Executive Branch News
SBE Calls for Proposals for International Collaborative Research to Aid Pandemic Recovery
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) has announced that it is participating in the Trans-Atlantic Platform Call for Proposals: Recovery, Renewal, and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World (T-AP RRR). T-AP RRR is a grant competition that will support international collaborative research projects that address gaps in our understanding of the complex and dynamic societal effects of COVID-19. Proposals are asked to address one or more of the following challenges: reducing inequalities and vulnerabilities; building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society; fostering democratic governance and participation; advancing responsible and inclusive digital innovation; and/or…
ECHO Program Seeks Comments on Collecting Pre-Conception Data
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a request for information (RFI) on improving the science of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program (see COSSAâs previous coverage). NIH is interested in input from the external community on topics including (but not limited to) enhancing the programâs study origins of child health outcomes originating prior to conception, as well as more general strategies for maintaining scientific value while reducing the burden of primary data collection on participants and staff, addressing public health emergencies, enhancing recruitment and retention of diverse populations, and promoting diversity of the workforce related…
First 2020 Census Data Released; 7 Congressional Seats Change Hands
On April 26, the Census Bureau released the first data from the 2020 Census, including each stateâs apportionment population counts (used to allocate seats to the U.S. House of Representatives and electoral college votes), resident population accounts, and overseas population counts. The release of the Constitutionally-required information was delayed due to the operational challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the additional time needed to correct duplicate and incomplete responses. Overall, seven Congressional seats will shift as a result of the 2020 Census. California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will each lose one Congressional seat, while Colorado,…
NSB Seeks Nominations for 2022 Vacancies
Nominations are being sought for to fill eight upcoming vacancies on the National Science Board (NSB), 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, with the NSF director serving as a 25th ex officio member. Nominations are considered by the NSB, which makes recommendations to the White House and new members of the Board are appointed by the President. For the incoming class of 2022-2028, the NSB is particularly interested in individuals with…
White House Nominates Rob Santos, Current ASA President, to Lead Census Bureau
President Biden has named Robert Santos, Vice President & Chief Methodologist at the Urban Institute, as his Administrationâs choice to lead the Census Bureau. Santos, who is currently serving as the President of the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member, has had a distinguished career, holding positions at the University of Michiganâs Survey Research Center, NORC at the University of Chicago, and ISR Temple University. According to the White House press release, he has expertise in âsurvey sampling, survey design and more generally in social science/policy research.â Santos has also served on the advisory committees for the Census…
Biden Preliminary FY 2022 R&D Proposals Rely on âDARPAâ Model
On April 9, the Biden Administration released preliminary, high-level details of its fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget request, referred to as a âskinny budget.â At this stage, details are only available for Cabinet-level departments and a handful of other âmajorâ agencies, with limited details about some agencies within the departments. For example, it includes preliminary details for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but not for the Census Bureau. Full budget details will be released in the coming months. In the meantime, however, Congress is proceeding with the FY 2022 appropriations process without the Administrationâs full proposals. Appropriators in both…
Bidenâs Infrastructure Proposal Includes $250 Billion in Research Funding
On March 31, the White House issued a fact sheet detailing many of the spending priorities in President Joe Bidenâs proposed infrastructure initiative, the American Jobs Plan. The proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill addresses a wide range of pressing needs related to infrastructure and economic revitalization. Included is $180 billion to âInvest in R&D and Technologies of the Futureâ and an extra $70 billion for research-related priorities such as pandemic preparedness and innovation in rural communities, totaling $250 billion specifically for the U.S. research enterprise. Many of the details are still unclear, although the fact sheet names where much of…
Trump-Era Visa Restriction for Skilled Foreign Workers Expires
The Biden White House has decided not to renew a proclamation issued by former President Trump that restricted foreign travel to the United States. The now-defunct proclamation was notable for restricting the availability of the H1-B visa for skilled foreign workers, a category of visa that is commonly used by scientific and academic organizations to recruit international STEM workers and scientists. First implemented in June 2020 and extended through the end of March 2021, the proclamation was widely criticized by the scientific community as stifling the scientific workforce and harming relationships with global scientific talent (see previous COSSA coverage for…
NIH Releases Minority Health and Health Disparities Strategic Plan for 2021-2025
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released its strategic plan for 2021 through 2025 to advance minority health and health disparities research across all NIH institutes, offices, and centers. The strategic plan, which was developed with input across the NIH and the minority health and health disparity research community, lays out goals and strategies for the agency to advance additional scientific research, support research-adjacent activities, and expand outreach and strategic communications on minority health and health disparities. These goals and strategies include: Promoting research to understand and improve…
NSF Webinar Will Highlight Cross-Agency Funding Opportunities for Social Scientists
The National Science Foundationâs (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) will hold a webinar on April 15 to highlight the opportunity for social scientists to participate in several major NSF-wide initiatives, including Trust and Authenticity in Communications Systems, Understanding the Rules of Life: Emergent Networks, mid-scale research infrastructure and others. Featured speakers will include NSF Assistant Director Arthur Lupia, head of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, and Douglas Maughan, head of NSFâs Convergence Accelerator Program. Information on registering is available here. Additional information about the webinar is available on the NSF website.
NSF Issues New Framework for Identifying Broader Impacts; NSB Seeks Additional Guidance
On March 18, the National Science Foundationâs (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) released a Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 21-059) offering guidance to proposal writers for shaping their broader impacts arguments. The notice makes no changes to NSFâs existing merit review criteria, which currently considers a projectâs intellectual merit and broader impacts potential. Rather, it offers a framework for SBE researchers to consider âto develop and communicate their projectsâ broader impacts more effectivelyâ and âfor connecting fundamental research outcomes to quality of life improvements for others.â The framework includes three guiding questions for principal investigators to consider: Who…
NSF Releases Annual Call for Advisory Committee Nominations
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued its annual call for recommendations for membership to its various advisory committees and technical boards. These committees advise NSFâs offices and directorates on program management, research direction, and policies impacting the agency. Committees of particular interest to the COSSA community include the Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Advisory Committee for Education and Human Resources. Guidelines for recommendations and committee contact information can be found in the Federal Register. Recommendations for membership are maintained for 12 months.
Biden Signs American Rescue Plan, with Funding for NSF, IES, Universities
On March 11, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319). As previously reported, the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill includes $600 million in funding to support research related to the pandemic at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and $100 million to support research related to K-12 learning loss at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The bill also includes $39.9 billion in funding to support colleges and universities. Now that this major piece of legislation has been enacted, lawmakersâ attention will turn to appropriations for the coming fiscal year. In addition, discussions will…
Biden Issues Executive Orders Establishing Gender Policy Council & Protections on Sex and Gender Identity in Schools
On March 8, 2021, President Biden issued two executive orders signaling his Administrationâs priorities on national gender policy. The first executive order (EO 14020) establishes a new White House Council on Gender Policy, which would largely be responsible for coordinating federal government efforts to advance gender equity and programs that address gender-based issues. The Council will include co-chairs chosen by the White House as well as representatives from major Federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Science Foundation, and would be tasked with developing a government-wide strategy to advance gender equity and…
NIH Presents Report on Racism in Science, Launches UNITE Initiative to End Structural Racism in Biomedical Research
During a meeting of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) on February 26, 2021, NIH discussed new and ongoing efforts to eliminate agency structures perpetuating racism in the biomedical research enterprise. During the meeting, the ACDâs Working Group on Diversity (WGD) presented its Report on Racism in Science, a document that had been in development throughout the past year in the wake of nationwide protests condemning White supremacy and racial inequity, especially as it affects Black members of the scientific community. The WGD report presents several strategies and recommendations for the ACD to consider…
NSF Releases New âUnderstanding the Rules of Lifeâ Solicitation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is accepting applications for a new program within the Understanding the Rules of Life (URoL) Big Idea. The new program, Understanding the Rules of Life: Emergent Networks, seeks to support convergent research to understand the âârules of emergenceâ for networks of living systems and their environments,â described as the âinteractions among organismal, environmental, social, and human-engineered systems that are complex and often unexpected given the behaviors of these systems when observed in isolation.â More information is available in the full solicitation. The deadline for proposals is May 20, 2021.
Early Days of Biden Administration Marked by Slew of Executive Actions
Since Inauguration Day, President Bidenâs spate of executive orders and presidential declarations have focused primarily on undoing many of the damaging actions of the last Administration. As expected, several actions were taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic, such as mandating mask-wearing in federal facilities, appointment of a COVID-19 Response Coordinator, and providing economic relief to individuals and families struggling with unemployment and underemployment, eviction, and other effects of the pandemic. In addition, numerous executive actions directly address the U.S. scientific enterprise and U.S. participation in global scientific efforts. Discussed in this issue are several recent actions taken by the Biden…
Biden Administration Executive Actions: Equity & Inclusion
Another early Biden Administration executive order rescinded various Trump Administration actions that attempted to push back against perceived âpolitical correctnessâ by actions prohibiting trainings and other activities that touch on white privilege, structural inequality, implicit bias, and other supposedly âdivisiveâ concepts based on decades of social science research. President Bidenâs Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government goes beyond simply revoking the Trump Administration policies and instead sets a policy of actively working to improve racial equity government-wide. The Executive Order outlines a systematic approach for accurately assessing âwhether agency policies and…
Biden Administration Executive Actions: COVID-19
On January 21, President Biden issued an Executive Order ensuring that the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic would be guided by the best available science and data, further protecting from potential future public health threats. The Executive Order lays out several directives for federal agencies including focusing energy on building public health infrastructure, directing agency heads to share and coordinate COVID-19 data with other agencies, improving federal capacity for data collection practices, and reviewing existing public health data systems for potential areas for improvement. The Department of Health and Human Services is directed to ensure public health data systems…
Biden Administration Executive Actions: Climate Change
In addition to his day-one promise to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden has also issued executive orders directing federal agencies to review and, where appropriate, take corrective action to address or reverse actions of the Trump Administration that are found to be âharmful to public health, damaging to the environment, unsupported by the best available science, or otherwise not in the national interest.â On January 27, a detailed order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad was issued. Among other things, the order ensures that âclimate considerationsâ will have a place in U.S. foreign policy and…