmakers finalize the annual spending bills that determine the federal budget. Congressional leaders agreed to vote on a package of six appropriations bills next week, paving the way for final fiscal year 2024 budgets for the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy, and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.
- The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee recently held a hearing “Examining Federal Science Agency Actions to Secure the U.S. Science and Technology Enterprise.” Dr. Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, told lawmakers that long-awaited guidance on how universities should operationalize the research security rules established by Congress in 2022 would be coming soon.
- On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced he would relinquish his leadership role at the end of this year. McConnell has led the Senate Republican Conference since 2007. Senate Republicans will choose his successor after the November elections.
NEW SOCIAL SCIENCE LEADER FOR NSF
On Thursday, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that Dr. Kaye Husbands Feeling will be the new leader of NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate. Dr. Husbands Feeling is currently dean of the Georgia Institute of Technology Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and chair of NSF’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering. She previously served as the inaugural program director for NSF’s Science of Science and Innovation Policy program. She will join NSF on April 22nd.
EVENT NEWS YOU CAN USE
Join Dr. Erwin Gianchandani of the National Science Foundation Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate for a fireside chat on Thursday, March 28th at 12 p.m. in the Center for Computing & Data Sciences. NSF TIP, the agency’s first new directorate in more than 30 years, makes investments to accelerate the development of key technologies and address pressing societal and economic challenges, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced communications, and quantum computing. College of Engineering Professor Doug Densmore will moderate the conversation, which will cover insights on the TIP directorate and its programs advancing use-inspired and translational research and regional innovation, as well as opportunities for funding and collaboration relevant to researchers across fields.