News
FYSOP Looks to Expand the Horizons of Incoming First-Years
Over three days, students will prepare Boston’s Mather and Condon Schools for the upcoming school year and get a feel for campus life.
Getting Their Hands Dirty in the Lab – and in the Charles River
Undergraduate students are studying antibiotic-resistant bacteria collected from the Charles to find out if lab work is right for them.
Karen Engelbourg, Leader of BU’s Fundraising Efforts and Alumni Engagement, Is Stepping Down
Nationwide search begins for her successor as senior vice president of development and alumni relations.
BU Team Wins Major National Science Foundation Grant to Help PhD Students Attack Climate Change
The $3 million, five-year award will encourage multidisciplinary approaches to converting and storing sustainable energy.
Young GENEiuses: SummerLab Gives Teens a Chance to Learn about State-of-the Art CRISPR Technology
NIH-funded program is a collaboration between Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
The Histories of Enslaved People Were Written by Slavers. A BU Researcher Is Working to Change That
Andreana Cunningham combines bioarchaeology, African diaspora studies, and archival research to better understand the lives of enslaved people.
BU Today Close-Up: President Melissa Gilliam & Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)
BU President Melissa Gilliam Meets with Bay State Senator Ed Markey (Hon. 04) in his Capitol Hill office on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
BU White Coat Ceremony Welcomes 141 Students to the Profession of Medicine
Members of entering Class of 2028 were born in 18 different countries and hail from 30 states.
BU President Melissa Gilliam Meets with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey
President Melissa Gilliam met with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA, Hon. '04) at his Capitol Hill office in Washington, DC on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
Markey; NIH Increase; AI Bills; NASA Visit
BU IN DC
President Melissa Gilliam met with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) on July 30th. Their wide-ranging discussion included topics such as the National Science Foundation, artificial intelligence, and distinguished BU alumni in politics.
SENATE PROPOSES INCREASES FOR NIH, ENERGY RESEARCH, AND STUDENT AID
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed several spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2025 before heading out on its August recess. The proposed Senate budgets for certain research and student aid programs, as compared to FY 2024, are as follows:
- National Institutes of Health: $50.2 billion, a $2.05 billion increase
- ARPA-H: $1.5 billion, sustained funding
- Department of Energy Office of Science: $8.6 billion, a $360 million increase
- Pell Grant Maximum Award: $7,495, a $100 increase
- Federal Work-Study: $1.23 billion, sustained funding
The Senate-proposed funding levels are higher than those recommended by the House Appropriations Committee last month. Congress is not expected to approve a final spending package until after the November presidential election.
SENATE COMMITTEE ADVANCES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BILLS
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved several bills on Wednesday that would augment federal support for artificial intelligence research. The Creating Resources for Every American To Experiment with Artificial Intelligence (CREATE AI) Act (S. 2714) would officially authorize the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a testbed for AI research. The NAIRR is currently being piloted by the National Science Foundation. The committee also passed the NSF AI Education Act (S. 4394), which would create scholarships and fellowships to support students studying AI and quantum science.
BUZZ BITS...
- NASA Associate Administrator for Science Nicola Fox visited BU on Tuesday. She met with faculty, students, and post-docs working on NASA-supported research.
- Last week, the National Science Board released a policy brief designed to prompt conversations about the growing role of industry in funding research, the impact of China as both a research competitor and collaborator, and the rise in jobs requiring science and technology skills. The next board meeting is scheduled for December 4th and 5th.
- The Government Accountability Office released a report on college hunger last week which revealed that 23% of college students experienced food insecurity and 59% of students who may have been eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) did not indicate they received benefits. The report was requested by the senior Democrats on the House Committees on Education and the Workforce and Agriculture.
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