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
AERA and National Academies to Host Forum on Educational Equity Research Needs
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) are partnering on a forum on the research needs and implications of the 2019 Academiesâ report Monitoring Educational Equity. The forum will feature experts who served on the National Academies panel that produced the report and explore a select set of the 16 indicators proposed in the report, including exposure to racial, ethnic, and economic segregation; non-exclusionary disciplinary policies; access to non-academic support for students; and access to high-quality academic supports. The forum will take place on December 15, 2020…
NIMH Seeking Guidance for Research on Preventing Black Youth Suicide
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a request for information (RFI) seeking input from stakeholders on the prevention of suicide among Black children and adolescents. The RFI seeks information on approaches to understanding suicide risk among Black youth, research needed to expand evidence-based prevention programs and services, and input on additional topics that may be relevant to preventing Black youth suicide. This request follows up on the recommendations included in a 2019 report from the Congressional Black Caucus examining ways to address Black youth suicide and mental health. Comments will…
White House Announces Final Appointments for National Science Board
On November 24, the White House announced nominations and appointments for several key federal positions including the final two appointments filling out the National Science Board (NSB), the advisory body for the National Science Foundation (NSF). These appointments mark the first time since May that the NSB has had all seats filled and will be the last opportunity for the Trump White House to submit appointments to the NSB before the Presidential transition. The two NSB appointees are: Matthew Malkan, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles Scott Stanley, Vice President of Technology and Co-Founder…
Congress Works to Close Out Term as Leaders Named for 117th Congress
With time running out before the current continuing resolution (CR) funding the government expires on December 11, Congressional leaders are still working to negotiate a final deal for an omnibus spending package to fully fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2021. Reportedly, appropriators have reached an agreement on the top-line funding levels for the various appropriations bills (see COSSAâs analyses of the House and Senate proposals). The main obstacle appears to disagreement be on the size and composition of an additional COVID-19 relief funding package, which would be attached to one of the appropriations bills to…
December Headlines to Feature Deep Dive on 2021 Policy Landscape
COSSA members are invited to register for the monthly Headlines webchat on Thursday, December 10 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time. The COSSA team will break down the most important social and behavioral science news from the past month, followed by a deep dive discussion on the social science policy landscape facing the new Congress and the Biden Administration next year. Individuals employed by or affiliated with a COSSA member organization or university can register for the webchat here.
NSF Invites Proposals for New SBE-Led Initiatives on Strengthening Infrastructure, Broadening Participation in Entrepreneurship, and Enhancing Social Science Capacity at Minority-Serving Institutions
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a pair of Dear Colleague Letters (DCL) soliciting applications from the research community on two new crosscutting initiatives led by the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). The first letter, Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI), signed by the Assistant Directors of all seven research directorates and the head of the Office of Integrative Activities, seeks Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals that âincorporate scientific insights about human behavior and social dynamics to better develop, design, build, rehabilitate, and maintain strong and effective American infrastructureâ (which can include cyber, economic, educational, physical,…
Senate Releases Appropriations Bills Ahead of Omnibus Negotiations
On November 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the text of all 12 fiscal year (FY) 2021 appropriations bills; this is for the fiscal year that officially began last month on October 1. As previously reported, the House of Representatives passed 10 of its bills in July. The release of the Senate bills signals that lawmakers plan to negotiate final FY 2021 spending during this post-election lame duck session. Senators are not expected to take up the bills on the Senate floor; rather, their bills are meant as a jumping off point for negotiations with the House on a final…
NIH to Hold Webinar on Basic Experimental Studies with Humans
On December 7, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be holding a public webinar on the Basic Experimental Studies with Humans (BESH) classification of NIH-funded research. The webinar, which will be led by Acting Director of ClinicalTrials.gov Rebecca Williams and NIH Technical Specialist at ICF International Elisa Golfinopoulos, will discuss an analysis from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) on the challenges of reporting and registering results information of BESH on ClinicalTrials.gov and the broader implications of the NLMâs findings. The webinar will be streamed live on the NIH website.
NSF Accepting Career-Life Balance Supplemental Funding Requests
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that it is accepting supplemental funding requests for current NSF grantees and research fellows under its Career-Life Balance (CLB) initiative. This initiative, which began in 2012, gives financial support to early-career researchers with the goal of preventing leaving the STEM workforce due to sudden increases in family care responsibilities and costs. The award requests may be for funding for up to six months of salary or up to a $30,000 stipend plus indirect costs. More information about the CLB initiative and instructions on submitting supplemental funding requests are available on the NSF website.
Day One Project Seeks Input on Top 100 Science Roles in Government
The Day One Project is seeking the science community’s input on the most important science and technology roles in government. An initiative of the Federation of American Scientists, the Day One Project seeks to involve the science and technology community in the presidential transition by “developing new proposals on key issues that can be useful to policymakers on the first day of a new presidential term and beyond.” As part of an effort to identify the top 100 most important federal positions for science and technology, the project is seeking ideas for both what these roles are currently, as well…
Edward Liebow, COSSA Board Chair, Named 2020 AAAS Fellow
On November 24, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) released its list of newly elected AAAS Fellows, a lifetime honor given to select AAAS members who have made significant contributions to the U.S. science and technology enterprise. Among the awardees chosen for 2020 is Dr. Edward Liebow, Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and Chair of COSSAâs Board of Directors. Liebow is recognized for his âdistinguished contributions to the field of applied anthropology, and particularly for exemplary administration of professional societies and non-profit research and policy institutions.â Liebow became AAA Executive Director in 2013 after…
Day One Project Seeks Input on Top 100 Science Roles in Government
The Day One Project is seeking the science communityâs input on the most important science and technology roles in government. An initiative of the Federation of American Scientists, the Day One Project seeks to involve the science and technology community in the presidential transition by âdeveloping new proposals on key issues that can be useful to policymakers on the first day of a new presidential term and beyond.â As part of an effort to identify the top 100 most important federal positions for science and technology, the project is seeking ideas for both what these roles are currently, as well as ideas…
Senate Kicks Off Lame Duck Session by Releasing FY 2021 Spending Bills
The Senate Appropriations Committee released all 12 of its annual appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2021, which would fund the government for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2020. The government is currently operating under a continuing resolution that expires on December 11 (see COSSAâs previous coverage). The House released all of its annual appropriations bills in July and passed 10 of them (see COSSAâs analysis). The Senate Appropriations Committee is not planning to consider the bills; rather, they will be used as a starting point for negotiations with House appropriators as both chambers attempt to reach…
President-Elect Biden and a Divided Congress: 2021 Policy Outlook
The results of the 2020 elections seemed to have something for everyone to be happy (or unhappy) about. Former Vice President Joe Biden pulled out a convincing electoral victory, and while President Trump has yet to concede and his team continues to threaten legal challenges to the results, these protestations seem to be largely political theater at this point. However, while winning the White House was obviously the most important outcome for Democrats, they dramatically underperformed expectations in the Congressional races. This outcome likely leaves President-elect Biden with a difficult landscape to navigate in order to enact his policy agenda…
AAPSS Seminar Highlights Pandemicâs Impact on Working Families
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS), a COSSA member, held a virtual seminar on October 29 convening a panel of experts to discuss âWorking Parents in COVID-19: The Impact and the Policy Response.â The panel was moderated by Isabel Sawhill, Brookings Institution, and featured presentations by Michal Grinstein-Wiess, Washington University in St. Louis; Molly Kinder, Brookings Institution; Claudia Goldin, Harvard University; and Nisha Patel, Washington University in St. Louis. Panelists discussed the unique impacts of the pandemic on economically vulnerable working families and potential policy solutions that could assist these familiesâ recovery. A recording of the webcast…
NIH Releases Final Policy for Data Management and Sharing
On October 29, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its final agency policy for data management and sharing (DMS) of scientific data generated from NIH-funded or conducted research. The NIHâs DMS policy takes stakeholder feedback into account to ensure that data from scientific research is accessible, sharable, and managed properly. More information about the policy is available on the NIH website. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH Seeking Comments on Agency-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research
On October 28, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a request for information (RFI) to gather public input on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research released in July (see previous COSSA coverage for more details). As the coronavirus pandemic persists, NIH acknowledges that the framework in the Strategic Plan should be updated periodically to meet the needs of the research community in addressing the pandemic. NIH is seeking comments related to the following topics: Significant research gaps or barriers not currently identified in the Strategic Plan; Resources required or lacking that could advance the priorities in the Strategic…
November Headlines to Feature Deep Dive on 2020 Election
COSSA members are encouraged to sign up for the monthly Headlines webchat on Thursday, November 12 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time. The COSSA team will break down the most important social and behavioral science news from the past month, followed by a deep dive discussion on the 2020 election with Costas Panagopoulos, Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University and member of the American Political Science Association’s Election Assistance Task Force. Individuals employed by or affiliated with a COSSA member organization or university can register for the webchat here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Executive Director Featured on âMomentum HSSâ Podcast
Wendy Naus, COSSA Executive Director, was featured on a recent episode of the Momentum HSS podcast, which âfeatures conversations with Humanities and Social Sciences scholars, associational leaders, funders, and others who comprise the vast network of Humanities and Social Sciences support.â Her conversation with host Darby Orcutt of North Carolina State University covered the relationship between social science and STEM, the unique challenges of advocating for the social sciences, and an overview of trends in federal support for social science research. All episodes of the Momentum HSS podcast can be found here. Back to this issueâs table of contents.