Higher Ed Opposes Subcommittee’s Research Bill
BU IN DC
Thomas Bifano of the Photonics Center co-hosted an Optical Society of America meeting on Controlled Light Propagation through Complex Media on March 5.
Anthony Janetos of The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future participated in meetings of both the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee the week of March 3. He is a member of both committees.
Strom Thacker of the College of Arts & Sciences discussed the importance of federal funding for social science research with Congressional staff in the offices of Representative Michael Capuano (D-MA) and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) on March 11.
Linda Hyman of the School of Medicine attended NSF’s Biological Sciences Advisory Committee meeting, of which she is a member, on March 13 and 14.
David Barlow of the College of Arts & Sciences gave a presentation at the American Psychological Association’s State Leadership conference on March 8.
HIGHER ED OPPOSES SUBCOMMITTEE’S RESEARCH BILL
On Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Research voted to send the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science and Innovation (FIRST) Act to the full Committee on Science, Space and Technology for consideration. The bill renews authorization for the National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), but would sharply curtail funding for social and behavioral science, place new restrictions on the number and kind of grants NSF can issue, and lengthen the time frame for public access to federally-funded research results. The research community opposed the measure as it currently stands, although the bill was amended during the Subcommittee debate to ameliorate some concerns. The U.S. Senate is working on a companion bill that is expected to take a different approach to governing NSF and OSTP, and the two chambers will need to negotiate a compromise before any legislation could become law.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GETS NEW LEADERS
The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. France Cordova to a six-year term as Director of the NSF on Thursday night, more than seven months after her nomination by President Barack Obama. Dr. Cordova is a former president of Purdue University and a former chancellor of University of California-Riverside. She is an astrophysicist with degrees from Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology.
NSF also announced on Thursday that Dr. Fay Lomax Cook will be the new Assistant Director of the agency’s Social, Behavioral and Economics Directorate. Dr. Cook is currently a professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University. She will begin her NSF post in September.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
Dr. Daniel Sack, a senior program officer with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), held a workshop on the NEH grant process at Boston University last month. Sponsored by the Vice President and Associate Provost for Research, the workshop offered an overview of NEH research opportunities and advice for submitting a successful grant application. Dr. Sack also held a series of one-on-one meetings with more than a dozen faculty from BU and surrounding institutions.