A staple since COSSAâs 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.Â
Science and Human Rights Coalition Explores the Risks and Promise of Big Data
The AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition, of which COSSA is a member, held its biannual meeting on January 15, focusing on the connections between Big Data and Human Rights. The Coalition brings together organizations and individuals who recognized a role for scientists and engineers in human rights.
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 34 Issue 1
From the Executive Director Featured News COSSA Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day, March 9-10 â Registration now open Congressional News 114th Congress Gavels In; Committee Leaders Appointed Federal Agency & Administration News Presidentâs FY 2016 Budget Request to be Released February 2 SACHRP Seeks Nominations for New Members Public Comment Sought for Death Master File Certification Program Profile of New BEA Director in Amstat News Publications & Community Events NRC Roundtable Discusses Need for Improved Public Understanding of Social Science Research Funding Opportunities NSF: Science of Learning Collaborative Networks NIH: BD2K Biomedical Science Training Coordination Center NIH: BD2K MOOC on…
From the Executive Director
Happy 2015! COSSA is thrilled to kick-off the New Year with a brand new logo, look, and website. Check it out at www.cossa.org, where you will also find the latest news and analysis of policy developments impacting social and behavioral science research, archives of the COSSA Washington Update, details on the upcoming COSSA Annual Meeting and Advocacy Day (more below), information on how to become a COSSA member, and much more. We are looking forward to working with you in the year ahead to promote social and behavioral science research! Wendy A. Naus COSSA Executive Director Back to this issueâs…
COSSA Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day, March 9-10 â Registration now open
Registration is now open for the 2015 COSSA Annual Meeting and Social and Behavioral Science Advocacy Day scheduled for March 9-10, 2015 in Washington, DC. The meeting is open to the public; however, the advocacy day meetings are reserved for representatives of COSSA member organizations and institutions. The COSSA Annual Meeting brings together representatives from throughout the social and behavioral science community for a day of discussion on federal issues impacting social and behavioral science research. It provides an opportunity for COSSA members and others to engage directly with leaders of federal science agencies, Congressional staff, and colleagues from other associations and…
114th Congress Gavels In; Committee Leaders Appointed
The 114th Congress was officially sworn in on January 6. The new Congress includes a freshman class of 52 Representatives (36 Republicans and 16 Democrats) and 12 Senators (11 Republicans and 1 Democrat), as well as a new GOP majority in the Senate. The party split now stands at 246 Republicans to 188 Democrats (and 1 vacancy) in the House and 54 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 2 Independents in the Senate.
Presidentâs FY 2016 Budget Request to Be Released February 2
In an effort to promote a return of the annual appropriations process to âregular order,â the White House announced that it will release its fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget request to Congress by the legally-mandated deadline of the first Monday in February (February 2). This will be the first time in five years that the request is submitted on time; the request was released several weeks late in previous years. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
SACHRP Seeks Nominations for New Members
The Secretaryâs Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP), the advisory body of the Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP), is seeking nominations to fill two spots that will become vacant in July 2015. The Committee provides guidance on matters ârelating to the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects with particular emphasis on special populations such as neonates and children, prisoners, the decisionally impaired, pregnant women, embryos and fetuses, individuals and populations in international studies, populations in which there are individually identifiable samples, data or information; and investigator conflicts of interest.â Qualified candidates will possess expertise and experience in…
Public Comment Sought for Death Master File Certification Program
On December 30, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register for the establishment of a certification program to âcertifyâ persons to access Death Master File (DMF) information about an individual within three years of that individual’s death. The new program would replace the temporary certification program in place since 2013. The deadline for comments has been extended to March 30. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Profile of New BEA Director in Amstat News
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Director Brian Moyer was recently profiled in Amstat News, the membership newsletter of the American Statistical Association (ASA). The piece gives readers a closer look at the new BEA head, whose tenure began in September 2014, as well as a deeper understanding of the agency itself. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
NRC Roundtable Discusses Need for Improved Public Understanding of Social Science Research
On January 8, the National Research Council (NRC) Roundtable on the Application of Social and Behavioral Science Research convened its first meeting. Chaired by Arthur âSkipâ Lupia from the University of Michigan, the Roundtable brings together a diverse set of stakeholders in the social and behavioral science community to discuss ways to improve public understanding of social science research as well as the research communityâs understanding of the uses of research by various sectors, such as industry, military, or public health. Membership includes âthose who create SBS research, those who use it, and those who know how to communicate about…
NSF: Science of Learning Collaborative Networks
The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites proposals for the creation of new research networks to address important questions in the Science of Learning (SL). The networks are intended to âfoster the creation of new networks of investigators who will integrate scientific ideas across disciplines and professions to conduct novel, exploratory research that has the potential to provide transformative advances in our understanding of learning.â The solicitation and NSFâs new Science of Learning Program represent the next phase in NSFâs support for SL after the recent sunsetting of its Science of Learning Centers (SLC) program, which launched in 2003. The goals…
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. Researchersâ 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…
NIH: BD2K MOOC on Data Management for Biomedical Big Data
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking applications designed to develop an open, online educational course that complements and/or enhances the training of a workforce to meet the nationâs biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA), NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Initiative Research Education: Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Data Management (RFA-LM-15-001), focuses on curriculum or methods development.
NIJ: Forensic Science and Elder Abuse
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has issued a solicitation for proposals on research and development in forensic science for criminal justice purposes. The agency is looking to fund research that will â(1) Increase the body of knowledge to guide and inform forensic science policy and practice or; (2) Result in the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods that have the potential for forensic application.â Proposals examining human factors as they relate to specific disciplines within forensic science will be accepted. More information is available in the full solicitation. The deadline for proposals is April 8, 2015.
COSSA Welcomes New Members in 2015
COSSA welcomes two new members this year. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) has joined as COSSAâs 19th Governing Member association. As a Governing Member, SPSP holds a seat on the COSSA Board of Directors. SPSP is the largest organization of social psychologists and personality psychologists, with more than 5,500 members. COSSA is also pleased to welcome the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research (OIBR) at the University of Georgia as a new member in the Centers and Institutes category. OIBR strives to âcatalyze high-impact interdisciplinary researchâ in the social and behavioral sciences across the university. COSSAâs full membership…
Events Calendar
Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, January 14-18, 2015 Southern Political Science Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, January 15-17, 2015 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA, February 26-28, 2015 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, March 3-7, 2015 Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations Annual Meeting, New Brunswick, NJ, March 5-7, 2015 COSSA Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day, Washington, DC, March 9-10, 2015 A list of COSSA membersâ annual meetings and other events can be found on the COSSA webpage. Back to this issueâs table of…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 33 Issue 23
Featured News NIH Discontinues National Childrenâs Study COSSA in Action COSSA Urges Census to Maintain Field of Degree, Marriage Questions in ACS Congressional News Congress passes FY 2015 Spending Bill, Adjourns for the Year Federal Agency & Administration News NSF Seeks Social Science Communications Specialist SMRB Accepts Working Group Report On Pre-College Engagement In Biomedical Science NSF Updates Transparency and Accountability Practices New Releases From NCHS: Health Insurance Coverage, Contraception, Nut Consumption Publications & Community Events Gilbert White Lecture Focuses on Reducing Losses from Natural Hazards Funding Opportunities NIH: Cancer Institute Releases Series of Funding Announcements NIJ: Social Science Research…
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 âlow benefit.â COSSAâs comments outline the importance of Person Question No. 12âUndergraduate Field of Degreeâand 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…
Congress passes FY 2015 Spending Bill, Adjourns for the Year
Congress adjourned this week for the remainder of 2014 after a busy, and often contentious, lame duck legislative session. Among its post-election activities was passage of a spending package for 11 of the 12 outstanding fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills. The âcromnibus,â as it is being called inside the Beltway, was signed into law by President Obama on December 16. COSSA has prepared a full analysis of the spending package outlining its impact on social and behavioral science research programs funded across the federal government. Read on for full details. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
NSF Seeks Social Science Communications Specialist
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking candidates for a new position within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). The Communications Specialist will âdevelop and implement a strategy to communicate information about the Directorate’s support of research, education, and training in the social, behavioral and economic sciences.â Among the required qualifications includes âexperience with a science organization developing and implementing integrated communications strategies to promote research about social, behavioral, and economic sciences to a variety of audiences and stakeholders.â The announcement closes on January 16, 2015. Back to this issueâs table of contents.