Issue 4 (February 21)

On February 8, COSSA released its annual College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlight the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences. COSSA’s website also features a rankings dashboard with an interactive map of recipients of social and behavioral science R&D funding so you can see how your university stacks up among 533 U.S. institutions.

Based on federally collected data, the COSSA rankings use an inclusive selection of fields representing the breadth of the social and behavioral sciences to calculate the total federal R&D funding received by universities in the social and behavioral sciences. The 2023 rankings reflect spending from fiscal year 2021, the most current available data. More information on how we produce our rankings is available on our website.

TOP 10 RECIPIENTS OF FEDERAL SOCIAL SCIENCE R&D (2023):

1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (MI) – $94,689,000 (#1 in 2022)

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC) – $77,911,000 (#2 in 2022)

3. University of Southern California (CA) – $53,491,000 (#5 in 2022)

4. University of Maryland (MD) – $52,039,000 (#3 in 2022)

5. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN) – $39,845,000 (#4 in 2022)

6. Pennsylvania State University, University Park and Hershey Medical Center (PA) – $38,676,000 (#6 in 2022)

7. Harvard University (MA) – $34,755,000 (#10 in 2022)

8. Arizona State University (AZ) – $33,396,000 (#7 in 2022)

9. University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI) – $32,601,000 (#9 in 2022)

University of Washington, Seattle (WA) – $32,363,000 (#13 in 2022)

Join us in Washington, DC on April 24-25 for Social Science Advocacy Day and make your voice heard in support of social and behavioral science! Register before March 3 to receive the Early Bird rate of $95. After March 3, the registration rate increases to $125. Students are always eligible to register for $50. Registration fees are nonrefundable but may be transferred to another person if you are unable to participate. More information is available here.

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) is among the most important committees to the scientific community. The CJS subcommittee is responsible for crafting annual funding legislation for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Justice (DOJ), Census Bureau, and several other science and statical agencies.  

As previously reported, full Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) announced Republican subcommittee appointments last month. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (R-KY) has taken over as CJS Subcommittee Chair; Rogers formerly served as chairman of the full Appropriations Committee from 2011-2016. The Republican subcommittee roster includes two freshman members, Reps. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Jake Ellzey (R-TX).

For the minority, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) will remain the top Democrat on the CJS Subcommittee, having served as chair in the last Congress. No freshman Democrats were assigned to the CJS Subcommittee.

The Subcommittee is expected to begin holding hearings shortly featuring federal agency heads and discussing their funding priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Follow COSSA’s coverage for all the latest developments. 

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a hearing on February 8 to organize and establish the committee rules. The hearing was also used to review and accept the committee’s Authorization and Oversight Plan for the new term. The Authorization and Oversight Plan details the committee’s rules, authorizations, and priorities. Among the plan’s priorities include reauthorizations of several federal agencies and oversight of recently enacted bills, including the CHIPS and Science Act (previous COSSA coverage). The plan prioritizes research, notably with a focus on STEM, and the protection of research from foreign theft. The House Science Committee acknowledged the public access guidance released by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and will conduct oversight on its implementation across federal agencies (previous COSSA coverage). The complete Authorization and Oversight Plan can be found here and a recording of the organizational meeting can be viewed here.

On February 7, President Biden held the annual State of the Union Address. Biden celebrated his Administration’s success during the previous term and signaled the Administration’s future goals. These goals include advancing gun safety laws, while also recognizing the historical Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and reforming law enforcement through providing more training for police officers, with an emphasis on equity and violence prevention training, and more resources to programs that handle mental health issues and drug addiction. President Biden also recognized the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act and the creation of the Advanced Projects Research Agency for Health (ARPA-H) at the National Institute of Health, which is expected to advance scientific and medical research (previous COSSA coverage). The State of the Union Address can be viewed here.

The National Institute of Justice has opened registration for a national research conference, From Evidence to Action: Harnessing Research to Promote Safety and Evidence, which will take place May 23-25 in Arlington, Virginia. NIJ is welcoming poster abstract proposals for the conference that detail how research evidence has influenced policy and practice. Expected topics include law enforcement, corrections, forensic science, courts, juvenile justice, victims of crime, and equitable research strategies. NIJ will also educate attendees on the process of securing NIJ grant awards. The conference is available to all participants for free and registration is open here.

The Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has introduced a brand new research program called Accelerating Research Translation (ART), which aims to advance research capacity to translate academic findings into public impacts. Through the ART program, the NSF is seeking to enlarge the capacity and pace of translational research at U.S. institutions of higher education which will transform research discoveries into tangible solutions benefitting the public. Rather than supporting institutions whose translational research activity is already in full swing, the ART program is intended to fund research which would build infrastructure, provide training on careers in translational research, and offer opportunities to create societal and economic impact.

Proposals are due by May 9, 2023. A full program description is available on the NSF website.

On February 14, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) held a webinar marking the release of a report on Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations. The report aims to identify structural barriers to participation in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) by minoritized individuals and provides recommendations on how the scientific community can instigate meaningful changes to remove these barriers and instill principles of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI).

The report offers the following recommendations to the scientific community:

• Federal funding agencies and other grantmaking organizations should increase funding to better understand how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) support their students and faculty and how to translate the principles of minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to predominantly White institutions.
• Statistical agencies such as the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) should collect demographic data of students considering STEMM degrees.
• Leaders and decisionmakers at STEMM organizations should increase admission, hiring, and inclusion of minoritized individuals. They should also invest in evidence-based programs that connect minoritized individuals to peers and internal resources, connect with high-status professionals, and develop institutional norms that promote inclusion.
• STEMM organizations should collect data on the decisions of their leadership and how gatekeeping may occur within organizations and add antiracist responsibilities to leadership positions.
• Team leaders at scientific organizations should intentionally develop inclusive conditions within the work environments.
• Organizational leaders should develop processes to evaluate the role of individual bias and discrimination in organizational practices. They should also anticipate the potential for internal resistance to ADEI efforts and respond accordingly.
• Leaders of STEMM organizations should use a framework to evaluate norms and values of the institution and identify specific ways to address norms that impede diversity.

The report can be read in full on the NASEM website.