Issue 21 (October 29)

Last Spring, the White House released a seminal report detailing the important contributions the social and behavioral sciences make to addressing some of the nation’s most pressing challenges and promoting better use of social and behavioral science research in evidence-based policymaking across the federal government. 

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking in May following two years of work by social and behavioral science experts from across federal agencies and departments. 

Join COSSA on November 19 for a discussion with Kei Koizumi, OSTP Principal Deputy Director for Science, Society, and Policy, to discuss the report and ways the social and behavioral science research community can further promote the work with lawmakers, especially on the eve of a new Congress and Presidential Administration.

Upcoming Webinars:

• November 19 will feature a discussion with Kei Koizumi about the future of social and behavioral science in evidence-based policymaking. RSVP here.
• December 5 will feature a discussion with the COSSA Staff on the results of the elections and their implications for the social and behavioral sciences as we head into the new year. RSVP here.

Watch for additional webinar announcements, and previous webinar recordings, on the COSSA website.

Headlines is a webinar series available to COSSA member organizations.

As November 5 rapidly approaches, Congress is likely to see some leadership changes in both the House and the Senate. With a current slim majority in both chambers, competitive races have Democrats and Republicans battling for control. The 2024 CPR Senate Race Ratings from the Cook Political Report details the Senate races that are competitive, including Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Significantly more Democrat-held seats are in competitive races than Republican-held seats in the Senate. Similarly, the 2024 CPR House Race Ratings from the Cook Political Report details the House races that are competitive, including races in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington that may impact House leadership.

For the social and behavioral science (SBS) community, there are key committees important to research that COSSA will be watching, including the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as their respective subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS)—which funds the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, and Census Bureau, among other agencies—and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS)—the sub-committee that funds the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and several other agencies of interest to the science community. In particular, COSSA will be following these competitive races closely:

• Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations CJS Subcommittee, is in a competitive race with Rob Bresnahan (R) that is considered a toss-up.
• Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chair of the Senate Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee, is in a competitive race with Eric Hovde (R) that is considered a toss-up.
• Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, is in a competitive race with Colin Allred (D) that is leaning Republican.
• Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), is in a competitive race with Dave McCormick (R) that is considered a toss-up.

Regardless of the outcome of the elections, some key committees will see a shake-up in leadership, including the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (SST) with Frank Lucas (R-OK) reaching the end of his term as Chair. As a reminder, House Republicans limit committee leadership to six years. Join COSSA on December 5 at 2:00pm EST for our Post-Election Headlines to discuss the election results and their effect on the social and behavioral science community.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage of Congressional news.

On October 15, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the newest class of National Science Board members, which includes sociologist and former White House official Alondra Nelson.

The National Science Board (NSB) is the policy-making body of the National Science Foundation (NSF) that also serves as an independent advisor to the President and Congress on federal science policy. The board consists of 24 members who serve staggered six-year terms and new members are appointed by the President.

Alondra Nelson is a sociologist who served as the first Deputy Director for Science and Society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Biden Administration and was the first social scientist and woman of color to serve as interim OSTP Director. She left OSTP in 2023 and returned academia at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Also appointed to the Board are Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Juan Gilbert. Dr. Ferrini-Mundy in president of the University of Maine and spent over a decade in leadership roles at NSF, including as chief operating officer and Assistant Director of the Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR), now called the STEM Education Directorate (EDU). She is a leader in science education, particularly in mathematics. Dr. Gilbert chairs the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida, where he leads the Computing for Social Good Lab. The lab focuses on Human-Centered Computing, seeking to address real-world social challenges by integrating people, information, culture, policy, and technology.

New Board members are typically sworn in at the May NSB meeting upon the departure of the outgoing class. More on upcoming NSB meeting can be found here.  

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reestablished the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) to review the agency’s structure and research portfolio and make recommendations to the NIH director. While SMRB was originally created by Congress in 2006, the review board hasn’t met or issued any reports since 2015 (see previous COSSA coverage). In response to growing Congressional criticism of the NIH, including Republican discontent about the handling of COVID-19 (see previous COSSA coverage), SMRB has scheduled their initial meeting for November 12 to review the NIH’s mission, structure, and budget as well as SMRB’s history and future directions. Notably, the new board does not include any social and behavioral scientists (SBS).

The agenda and webcast for the meeting will be posted here. 

On October 15, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) released its Strategic Plan for 2025-2029. This is OBSSR’s fourth strategic plan in its 27-year history.

The plan, which was developed over the last three years with input from the stakeholder community, also reflects recommendations made in recent years by two NIH Council of Councils working groups on Trans-NIH Research Opportunities in the Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences (2021) and Integration of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at NIH (2022). 

The new strategic plan emphasizes health equity as a crosscutting theme and identifies three research priorities: (1) Coordinating and promoting collaborative science; (2) Encouraging innovative scientific investigation; and (3) Committing to implementation, dissemination, and equitable impact of research and its relevance for policy consideration. The plan also contains “scientific capacity” priorities pertaining to BSSR workforce development and “operational” priorities focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, collaborative partnerships within and outside of NIH, and effective communication of research findings.

The full strategic plan can be found here. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has put out a call for experts to participate in a study focused on increasing knowledge about barriers, solutions, and policies facing people with disabilities to advance a robust STEM workforce and STEM education workforce. NASEM staff is looking to build a team of approximately 12-16 volunteers whose tasks will include collecting information on potential speakers, participants, and peer reviewers for any publications regarding this study. NASEM is seeking experts in the following areas: disability studies, STEM career development, STEM and STEM education workforce, employment law, disability accommodations for academic and non-academic workplace environments, universal design, and STEM policy administration.

The full solicitation and description of qualifications can be found here. The deadline to submit recommendations is November 15.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Paige Kirkham.