A staple since COSSA’s earliest days, the biweekly COSSA Washington Update newsletter provides members and the public with comprehensive coverage of policy developments impacting social and behavioral science research.
Summaries Available from COSSA Annual Meeting
Thank you to all who attended the 2015 COSSA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC on March 9-10. Summaries and presentations from several of the sessions are available on the Annual Meeting webpage. Speakers included France Cordova, Director of the National Science Foundation, William Riley, Acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, among others. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Joins Coalitions Requesting Strong FY 2016 Appropriations
As Congress begins to consider funding for fiscal year (FY) 2016, COSSA has joined dozens of other organizations and coalitions on letters to appropriators in support of strong levels of funding for the federal agencies that support social and behavioral science research. Check our website for the most updated list of letters COSSA has joined. February 25: $1.5 billion for the Census Bureau – House/Senate (Census Project) February 27: $29 million for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics March 3: $32 billion for the National Institutes of Health (Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research) March 6: $703.6 million for the Institute…
NSF Releases Public Access Plan
On March 18, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a framework for increasing public access to federally-funded scientific research results made possible through NSF support. The plan aligns with a 2013 memorandum issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which called on each federal agency to develop public access plans. The NSF plan calls for “versions of record” or final manuscripts accepted to peer-reviewed journals to be deposited into a publicly accessible repository (designated by NSF) and be available for download free of charge within 12 months of initial publication. The guidance will apply to new awards in 2016….
NIGMS Releases 2015-2020 Strategic Plan
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) recently released its 2015 -2020 strategic plan. According to NIGMS director Jon Lorsch, the plan outlines the Institute’s priorities and activities, including “the goals, objectives and implementation strategies that the Institute—in partnership with the scientific community at universities, professional societies and other federal agencies—will engage in over the next five years.” Additionally, the plan provides “snapshots” of specific institute priorities and achievements. In his director’s message, Lorsch emphasizes that the Institute continues to place “great emphasis on supporting investigator-initiated research grants” and highlights NIGMS emphasis on “the…
White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team Seeks Fellows and Associates
The White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) has issued a call for fellows and associates to “translate insights from the social and behavioral sciences into concrete recommendations for how to improve federal programs, policies, and operations…” This activity was referenced in the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request (see page 5). Fellows tend to be researchers holding a PhD in a social science field who take leave from their university, government agency, etc. to serve in this position. Associates are researchers currently pursuing a PhD in a related field, or who have a Master’s degree plus two years or more of relevant experience. …
COSSA/CPR Sponsor “NIH 101” Congressional Briefing
On February 27, the COSSA-led Coalition to Promote Research (CPR) organized a Congressional briefing designed to provide an overview of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) peer review process and the types of grants funded by the agency. The briefing’s speaker, Keith Yamamoto, vice chancellor for research and executive vice dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is a leading molecular biologist and has served on the NIH’s Center for Scientific Review’s advisory committee, as well as other NIH advisory panels and peer review committees. Using contemporary biology, Yamamoto discussed the NIH priority-setting process…
NRC Workshop Discusses Changing Social Norms
The National Research Council’s Committee on the Science of Changing Behavioral Health Norms held its first workshop on March 18, “Lessons Learned from Diverse Efforts to Change Social Norms.” The project, which is housed within the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, is co-sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The committee is charged with helping SAMHSA “implement strategies that improve attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders.” Sessions focused on messaging strategies, methods for…
COSSA Welcomes Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
COSSA is pleased to welcome the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) as its newest member. Headquartered in New York, NY, ABCT works to promote “advancement of scientific approaches to the understanding and improvement of human functioning through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to the assessment, prevention, treatment of human problems, and the enhancement of health and well-being.” COSSA’s full membership list can be viewed here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Events Calendar
Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, March 25-29, 2015 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, March 26-29, 2015 Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO, March 26-29, 2015 NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture on Social Science Research, Bethesda, MD, April 1, 2015 Southwestern Social Science Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, April 8-11, 2015 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 16-20, 2015 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 16-19, 2015 Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 21-25, 2015 Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions, San…
NIH: Research Education Program Funding Opportunities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH institutes and centers. Additionally, the program goals include an effort to enhance the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research workforce; recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences; and foster a better understanding of this research and its implications. Several of the institutes recently released funding opportunity announcement seeking applications for activities related to their research domains. NIMH Research Education Mentoring Program for HIV/AIDS Researchers…
House Panel Discusses Department of Education’s FY 2016 Budget Request
On March 4, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to discuss the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget request for the Department of Education. Subcommittee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) opened the hearing by noting the “education of America’s children is critical, not only to prepare them for the workforce, but to strengthen the economic health of our nation as a whole.” Cole noted that he also sits on the House Budget Committee and expressed his hope for a bigger deal between Congress and the Administration…
House Funding Panel Discusses NIH Budget
On March 3, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins and five of the NIH’s 27 Institute and Center directors made their first appearance before the new chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), Tom Cole (R-OK). Full Appropriations Committee chair Harold Rogers (R-KY) was also in attendance.
Senate HELP Committee Examines “U.S. Leadership in Medical Innovation”
On March 10, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held its first in a series of anticipated hearings on “U.S. Leadership in Medical Innovation.” Opening the hearing, HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced that he and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) intend to focus on three major actions over the next two years: (1) “fixing” the No Child Left Behind Act; (2) simplifying and reauthorizing the federal government’s supervision of higher education in America; and (3) dealing with the “exciting new era of medicine.” Regarding the latter, Alexander noted that the House is moving on a…
NIH: Mobilizing Research – A Research Resource to Enhance mHealth
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NBIB), and the National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) designed to support the development of Mobilizing Research, a research resource that would allow researchers to more efficiently and rapidly evaluate mobile and wireless (mHealth) technologies. Mobile and wireless health technologies offer the potential to transform and advance research, prevent disease, improve diagnosis, treatment, and…
House Funding Panel Discusses NSF Budget, Social Science Funding
On March 17, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) held a hearing to discuss the fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget proposal for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The hearing featured testimony from NSF Director France Córdova.
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 4
COSSA in Action COSSA Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day Attracts Over 100 COSSA Resources Illustrate Value of Social Science Research Congressional News Science Subcommittee Discusses FY 2016 NSF Budget, Social Science Funding Federal Agency & Administration News Nominations Sought for National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation FDA, OHRP Seek Comment on Proposed Guidance on Electronic Consent Events Calendar Next COSSA Washington Update: March 24 View the archived email.
COSSA Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day Attracts Over 100
More than 100 social and behavioral scientists from across the country attended the 2015 COSSA Annual Meeting and related events on March 9-10. This week’s meeting featured a new format for the annual event, which included moving of the meeting from the fall when it had historically been held, to the spring in order to align with Congressional calendar. As part of the meeting on March 10, more than 60 COSSA members descended on Capitol Hill for the first-ever Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day. Advocates met with 84 different offices in the House and Senate to discuss the value…
COSSA Resources Illustrate Value of Social Science Research
COSSA has developed a series of resources to help its members articulate the value of social and behavioral science research to policy makers and the public. These resources include: State-by-state funding fact sheets Contributions of Social and Behavioral Science to Issues of National Significance FY 2016 Funding Request One-Pagers for NSF, NIH, DOJ and Federal Statistical Agencies FY 2016 Funding Request Talking Points Analysis of the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request for Social and Behavioral Science Research COSSA Handbook for Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy COSSA’s TAKE ACTION page Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Science Subcommittee Discusses FY 2016 NSF Budget, Social Science Funding
On February 26, the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research Technology held an oversight hearing to discuss the fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The hearing featured testimony from NSF Director France Córdova and Daniel Arvizu, Chairman of the National Science Board.
Nominations Sought for National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Nominations are currently being accepted for the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The National Medal of Science is awarded by the President to individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding cumulative contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or behavioral or social sciences, in service to the nation. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is awarded to individuals, teams, companies, or divisions of companies for contributions to America’s economic, environmental, and social well-being. Nominations for the National Medal of Science are due on April 27, 2015. More…