News
Harris; NSF; Humanities
BU IN DC
Kevin Outterson of CARB-X and the School of Law discussed incentives for antimicrobial therapeutics at a House Budget Committee roundtable event on July 25th.
DEMOCRATS COALESCE AROUND HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT
Democrats quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris as their Presidential nominee after President Joseph R. Biden announced he would not seek reelection this past Sunday. Biden swiftly endorsed Harris, who has joined his call for student debt cancellation. Harris previously represented California in the U.S. Senate, where she introduced legislation to ensure basic needs -- such as food, housing, and transportation -- for college students. As California's Attorney General, Harris successfully sued for-profit colleges that engaged in predatory practices. Last year, Vice President Harris toured college campuses to tout the Biden-Harris Administration's fight for reproductive freedom, climate action, and voting rights.
SENATE PROPOSES INCREASES FOR NSF, NASA
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill on Thursday that would increase the National Science Foundation's (NSF) budget by 5.4% over its current level. The bill also proposes an 8% increase for NASA's earth science portfolio and a 1% increase for the agency's heliophysics work. The Senate's proposed funding levels are more generous than those approved by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this summer. The House has recommended a 2% increase for NSF and no increase for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. The chambers are expected to delay work on a final spending package until after the November election.
SENATE AND HOUSE DIFFER ON ARTS AND HUMANITIES BUDGETS
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill on Thursday that would increase the budgets of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities by 1%, in contrast to the approach recommended by the U.S. House of Representatives the day before. After rejecting two amendments to slash the budgets of the cultural agencies by 23%, the House approved a bill on Wednesday that would fund each agency at $203.9 million, a $3.11 million decrease and 2% drop from last year. The chambers are expected to reconcile the differences between their bills and finalize a spending package after the November election.
How Do We Solve America’s Affordable Housing Crisis? BU Research Helps Inspire a Federal Bill That Suggests Answers
Legislation could curtail ability of strict local zoning regulations and outspoken “not in my backyard” residents to block multifamily housing.
Close-up: Calling All Campers!
Campers from the Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) Leahy-Holloran Community Center in Dorchester get some pointers from BCYF counselor Jonathan Neff on Nickerson Field July 23, during a two-day summer camp hosted and funded by BU Athletics and Government & Community Affairs.
BU’s Framingham Heart Study Gets New Director
Nation’s longest-running study of heart disease will be led by former American Heart Association president Donald M. Lloyd-Jones.
Biden, Conventions, CAREER Award
FACULTY EXPERTS
Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race—What It Means, and What Comes Next
BU political scientists and historians with deep knowledge of US presidential politics react to Sunday’s “earthquake.”
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Presidential Nominating Conventions Still Matter, BU Scholar Says
Professor Tammy Vigil, author of an upcoming book on 2020 conventions, says you can learn a lot from the quadrennial gatherings.
ON THE CHARLES RIVER
Six BU Researchers Win Prestigious Early-Career Award to Advance Their Work
National Science Foundation CAREER awards recognize BU researchers innovating in biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence, molecular biology, and more.
THOUGHT LEADERS
In Case You Missed It...
BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development Professor Anthony Abraham Jack will speak about his book Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price at Politics & Prose at The Wharf on August 16th... The Senate Committee on Finance considered the nomination of BU School of Law alumnus Jeffrey Arbeit ('08) to serve on the U.S. Tax Court... Ayse Coskun of the BU College of Engineering describes how AI strains the electric grid and slows sustainability efforts by supercharging data center energy use in The Conversation... Eugene Declercq of the BU School of Public Health talks about the unsettling truths about maternal mortality in the United States in STAT... Gordon Burtch of the BU Questrom School of Business explains his research showing that abortion restrictions harm mental health in The Conversation.
Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race—What It Means, and What Comes Next
Three BU faculty experts with deep knowledge of US presidential politics react to Sunday’s “earthquake”.
Vance; NASA; Foundation Relations
BU IN DC
Dean Mariette DiChristina of the College of Communication moderated fireside chats with the presidents of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at the annual Climate Crossroads Summit on July 16th and 17th.
Ioannis (Yannis) Paschalidis, director of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science and Engineering, discussed precision medicine through engineering during a National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health webinar on July 16.
TRUMP PICKS HIGHER ED CRITIC AS RUNNING MATE
Former President Donald J. Trump announced Monday that Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) will be his vice presidential running mate. Before his election to the U.S. Senate in 2022, Vance wrote a best-selling memoir and worked in venture capital. He serves on the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science, & Transportation and Banking. During his 19 months in the Senate, Vance has introduced legislation to significantly increase the excise tax on certain highly-endowed private colleges, create a federal office to regulate college admissions, prohibit federal funds from going to colleges that do not dismantle protest encampments, and update the rules for how colleges disclose gifts from foreign sources. In 2021, he delivered a speech entitled "The Universities are the Enemy."
BUZZ BITS...
- On Tuesday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that Clayton Turner will be the acting director of the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. Turner is the current head of the NASA Langley Research Center; he replaces Dr. Kurt Vogel, who is retiring from the agency.
- Last week, the House Space, Science, and Technology Committee passed the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 8958). The bill focuses on human space exploration, the low-Earth orbit economy, and space technology development. A companion measure has not been introduced in the Senate.
- Jeff Singleton has been named Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Futures at the Department of Defense. He will oversee research, development, and prototyping activities within the Department, providing technical direction on science and technology matters to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Singleton previously served as director for technology for the U.S. Army.
FOUNDATION RELATIONS LAUNCHES NEW SITE
BU Foundation Relations helps faculty secure private institutional funding by simplifying the proposal process, facilitating communication with foundations, assisting with administrative tasks like setting up portals so investigators can focus on scientific content, and helping craft strong proposals. The office has launched a new website with helpful FAQs, resources for early career faculty, and contact information for each academic unit.
Spending Bills; Environmental Health; Mobility Grants
BU IN DC
Nahid Bhadelia of the Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases hosted a Washington workshop on access to promising investigational therapies for patients with highly communicable infectious diseases between July 8th and 10th.
Aziza Ahmed of the School of Law addressed "Health and Legal Crises Post-Dobbs" during a panel discussion at Georgetown University on July 1st.
Muhammad Zaman of the Center for Forced Displacement discussed the Center's work during an event with Washington-area alumni on June 26th.
Sabrina Assoumou of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine joined her peers in the National Academies New Voices in Science, Engineering, and Medicine for a meeting with White House officials to learn how scientists can impact policy on June 21st.
HOUSE SPENDING BILLS PROPOSE MODEST RESEARCH INCREASES, STUDENT AID CUTS
The House Appropriations Committee recently advanced several spending bills that would slightly increase the budgets of the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy's Office of Science in fiscal year 2025. The bills, which passed on party-line votes, would hold NASA Science funding at its current level and reduce the budgets of the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts. The measures would also keep the Pell Grant maximum award at its current funding level, but cut the Federal Work-Study program in half. The Senate has signaled it will take a different, bipartisan approach when it releases its spending bills later this summer. A final spending package is expected to be negotiated by the two chambers after the November election.
BUZZ BITS...
- On Tuesday, the House Ways & Means Committee approved two tax bills aimed at addressing antisemitism on campus on a party-line vote. The University Accountability Act (H.R. 8914) would levy fines against schools found by a court to have violated students' civil rights. The Protecting American Students Act (H.R. 8913) would subject additional schools to the tax on endowment investment income. The Senate is not expected to consider either measure.
- The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at the National Institutes of Health is seeking feedback on the final draft of the NIEHS strategic plan for 2025 - 2029. Stakeholders are invited to share their input on the research areas of interest and crosscutting themes before July 21st.
- Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would rescind the Biden Administration's updated Title IX regulations governing gender equity in education. The Senate will not take up the measure, which passed the House on a party-line vote.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for Enhancing Mobility Innovation. FTA is soliciting proposals that advance transformative emerging technologies as well as new strategies and innovations for traveler mobility. Funding for proposals will be split between two project areas – concept development or demonstration and software development projects. FTA plans to host a webinar for applicants later this summer; proposals are due by August 30th.