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NSF: RAPID Proposals Sought to Address Ebola Crisis
The National Science Foundation has issued a Dear Colleague Letter requesting research proposals āto conduct non-medical, non-clinical care research that can be used immediately to better understand how to model and understand the spread of Ebola, educate about prophylactic behaviors, and encourage the development of products, processes, and learning that can address this global challenge.ā NSFās Rapid Response Research (RAPID) funding mechanism will be used to fund the proposals. Back to this issueās table of contents.
Congresswoman Johnson Defends NSFās Merit Review Process
Last week, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, released a letter penned to Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) expressing concern over the chairmanās ongoing āinvestigationā into the merit review process at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and criticism of individual grants funded by NSF. Her letter comes as Chairman Smith has issued a third request in 18 months for NSF to provide the Committee with confidential, pre-decisional merit review documents for 30 additional grants; Smith has previously asked for documentation on a group of five grants and a second group…
AAA&S Restoring the Foundation Report Calls for Increased Federal Investment in Research
On September 16, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a COSSA member, released a new report, Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream. The report makes the case that Americaās economic successes in the twentieth century have largely been due to our investments in scientific research and that failure to maintain sustainable funding for research ācould threaten the very principlesāopportunity, social mobility, innovationāthat have inspired our nation for the past century.ā
COSSA Analysis of FY 2015 Senate Labor-HHS Bill
On July 24, the Senate Appropriations Committee released bill language and the accompanying Committee report for the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill. The Labor-HHS Subcommittee approved the bill via voice vote in June (see Update, June 12, 2014). It is still unclear when or if the measure will be considered by the full Senate Appropriations Committee. Instead, it is all but certain that Congress will enact a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to allow time to complete the FY 2015 appropriations process after the November elections. You can read…
NIGMS Issues Challenge / Seeks Input on Proposed New Grant Program
Two requests from theĀ National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) give social and behavioral scientists the opportunity to provide input: To highlight discoveries and breakthroughs that have been enabled by funding from the Institute, and Respond to Ā its time-sensitive Request for Information (RFI) to assist the Institute in its planning for a potential new program tentatively called Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA).
Draft COMPETES/NSF Bill Released in the Senate
Late last week, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee released a draft of itsĀ America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2014.Ā Ā The Committee is seeking comment from interested organizations by this Friday, July 25, which can be sent toĀ committee staff. COSSA intends to support the legislation. The America COMPETES Act is bipartisan legislation originally enacted in 2007 and reauthorized in 2010 to revitalize the U.S. scientific enterprise by making critical investments in U.S. basic science agencies.Ā These investments were intended to ensure the U.S.’s continued standing as the global leader in science and technology innovation. Ā COMPETES serves as authorizing legislation for the…
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…