Volume 41 (2022)
National Academies Call for Nominations for Panel on Womenâs Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on Population has announced they are accepting nominations for a panel on womenâs empowerment, population dynamics, and socioeconomic development. This panel will perform a study on the impact of womenâs empowerment on global social and economic development and provide recommendations. Goals of the study include developing a framework to conceptualize the impact of womenâs empowerment, reviewing the current literature, assess policy options, and set an agenda for future research priorities on this subject. Prospective panelists should have expertise in a related field of social science, including demography, sociology, economics, survey…
COSSA Releases Analysis of FY 2023 House Appropriations Bills
Over the last few weeks, the House Appropriations Committee began considering its annual spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2023, including the bills that fund federal science, research, and data activities. In some cases, the House proposals mirror priorities laid out in the Presidentâs FY 2023 budget request. However, in most cases, funding allocations did not allow House appropriators to include the sizeable increases sought by the Biden Administration. Still, achieving increases in a funding environment that continues to be impacted by a global pandemic is an important feat. Lawmakers have just three more weeks of work in July before…
Joan Sereno Named to Lead NSFâs Behavioral & Cognitive Sciences Division
Last month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the appointment of Joan Sereno as the next Division Director for the Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). Sereno, a psycholinguist who will be coming to NSF as a rotator, is co-director of the Phonetics and Psycholinguistics Laboratory at the University of Kansas and chair of KUâs linguistics department. As BCS lead, Sereno will oversee the divisionâs research programs in cognitive science, anthropology, geography, psychology, and linguistics, among others. She will start in her NSF post on August 29, succeeding Marc Sebrechts who…
NSF To Hold Webinar Exploring the Science and Engineering Indicators
On July 14, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be hosting an interactive webinar discussing the 2022 iteration of the Science and Engineering Indicators, the congressionally mandated report released every two years with data on the health and strength of the U.S. science and engineering enterprise. The webinar will feature Principal Deputy Director for Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Kei Koizumi, Vice Chair of the National Science Board Victor McCrary, and Director of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) Emilda B. Rivers as panelists and Director of Science, Technology, and…
National Academies Seeks Nominations for Committee on Misinformation
The Board on Science Education (BOSE) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) is launching a consensus study that will examine misinformation about science, and is seeking nominations for committee members, reviewers, and participants. The ad-hoc committee will be compromised of approximately 12-14 members and will examine evidence to define and map the landscape of misinformation, examine the mechanisms and impacts of misinformation experienced by diverse communities, examine the effectiveness of existing interventions, and provide a roadmap to guide future research. BOSE is looking for volunteers who are experts in the fields of science communication, psychology, political…
COSSA Welcomes San Diego State as a New Member
COSSA is excited to welcome San Diego State University as its newest member! A research university in San Diego, SDSU receives over $14 million annually in federal social and behavioral science funding. COSSAâs full membership list can be found here. Information on how to join is on the COSSA website.
Kellina Craig-Henderson Tapped to Lead Social Science Directorate at NSF
On June 16, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that Dr. Kellina Craig-Henderson has been selected to serve as the Assistant Director for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate. Craig-Henderson, who has been serving as Acting Assistant Director of SBE since January, was the Deputy Assistant Director of SBE under Dr. Arthur âSkipâ Lupia, the previous Assistant Director of SBE whose term expired last year. Craig-Henderson assumes the role with extensive experience as a professor of psychology and in other leadership roles at NSF. She was previously a Psychology and Afro-American Studies faculty member at the University of…
Congress Gets Moving on FY 2023 Appropriations Bills
Last week, half of the subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee marked up their respective spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2023; the remaining billsâincluding those of particular interest to the research communityâare scheduled for consideration this week. In the next couple of days, the House Commerce, Justice, Science and the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittees will consider their respective bills. The full House Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the bills individually in the coming weeks with a goal of bringing as many to the House floor as possible before the August month-long recess. Despite…
President Biden Expected to Nominate Former DARPA Director, Physicist to OSTP Post
On June 21, President Biden is expected to nominate Dr. Arati Prabhakar as the next Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Presidential Science Advisor. As previously reported, Dr. Alondra Nelson was named in February as the interim director of OSTP following the resignation of Eric Lander who stepped down after less than a year in the position amid allegations of workplace bullying. Dr. Francis Collins, former Director of the National Institutes of Health, has been serving as the interim science advisor to the President. Upon Prabahakerâs confirmation, which is required for the OSTP…
NIJ Director Nancy La Vigne Shares Strategic Vision
Dr. Nancy La Vigne, the newly appointed Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), recently shared her strategic vision for research and programs at the agency. In the vision, La Vigne cites several key priorities for NIJ to consider including fostering rigorous and inclusive research, elevating studies that apply a lens of racial equity, using implementation science components in technology research, and encouraging interdisciplinary research when possible. La Vigne also cited the prevalence of disinformation and the lack of trust in scientific evidence, stating that âthe onus is on us to be as clear as possible about the research…
NIMH Releases 2022 Update to Strategic Plan for Research
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently made updates to its Strategic Plan for Research, the planning document released every five years to outline the agencyâs research priorities and strategize future agency activities. In addition to the development of a new strategic plan every five years, NIMH treats it as a âliving documentâ by making routine updates as needed. The strategic plan incorporates updates into four high-level goals to guide the Institute: Define the Brain Mechanisms Underlying Complex Behaviors Examine Mental Illness Trajectories Across the Lifespan Strive for Prevention and Cures Strengthen…
National Academies Release New Report on Ontologies in the Behavioral Sciences
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a new consensus study report titled Ontologies in the Behavioral Sciences: Accelerating Research and the Spread of Knowledge. The report offers a description of ontologies, or frameworks for organizing existing knowledge, and ways they can be used to support behavioral science. In addition, the report offers several recommendations for science stakeholders to best use ontologies to advance behavioral science research, including federal agencies and professional organizations. Some of these recommendations include: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) should create agendas for advancing behavioral science…
Busy June Ahead for Lawmakers
Congress returns from Memorial Day recess with renewed pressure to enact legislation to stem gun violence in the United States following the most recent mass shootings over the last few weeks. House leaders have promised a vote on one such package (H.R. 7910) later this week; however, the Senate requires a super majority (60 votes) in order to pass such a bill, making the bill a much bigger lift. In addition, as previously reported, Congress is also steeped in the annual appropriations process for fiscal year (FY) 2023. While earlier in the year it was hinted that markups on the…
Adam H. Russell Named ARPA-H Acting Deputy Director
On May 25, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra formally announced the establishment of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) along with the appointment of Adam H. Russell, Ph.D. as the Acting Deputy Director of ARPA-H. Russell comes to ARPA-H from the University of Marylandâs Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security and brings more than a decade of experience as a Program Manager at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Russell also has an extensive…
National Academies Seeking Director for Board on Human-Systems Integration
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has announced the search for a new director for the Board on Human-Systems Integration (BOHSI), a major program housed in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE). The director of BOHSI is responsible for managing all programs under the Boardâs purview including human capital management, cybersecurity, and other human factors research. In addition, the director is responsible for leading communications, managing staff, and fostering partnerships with federal agencies, industry, and professional associations. More information on how to apply is available on the NASEM website.
NSF Announces Partnership with SSRCâs Mercury Project
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), a COSSA member, recently announced a new partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate and SSRCâs Mercury Project, a research initiative focusing on the impacts of and preventing the spread of public health misinformation. This partnership, called âAdvance Scientific Knowledge about the Impact of Public Health Guidance,â will help advance evidence to inform decision making related to public health, especially within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several of the hallmark programs within the SBE Directorate are participating in the partnership including Cultural Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, and…