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.
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 36 Issue 12
Featured News National Academies Highlights the Value of Social Science COSSA in Action The National Communication Association Answers “Why Social Science?” COSSA Senate Testimony Calls for Funding for NIH, AHRQ, CDC, Education Programs Congressional News House Subcommittee Discusses FY 2018 NSF Budget Federal Agency & Administration News NIH Suspends Recently-Announced Grant Support Index Policy, Launches “Next Generation Researchers Initiative” Collins to Stay on at NIH; Two Other Leadership Positions Announced Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research Care, and Services Seeks Members NIH-Supported Dissemination and Implementation Research Training Institute Seeks Applications Publications & Community Events Coalition to Promote Research Launches Petition Drive:…
National Academies Highlights the Value of Social Science
At the request of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened an expert committee, chaired by Alan Leshner, CEO Emeritus of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to study the contributions of the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences to the national interest. The committee’s report, The Value of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences to National Priorities, published last week, is a ringing endorsement of the importance of these fields to addressing “nearly every major challenge the United States faces.” The report draws three conclusions: (1) SBE sciences “produce a…
COSSA Senate Testimony Calls for Funding for NIH, AHRQ, CDC, Education Programs
On June 2, COSSA submitted testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2018. The testimony calls for increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Institute for Education Sciences (IES), and International Education and Foreign Language Programs (Title VI and Fulbright-Hays). Back to this issue’s table of contents.
House Subcommittee Discusses FY 2018 NSF Budget
On June 7, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) held a hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF), featuring NSF Director France Córdova. Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson (R-TX) opened the hearing by recognizing the important role NSF plays as the sole federal funder of basic research across all fields of science. Culberson also added that the subcommittee is going to work in a bi-partisan fashion to ensure that NSF is “appropriately funded” despite the tough budgetary environment and the appropriations process getting off to a slow…
NIH Suspends Recently-Announced Grant Support Index Policy, Launches “Next Generation Researchers Initiative”
On June 8, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins announced that based on feedback from the scientific community in response to the May 2 proposed policy change to use a Grant Support Index (GSI) as a means to “optimize stewardship of tax payers’ dollars,” NIH has decided to take “a more focused approach to increase the number of NIH-funded early-staged an mid-care investigators (ESI).” Instead of the GSI, Collins announced the agency will implement a “Next Generation Researchers Initiative (NGRI).” The issue was discussed at the June 8 NIH Advisory Committee to Director (ACD) meeting following a presentation…
Collins to Stay on at NIH; Two Other Leadership Positions Announced
On June 6, the President announced that National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins will stay on as NIH director. As previously reported, Collins was asked to remain in the position in January by the new administration. Collins continues to enjoy support of the Republican leadership of committees with jurisdiction over the NIH. He was officially appointed to the post despite a May 22 letter from 41 conservative House members urging the President to appoint someone whose views are more aligned the Administration’s “pro-life direction,” citing embryonic stem cell research and human cloning as examples. In addition, NIH recently…
Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services Seeks Members
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking seven non-Federal members for the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services. The 22-member Council consists of 12 non-federal members who fall within six categories: dementia caregivers; health care providers; researchers with dementia-related expertise in basic, translational, clinical, or drug development science; voluntary health association representatives; representatives of state health departments; and dementia patient advocates, including an advocate currently living with the disease. Nominations are due June 16, 2017. For more information, see the announcement. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIH-Supported Dissemination and Implementation Research Training Institute Seeks Applications
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is supporting a training institute designed to provide participants with a “thorough grounding in conducting D&I [dissemination and implementation] research in health across all areas of health and health care.” The Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) is open to investigators at any career stage interested in conducting D&I research. The training will be conducted both online and a during two-day in-person training session in Bethesda, MD, from August 14 through December 1,…
Coalition to Promote Research Launches Petition Drive: “Advancing Principles of Scientific Stewardship”
On June 12, the Coalition to Promote Research (CPR), which is co-led by COSSA and the American Psychological Association (a COSSA member), launched a petition drive, Advancing Principles of Scientific Stewardship. The effort is designed to make evident the support of the general public as well as the scientific community for America’s premier federal research enterprise, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The organizers hope to showcase the enormous unseen support for the peer/merit review process. The CPR petition highlights the general public’s and scientific community’s recognition that “Effective policy planning and appropriate, stable…
AAPOR Report Assesses 2016 Election Polling Performance
After Donald Trump’s surprise win in the 2016 election, the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), a COSSA governing member, convened a committee to review the performance of pre-election polling (AAPOR has convened such committees after the past several elections). The committee, chaired by Courtney Kennedy of the Pew Research Center, recently released An Evaluation of 2016 Election Polls in the U.S., outlining its findings and recommendations. According to the committee, “While the general public reaction [to the election result] was that ‘the polls failed,’ we found the reality to be more complex – a position held by a…
CJRA and COSSA to Host “Ask a Criminologist” Panel on Technology and Policing
The Crime & Justice Research Alliance (CJRA) (a collaborative effort of the Academy of Criminal Justice Science and the American Society of Criminology, both COSSA members) and COSSA will be hosting the second in a series of “Ask a Criminologist” Congressional briefings on Wednesday, June 21. This interactive event will feature criminologist experts who will provide an overview of research on the latest technologies police are using across the country. Experts include CJRA Chair Dr. Nancy La Vigne of The Urban Institute, Dr. Cynthia Lum of George Mason University, Dr. Eric Piza of John Jay College, and Eddie Reyes of…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
IES: Education Research Grants (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.305A) IES: Partnerships and Collaborations Focused on Problems of Practice or Policy (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.305H) IES: Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Education Interventions (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.305L) IES: Special Education Research Grants (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.324A) IES: Research Training Programs in Special Education (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.324B) IES: Low-Cost, Short-Duration Evaluation of Special Education Interventions (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.324L) IES: Research Networks Focused on Critical Problems of Education Policy and Practice in Special Education (FY 2018) (CFDA 84.324N) Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Events Calendar
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, June 20-23, 2017, Mexico City, Mexico Ask a Criminologist Congressional Briefing: New Policing Technologies: What Are the Impacts to Public Safety and Civil Liberties? June 21, 2017, Washington, DC Supporting Educational Achievement with Innovations Outside the Classroom: The Lunch @ DC with Chloe Gibbs, June 23, 2017, Washington, DC Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Annual Meeting, June 23-25, 2017, Albuquerque, NM Hotspot Policing: Results from Colombia – The Lunch @ DC with Don Green, July 6, 2017, Washington, DC How Evidence Can Transform the Fight Against Poverty – The Lunch @ DC with…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 36 Issue 11
Featured News COSSA Releases Analysis of the Trump Administration’s FY 2018 Budget Request COSSA in Action The American Academy of Arts & Sciences Answers “Why Social Science?” COSSA Joins Scientific Societies in Raising Concerns with Visa Changes Congressional News House Science Committee Holds Hearing on Overhead Costs of Research House Appropriations Subcommittee Holds Oversight Hearing on Advances in Biomedical Research Federal Agency & Administration News EPA Advisory Board Accepting Nominations Library of Congress Releases Digital Records to Public and Researchers Publications & Community Events Letters Urge Congressional Leaders to Support Research Agencies Funding Opportunity Announcements Events Calendar
COSSA Releases Analysis of the Trump Administration’s FY 2018 Budget Request
The Trump Administration released its fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget request on May 23. The budget seeks dramatic reductions totaling $3.6 trillion across nearly every department of the federal government, including most science and research agencies. COSSA has prepared an in-depth analysis of the FY 2018 budget request, which includes details on the President’s proposals for the dozens of departments, agencies, and programs of interest to social and behavioral science researchers. The release of the President’s budget request marks the official start of the FY 2018 appropriations process, though some Congressional committees have already begun holding their oversight hearings even…
COSSA Joins Scientific Societies in Raising Concerns with Visa Changes
COSSA joined 54 scientific societies on a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State raising concerns about the proposed supplemental questions for visa applicants. The letter discusses the community’s concerns about a possible chilling effect on international travelers to the United States, which would negatively impact U.S. higher education and scientific collaborations. The signatories also raise concerns about the lack of clarity on which visa applicants would be affected, that social media information would be collected, and that the burden of this proposed change would be…
Letters Urge Congressional Leaders to Support Research Agencies
COSSA joined dozens of scientific societies and research universities on a letter to Congressional leaders, sent on May 24, urging them to reject the Trump Administration’s proposed cuts to science agencies including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, and more. Similarly, in a Dear Colleague letter sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill, 29 Senators expressed their support for the National Science Foundation. The letter calls for the National Science Foundation to receive at least $8 billion in fiscal year…
House Science Committee Holds Hearing on Overhead Costs of Research
The Subcommittee on Research and Technology and the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology co-hosted a hearing on the overhead costs of research on May 24. The focus of the hearing was the indirect costs incurred from research, reimbursed by the government as part of research grant awards. The subcommittees primarily discussed the indirect costs from awards made by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Witnesses included Dale Bell from the Division of Institution and Award Support at NSF; John Newmann of the Government Accountability Office; James Luther, Vice President for Finance and Compliance at…