The University of Washington has joined dozens of institutions of higher education in calling on Congress to continue the investments in research and STEM education that were authorized in the America COMPETES Act of 2007. Both the House and Senate are on a path to reauthorize the legislation before the July 4th congressional recess. The House is slightly ahead of the Senate in its work on the legislation, as a draft bill was released late last week. The House bill (HR 515 – Amendment in the Nature of a Subsitute) continues the doubling path for three core science agencies (National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology). Additionally, the legislation proposes a 5-year authorization period in order to give more predictability of R&D/STEM education funding. A full committte markup on the House bill is scheduled for April 28th, with a vote on the floor of the House around May 12th.
Category: Federal Agency Developments
NIH and NSF Announce New Research Programs
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have jointly announced two new research grant programs to bridge the sciences: New Biomedical Frontiers at the Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences (R01) and Transforming Biomedicine at the Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences (R01) PAR-10-141. The former focuses on basic research and the latter on clinical and translational research.
The purpose of these two programs is to provide support for cutting-edge, visionary research, only possible through cross disciplinary research. Breakthroughs such as x-ray crystallography, CAT scans, and magnetic resonance imaging have had an enormous and important effect on biology. These discoveries were funded by sources, such as the Bell Labs, which are no longer in existence. Thus, it is very difficult for researchers to work on similar breakthrough technologies today.
Both programs will provide grants of varying sizes and lengths to accommodate a variety of research, encourage young investigators with novel ideas to apply, and will be reviewed by special review panels that include reviewers from the physical, mathematical, and computational sciences selected by NSF. Applications will be accepted once a year in May through 2012. The first deadline is May 18, 2010.
NIST Seeking Technology Innovation Proposals
The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced last week that it is seeking proposals for high-risk, high-reward research projects in an area of critical national need: manufacturing. TIP expects to award a total of approximately $25 million in first-year funding for R&D projects that address “Manufacturing and Biomanufacturing: Materials Advances and Critical Processes.”
NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Climate, Energy, and Sustainability
NSF 10-040
Dear Colleague Letter: Climate, Energy, and Sustainability
Directorate for Biological Sciences, Directorate for Computer & Information Science and Engineering, Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Directorate for Engineering, Directorate for Geosciences, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, Office of Cyberinfrastructure, Office of Integrative Activities, Office of International Science and Engineering, Office of Polar Programs
March 2010
In FY 2010, NSF is expanding its support for climate research by issuing five new cross-directorate solicitations:
Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) (NSF 10-524) -closed
Ocean Acidification (OA) (NSF 10-530) -closed
Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) (NSF 10-542)
Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction Using Earth System Models (EaSM) (NSF 10-554)
Dimensions of Biodiversity (NSF 10-548)
These solicitations are intended to support innovative research and education that will advance our capability and capacity to understand and predict changes to Earth’s natural and human-dominated systems, to assess the vulnerability and resilience of these systems to change, and to foster workforce development and scientific literacy in these areas. These advances will strengthen the scientific knowledge base for policy decisions at regional and national levels. Continue reading “NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Climate, Energy, and Sustainability”
America COMPETES Reauthorization Moving Forward
Congress is well on its way to reauthorizing the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act. COMPETES was fist authorized in 2007, with bi-partisan support. The law is designed to maintain and enhance US innovation in the 21st Century through three areas of focus: (1) increasing research investment, (2) strengthening educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from elementary through graduate school, and (3) developing an innovation infrastructure. Staff in the House and Senate are both actively engaged in the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. On the House side, the House Science Committee is leading the charge, while on the Senate side, it’s a bipartisan group led by Senators Bingaman (D-NM) and Alexander (R-TN) with staff from the Senate Energy Committee; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and Appropriations Committees. Key points on the overall bill:
- Both the House and Senate hope to have the bills passed in their respective chambers by Memorial Day, with a conference agreement completed by the July 4th recess. The House has held several hearings on a variety of COMPETES topics; Senate Commerce has had one hearing and we don’t anticipate many more.
- At this point, the House is considering a 5-year authorization (beginning in FY11). The Senate may push for a shorter authorization (3 years), similar to the initial bill in order to satisfy fiscal watchdogs. Given the current fiscal environment, there will likely be opposition to the bill in both the House and Senate simply based on its cost.
- The House and Senate bills will both likely keep the 3 core agencies (NSF, NIST, DOE Office of Science) on the 7% increase path outlined in COMPETES I. The energy title of America COMPETES would combine three authorization bills that provide funding for DoE Office of Science (HR 4905), Advanced Research Projects Agency -Energy (ARPA-E) (HR 4906), and Energy Innovation Hubs (HR 4907). Taken together, the three authorization bills would increase funding for DOE’s science office, ARPA-E program and so-called energy innovation “hubs” to $6.63 billion in fiscal 2011, eventually up to $9.36 billion by 2015. For FY11, several members of the Washington congressional delegation (Baird, Inslee, and McDermott) have expressed support for sustained funding for the relatively new ARPA-E.
- Neither bill will likely include NOAA or NASA. The House Science Committee will pursue NASA legislation and a NOAA Organic Act separately. Senate Commerce may push to include NOAA, but the minority may balk at this since NOAA can be linked to climate change issues. Including NASA is seen as a non-starter on both sides, especially given questions and concerns surrounding its FY11 budget request.