Search Results: AI
NIH: BD2K Biomedical Science Training Coordination Center
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applications for a coordination center designed to narrow the gap between the availability of biomedical big data and the ability of biomedical scientists to utilize such data accurately, effectively, and efficiently. The funding opportunity announcement, NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Biomedical Science Training Coordination Center (RFA-ES-15-004), responds to increasingly large, diverse, and complex biomedical datasets. These datasets tax conventional methods for sharing, managing, and analyzing data. Researchers’ abilities to capitalize on biomedical big data science-based approaches are limited by poor data accessibility and interoperability, the lack of appropriate tools, and insufficient…
COSSA Urges Census to Maintain Field of Degree, Marriage Questions in ACS
On December 9, COSSA submitted public comment to the U.S. Department of Commerce urging the decision to remove several questions from the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) be reversed. As previously reported, the ACS recently underwent a comprehensive review of its current 72 questions, which resulted in a proposal to remove questions deemed of “low benefit.” COSSA’s comments outline the importance of Person Question No. 12—Undergraduate Field of Degree—and Person Questions No. 21-23, relating to marital history, to the social science research community. The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS), a COSSA sister organization, also submitted public comment. More information on the…
Steven Breckler, COSSA Chair, to Leave APA
Steven Breckler, Executive Director for Science at the American Psychological Association (APA), will leave APA at the end of the year after 10 years in the position. APA is a COSSA Governing Member and Breckler currently serves as chair of the COSSA Executive Committee. He is praised for his service to APA in the announcement of his departure released last month. Breckler’s service to COSSA as well cannot be overstated; he is a longtime member of the COSSA Board of Directors, served as chair of the Executive Committee for the last two years, and chaired the 2013 search committee for…
NIMH Creates New Unit to Support Its Research Domain Criteria Initiative
On October 31, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) announced the creation of a new unit designed to reframe mental health research by facilitating communication among scientists, clinicians, and the public. The new unit was established to support the development of the institute’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative. According to NIMH, RDoC “attempts to bring the power of modern research approaches in genetics, neuroscience, and behavioral problems of mental illness, studied independently from the classification systems by which patients are currently grouped.” The aim is to accelerate the pace of research that translates basic science into clinical settings “by…
White House Hosts Conference on BRAIN Initiative
On September 30, the White House hosted a conference on President Obama’s BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative. The Initiative is a large-scale effort to provide researchers with important insights to treat a variety of disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury, among others. Four agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), have together committed more than $110 million to the Initiative in FY 2014 (see Update, April 7, 2014, pg. 26).
NSF Seeks Social Science Public Affairs Specialist
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA) is seeking to fill a position for a public affairs specialist. The agency is particularly interested in receiving applications from qualified professionals with experience in “developing and implementing integrated communications strategies to promote basic research about social, behavioral and economic sciences to a variety of audiences and stakeholders.” The opportunity closes September 19, 2014. More information can be found on USAJOBS. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH Seeks Applications for Training Modules Designed to Enhance Data Reproducibility
Responding to several studies that have shown that a substantial amount of basic and preclinical research results cannot be reproduced by other laboratories under the conditions described in publications, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applications for creative educational activities that have a primary focus of developing courses for skills development, specifically training modules for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and beginning investigators designed to enhance data reproducibility.
Uncertain Outlook for Completion of FY 2015 Spending Bills
The House and Senate have headed home for their five-week August recess. As previously reported, work on the fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills stalled out earlier in the summer when Senate Democrats and Republicans could not come to agreement on a process for considering amendments. Senate Democrats have mentioned their interest in attempting an omnibus appropriations package when they return this fall. However, on the House side, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has confirmed that the House will consider a continuing resolution (CR) upon return in September to keep the federal government operating into FY 2015, which begins on October…
National Humanities Council Meets as NEH Faces Budget Uncertainty, New Chairman
The National Council on the Humanities, the advisory body to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), met on July 10 and 11. The meeting was presided over by NEH’s Acting Chairman Carole Watson, who has been leading the agency since Jim Leach left in May. Watson observed that it has been a time of change for NEH, which recently relocated from its home of more than 30 years in the Old Post Office Building to new offices in Constitution Center. In addition, President Obama’s nominee to lead the agency, William “Bro” Adams, former president of Colby College, had recently…
FY 2015 Spending Bills May Wait for the Lame Duck
As the Congressional August recess approaches in just a few weeks, it has become all but certain that a continuing resolution (CR) will be enacted to push work on the fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills to after the November midterm elections. The House and Senate are likely to be consumed with the President’s proposals for supplemental funding to address the migrant child crisis and wildfires out west during the scant remaining summer workdays, leaving little time to advance any of the FY 2015 spending measures before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. Despite Senate leadership’s promise to…
President-Elect Trump and a New Majority Congress: 2025 Policy Outlook
With the results of the 2024 Presidential election cycle nearing completion, Former President Donald Trump pulled out an electoral victory with 312 electoral college votes compared to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 226. In addition, Republicans outperformed expectations in the Congressional races, taking control of the Senate and still in contention to hold on to the majority in the House (although not all races have been called), potentially giving President-elect Trump an ideal landscape in which to enact his policy agenda after the transition. Presidential Transition With the presidential race decided, attention now turns to the presidential transition. The President-elect has…
Deadline Extended: NSF Seeking Input on Research Ethics
In September, the National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a Dear Colleague Letter requesting public input into the agency’s efforts to improve its merit review process to mitigate the potential harms of emerging technologies as required by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The deadline for the Request for Information (RFI) has been extended to December 13 in response to feedback requesting more time. The RFI contains several guiding questions to assist with public response, such as: “Describe ethical, social, safety, and/or security risks from current or emerging research activities that you believe might be of concern to the community, profession, or organization…
BLS and Census Bureau Pause Decrease in CPS Sample Size Following Friends of BLS Letter
As previously reported by COSSA, the Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) coalition sent a letter urging the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to modernize the Current Population Survey (CPS) with additional funding in FY 2025. On October 29, BLS and the Census Bureau, who jointly sponsor the survey, announced that they have paused intent to decrease the CPS sample size in January 2025. A $6 million anomaly in the continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress in late September (see previous COSSA coverage here) was provided to fund the sample size assuming the funding remains in any final bills or future CR’s passed by Congress…
CNSTAT Releases Eighth Edition of Principles & Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency
The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released the eighth edition of Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency, a report released every four years to coincide with presidential terms. The consensus study report provides an explanation of the federal statistical system and offers guiding principles and best practices for federal statistical agencies. While the practices and principles remain largely the same as past versions (see previous COSSA coverage), the most recent report includes updated information on the changes made to the federal statistical system in the past four years. The…
SRCD Accepting Applications for Policy Fellowship Program
The Society for Research Development (SRCD) is accepting applications for their U.S Policy Fellowship Program. This fellowship provides postdoctoral placements for postdoctoral child development experts for one to two years in a US federal or state agency, or a congressional agency, with a focus on child and family policy. Fellows work in fast paced environments on policy implementation programs, drafting memos, developing research funding, and more. SRCD is seeking researchers that are passionate about evidence-based policymaking, who are open to learning, and want to explore policy-related fields. Interested applicants can apply here. The application process includes a written portion, an interview, and a match-making…
REGISTER NOW: Headlines Webinars continue November 19
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…
Congress: Competitive Elections for the SBS Community to Watch
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,…
Social Scientists, STEM Education Experts to Join National Science Board
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)…
OBSSR Releases 2025-2029 Strategic Plan
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…