Issue 17 (September 3)

Dear Friends – I hope you had a wonderful summer and took some time to relax, especially now that we are heading into what will be a busy fall and historic election season. Last we spoke, Congress had made progress on the FY 2025 appropriations bills but still remains far off from finalizing them before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. Congress returns to Washington next week and is expected to immediately turn to negotiating a stop-gap measure to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.

COSSA will also be busy this fall gearing up for the November elections. The historic Presidential race aside, the outcome of the elections will also determine the balance of power in the Congress, which will significantly impact the outcome of FY 2025 science funding and federal science policy for the next few years. As always, COSSA will report on the notable outcomes of the Congressional elections later this fall (stay tuned for more) and prepare to engage the new Congress come January.

There is a lot of work ahead—I am very grateful to have you in COSSA’s corner as we continue to advance the social and behavioral sciences. Membership in COSSA is the best way your organization can help in our efforts to advocate on behalf of our sciences, especially during such a critical time for science. You can check if your organization is a current member by visiting our website. If not, you can join by emailing wnaus@cossa.org.

Finally, I thought I would share how the COSSA team spent part of our summer. Each year, COSSA volunteers with a local nonprofit as a way to give back to the Washington, DC community. This year, the team volunteered with the Humane Rescue Alliance, which supports pet owners in Washington, DC who face resource inequities, such as housing restrictions, expensive veterinary care, and pet care deserts. As part of this years’ service outing, COSSA donated more than 80 pounds of dog and cat food and the team (with a couple special guests) spent a day packaging it up for pet families in need. In addition, staff spent a day volunteering at a pet vaccine clinic engaging with local residents and their pets (puppies!) and assisting veterinary staff. [Pictured: COSSA’s Elyse Bailey, Rachel Bashe, Kenzie Shelstad, Wendy Naus, and featuring Hazelnut Latte Naus and Carter Naus.]

Again, I hope you had a nice summer. Let’s get to work!

Wendy Naus

Executive Director

This month’s Why Social Science? post comes from Josh Pasek (University of Michigan) who discusses the importance of using public opinion polling as a key approach to understand the desires of the public.

Read on for more.

In early June, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), in partnership with the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Chair Robert Aderholt (R-AL), released a framework outlining potential reforms for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (see previous COSSA coverage). Since this framework was released, there has been a lot of conversation about the future of NIH and what this framework would look like in action.

On September 12, join COSSA Staff for an informal conversation about recent developments and the frameworks currently proposed for the NIH. This is a COSSA members-only event. Feel free to share this opportunity with others in your organization.

RSVP here!

COSSA’s 2023 Annual Report is now available. Check it out to learn more about COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year.

Find out how your organization can become a member of COSSA on our website.

As Congress returns to Capitol Hill following August recess, appropriators are looking to finalize the budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025 prior to the September 30 deadline. As previously reported by COSSA, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced 11 of its 12 bills, including the Commerce, Justice Science (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) bills (COSSA’s analysis is available here) but did not manage to pass any of the bills on the Senate floor. On the other side of the Capitol, the House Appropriations Committee considered all 12 bills (COSSA’s analysis is available here) and managed to pass 5 of its annual appropriations bills on the House floor, not including the CJS and LHHS bills. As we get closer to the November elections, it becomes less likely that FY 2025 appropriations will be completed on time.

Among the countless unknowns surrounding a possible endgame strategy for appropriations, there is one certainty – the need to pass a stopgap funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avoid a government shutdown come October 1. Scenarios range from a CR of a couple of months with final action completed in the December timeframe (forcing a lame duck session of Congress after the November elections), to a six-month-long CR that would delay action until after the new Administration and Congress are sworn in, to possibly a year-long continuing resolution that would fund agencies at the FY 2024 level through the end of next fiscal year. These details will need to be sorted out over the next several weeks, and consensus remains far-off.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the appropriations process.

In recent weeks, the National Science Board (NSB), the governing and oversight body of the National Science Foundation (NSF), has issued a Dear Colleague letter requesting public input into the Board’s ongoing review of NSF’s merit review criteria and process. As previously reported, the NSB-NSF Commission on Merit Review (MRX) was formed following passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which required NSF to commission a review of how “broader impacts” criterion are being applied in the merit review process across the agency. The NSB chose to broaden the review to the entire merit review process, which has not had a holistic look in more than a decade.

The Request for Information (RFI) issued late last month seeks to “obtain input on how NSF’s Merit Review criteria, policy, and processes are currently understood and feedback on whether and/or how they might be revised to increase clarity and alignment with NSF’s statutory mission and improve fairness, competitiveness, and transparency in the process to identify projects to support and advance NSF’s statutory mission.” Comments are due by September 20 and are to be submitted online; the RFI includes five framing questions for respondents to consider. More information is available here.

COSSA is also interested in hearing your thoughts on ways the NSF merit review process can be improved or enhanced. If you have points you would like COSSA to consider in its own response to the RFI, please email them to wnaus@cossa.org. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a call for experts for their new roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Climate Change that is intended to explore the intersection of these two topical issues. Particularly, NASEM is interested in experts in mathematics and statistics, human-centered AI, risk assessment and management, environment and public health, misinformation and disinformation, and more. A full list of topics can be found here. The Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) is one of the collaborators working with the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences on this roundtable and social and behavioral scientists are encouraged to apply.

Applications are due by October 1. 

The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) is now accepting proposals for their 82nd Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference. The conference will take place April 3-6, 2025, in Chicago.

The deadline for submitting papers, roundtables, complete panel, and working group proposals is October 8, 2024; the deadline for submitting subfield and undergraduate section proposals is November 27, 2024. Learn more on the MPSA conference website.

MPSA is a COSSA governing member organization.

The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University is now accepting applications for residential fellowships for the 2025-26 academic year. Applicants should be scholars and thinkers who are tackling big questions with fresh approaches. CASBS especially appreciate scholars who value discussion across fields, unencumbered by disciplinary boundaries. An academic year at the Center provides fellows freedom to work on consequential projects, a location that affords them access to research and colleagues at Stanford and Silicon Valley, and a collaborative environment that encourages fellows to broaden their perspectives.

The Center encourages those from diverse backgrounds, institutions, and countries to apply. Online applications will be accepted on the Center’s website through November 1, 2024. For more information, guidelines, and application requirements, visit the website. CASBS is a COSSA member organization. 

COSSA’s annual Social Science Advocacy Day will be taking place March 24-25, 2025 in Washington, DC! This signature, members-only event brings together social and behavioral science researchers, faculty, students, association professionals, and other advocates from across the country to meet with their elected officials in Congress to discuss the value of our sciences and the importance of federal funding.

Early bird registration will be here before you know it! Until then, mark your calendars and share this exciting opportunity with your colleagues. 

Visit the COSSA website for the latest information on Social Science Advocacy Day.