Search Results: AI
Biden Administration Releases Report on Mental Health Research
The Biden Administration, alongside the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Domestic Policy Council (DPC), released a report on Mental Health Research Priorities. The blueprint follows the Administrationâs Strategy to Address Our National Mental Health Crisis within the Unity Agenda released in March of last year, and received funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022. Among the priorities are: advancing mental health intervention and treatment through improving digital intervention and treatment methods; improving treatment for serious mental illness; preventing suicide; and expanding the mental health workforce while providing improved support. The report also…
COSSA Presents 2023 Distinguished Service Award to American Anthropological Association’s Edward Liebow
COSSA has announced the recognition of Edward Liebow, Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and former Chair of COSSAâs Board of Directors, as the recipient of its 2023 Distinguished Service Award. The award was officially presented in Washington, DC at the Celebration of Social Science Reception on April 24, 2023 as part of COSSAâs 2023 Social Science Advocacy Day activities. More information about the award is available on the COSSA website. âEd has dedicated his career to the advancement of the social and behavioral sciences,â says Wendy Naus, COSSAâs Executive Director. âNot only is he a respected scholar…
COSSA Presents 2023 Distinguished Service Award to American Anthropological Associationâs Edward Liebow
Washington, D.C. â The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has announced the recognition of Edward Liebow, Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and former Chair of COSSAâs Board of Directors, as the recipient of its 2023 Distinguished Service Award. The award was officially presented in Washington, DC at the Celebration of Social Science Reception on April 24, 2023 as part of COSSAâs 2023 Social Science Advocacy Day activities. More information about the award is available on the COSSA website. âEd has dedicated his career to the advancement of the social and behavioral sciences,â says Wendy Naus, COSSAâs…
NIH Releases New Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released its most recent Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA). The plan is intended to improve diversity and inclusion within the agency and the biomedical research community and builds off of stakeholder feedback collected last year (see previous COSSA coverage). NIH identifies key stages of implementation in the strategic plansâ framework, including the need to encourage the agency and community to become more people-centered and improve diversity and inclusion within their operations, workforce, and research. To this end, the NIH says it plans to implement sustainable practices to improve representation…
Social Science Advocacy Day is Tuesday, April 25!
Next Tuesday, April 25, is Social Science Advocacy Day. More than 50 advocates from across the country will be on Capitol Hill to urge increased funding support for social and behavioral science research. Watch your inbox and COSSAâs Action Center to learn how you can engage from home on April 25. Follow all the Advocacy Day coverage on Twitter @cossadc and using the hashtags #cossa2023 and #whysocialscience.
Budget Season in Full Swing
Lawmakers returned this week from its two-week spring recess and immediately turned their attention to the budget; specifically, what to do about the approaching debt ceiling and whether or at what level to cap spending on discretionary programs for fiscal year (FY) 2024 (see previous coverage). While fights continue on these higher-level negotiations, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will be meeting this week to discuss the FY 2024 budget proposals for several federal science agencies. The Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Subcommittee is holding a hearing on April 18 featuring leadership from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA;…
JASON Releases Report on NSFâs Pending Research on Research Security Program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has commissioned a report by JASON, the independent scientific and national security advisory body, on NSFâs proposed âResearch on Research Securityâ program. This program has been in development as part of the push towards securing the U.S. research enterprise over the past few years, and is intended to provide funding to scientifically examine aspects of research security (see previous coverage). The JASON report aims to consider what this program might look like at NSF and how it would impact research security policy throughout the federal government. Notably, the JASON report states that the âsocial sciences…
NSF Accepting Proposals for New GRANTED Equity and Diversity Program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting proposals for the Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED) program, a new initiative within NSFâs Broadening Participation efforts aiming to provide funding for strategies to address inequalities and challenges within the research enterprise. The GRANTED program may support research and development on inequalities but may also support administrative and infrastructure needs to achieve equity in research. Proposals for the GRANTED program should center around at least one of the following main themes: The GRANTED Program holds weekly office hours every Wednesday to address questions and concerns. The program does…
NASEM Announces Climate Crossroads Initiative to Address Climate Change
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) have announced the new Climate Crossroads, an initiative intended to expand their climate change research to provide diverse solutions to climate change issues. NASEM is currently seeking experts in the following fields to serve on the initiativeâs Advisory Committee: climate research, policy, communications, community engagement, fundraising, and strategic development. Submissions are due May 1. NASEM will host the Climate Crossroads 2023 Summer Partnerâs Meeting on July 11-12 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C.
NASEM Releases Interactive Webpage for ADEI in STEMM Report, Announces WorkshopÂ
As previously reported, the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) released their report on Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ADEI) in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine (STEMM) Organizations in February of this year. The report identified structural barriers to minoritized groupsâ access to STEMM fields and outlined several recommendations as to how the scientific community can combat those barriers and better implement ADEI principles. To further the reach and understanding of the report, NASEM has now produced an interactive webpage which explores the reportâs findings and provides exploratory functions for learning more about each subject. The…
COSSA Speaks with University of Michigan Student Press on Top Ranking for Social Science Funding
Recently, Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) Executive Director Wendy Naus spoke with Nadia Taeckens of the University of Michigan at Ann Arborâs independent student paper, The Michigan Daily, for an article on COSSAâs 2023 College & University Rankings for Federal Social & Behavioral Science R&D. For the second year in a row, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor topped COSSAâs rankings, beating out universities such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (see previous coverage). In the article, Naus states, â(COSSA has) been using federally collected data to develop the rankings since 2016, because we were…
Congress on Spring Break, Returns April 18
Lawmakers have left Washington for a two-week spring recess. Upon their return later this month, work will continue on several thorny topics, including negotiations to raise the debt ceiling and setting top-line funding limits for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills. Appropriations subcommittees could begin crafting spending legislation over the next couple months, and those measures may include significant cuts to discretionary spending, including for research. As previously reported, House Republicans are seeking to cut non-defense discretionary spending back to FY 2022 levels; however, such cuts will not be supported by the Democrat-controlled Senate, setting the stage for major…
Nominations Open for 2023 James S. Jackson Memorial Award
The National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking nominations for the 2023 James S. Jackson Memorial Award. This award, named in memoriam for previous University of Michigan Professor of Psychology and former COSSA president James S. Jackson, honors an outstanding researcher with demonstrated exceptional individual achievement and leadership in mental health disparities research. Award recipients will also have shown excellence in mentorship, influence, and defined support of trainees. Nominations will be accepted through May 10, 2023. Read more information about the awardâs criteria, application, and selection process here.
SEAN Report Addresses COVID-19 Related Challenges for Individuals with Precarious Employment
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicineâs (NASEM) Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN) has released itâs latest rapid expert consultation, Addressing COVID-19 Related Challenges Facing Individuals Engaged in Precarious Employment. SEAN provides social, behavioral, and economic science researchers with resources to produce rapid-fire reports and recommendations to influence policy decisions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic (see previous COSSA coverage). In this latest report, SEAN considers the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees in jobs that are considered to have low security, such as jobs with low wages and low benefits. The report found that employees in these positions had…
COSSA Releases Analysis of Presidentâs Budget Request for FY 2024 for Social Science
On March 9, the Biden Administration began releasing details of its fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request to Congress, with additional information rolling out over subsequent days. In total, the Biden Administration is requesting $209.7 billion for research and development activities across the federal government in FY 2024, an increase of $8.9 billion. Within that amount, $101.2 billion is sought for basic and applied research activities, an increase of $3.5 billion. The budget identifies several cross-government priorities for the President, including:Â As you will read throughout this report, the FY 2024 budget request prioritizes investment in these and other areas…
118th Congress: Profile of the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Subcommittee
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) is an important committee to the research community in that it is responsible for securing appropriations and drafting legislation for the Department of Education (ED), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The LHHS Subcommittee is one of the most sought-after committee appointments in the Senate due to the wide scope of agencies and priorities under the Subcommitteeâs jurisdiction. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME)…
DOD Announces Awards for Social Science Research Under the Defense Education and Civilian University Partnership
The Department of Defense (DOD) has announced a $2 million award for partnerships between six university and Defense Professional Military Education (PME) institution faculty teams in an effort to facilitate connections between faculty who share complementary research interests. These Defense Education and Civilian University Research (DECUR) Partnerships exist under DoDâs Minerva Research Initiative, which strengthens the DODâs connections with the social science community and helps DoD better understand and prepare for future challenges. Each DECUR partnership is set to pursue one of the following research projects: Read more about the awards and partnerships here.
COSSA Board Member Sara Curran Comments on U.S. Race & Ethnicity Standards
On March 16, The Seattle Times quoted Director of the University of Washingtonâs Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology and At-Large member of COSSAâs Board of Directors Sara Curran in an article on the need to update the U.S. standards of collecting race and ethnicity data. The recent push to revise the race and ethnicity data standards has been a priority of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has led town halls to collect public feedback on the proposed changes to the standards (see previous COSSA coverage). In the article, Dr. Curran states that âthese categories change…
NIH Seeking Feedback on Plan to Enhance Public Access to Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research, a direct response to the August 2022 memorandum from the White House directing federal research agencies to make publications and data from federally funded research publicly accessible (see previous COSSA coverage). The plan outlines the agencyâs proposed actions to make NIH research more publicly accessible, especially in regard to research data and scholarly publications. In addition, NIH will be accepting feedback on the public access plan, with particular interest on the following topics: Comments will be accepted through April 24,…
118th Congress: Profile of the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) is an important committee to the research community in that it is responsible for securing appropriations and drafting legislation for scientific agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Justice (DOJ), Census Bureau, and several other science and statistical agencies. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman, Patty Murray (D-WA) announced Democratic subcommittee assignments in mid-February. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) remains as the CJS Chair, and, for the minority, Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) has also remained in his position as Ranking Member. The Subcommittee is expected to begin holding…