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.
Congressman Mick Mulvaney Nominated for OMB Director
On December 16, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to serve as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the Trump Administration. Mulvaney made a name for himself during his three terms in the House as an outspoken opponent of government spending. OMB serves as the implementation and enforcement arm of Presidential policy through budget development, oversight of agency performance, legislative coordination, and oversight of executive orders. If confirmed by the Senate, Mulvaney will have broad responsibilities implementing President-elect Trump’s agenda, including a central role in health care and tax policy changes, as well…
Census Bureau Establishes 2020 Advisory Committee, Calls for Nominations
The Census Bureau announced the establishment of a Census Bureau 2020 Advisory Committee, which will provide expertise and advice to Bureau leadership on matters related to the planning and implementation of the 2020 decennial census. The Bureau is seeking nominations to fill the 25-member Committee, particularly candidates with expertise related to “diverse populations; national, state, local and tribal interest; hard-to-count populations; research; community-based organizations; academia; business interests; marketing and media industries; and professional associations.” More information is available in the Federal Register notice. Nominations must be submitted by January 19, 2017. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
National Library of Medicine Seeks Input into Strategic Planning Process
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking input into its strategic planning process and has issued a Request for Information (RFI): Strategic Plan for the National Library of Medicine, NIH (NOT-LM-7-002). Priorities and future direction under consideration by the Institute revolve around four themes: (1) advancing data science, open science, and biomedical informatics; (2) advancing biomedical discovery and translational science; (3) supporting the public’s health: clinical systems, public health systems and services, and personal health; and (4) building collections to support discovery and health in the 21st century. Specifically, NLM is inviting…
Federal Agencies Clarify Programmatic Goals and Specific Interests for Multiscale Modeling Initiative
In December 2016, seven federal agencies–National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Army Research Office (ARO), Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR)–released a notice (NOT-EB-16-011) clarifying the programmatic goals and specific interests of the interagency funding opportunity announcement Predictive Multiscale Models for Biomedical, Biological, Behavioral, Environmental and Clinical Research (PAR-15-085). See the notice for full details. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
COSSA Remembers Stephen Fienberg
COSSA was saddened to learn of the death of Stephen E. Fienberg, University Professor of Statistics and Social Science at Carnegie Mellon University, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a champion of federal statistics. More about Fienberg’s life and legacy can be found in his Carnegie Mellon News obituary. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Funding Opportunity Announcements
ED/OPE: Fulbright-Hays–Group Projects Abroad Program, FY 2017 NIJ: Research on Bias Crimes (NIJ-2017-11184) NIH Opportunities: FIC: Planning for Non-Communicable Diseases and Disorders Research Training Programs in Low and Middle Income Countries (D71) (PAR-17-097) NIDA/NIMH: Implementation Science for the Prevention and Treatment of Mental and/or Substance use Disorders in Low- and Middle-income Countries (U01) (RFA-MH-17-650) NIGMS: Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (R35) (PAR-17-094) NIH: Administrative Supplements for Research on Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Populations (Admin Supp) (PA-17-098) [NCATS, NCCIH, NCI, NHGRI, NIA, NIAAA, NIAID, NIAMS, NIDA, NIDCD, NIDCR, NIMH, NIMHD, NINR, OAR, ODP, ORWH] NIH: Jointly Sponsored Ruth L. Kirschstein National…
National Communication Association Announces Next Executive Director
The National Communication Association (NCA), a COSSA Governing Member, has announced the appointment of Dr. Paaige K. Turner as its next Executive Director. Turner is currently Associate Dean and Professor in the School of Communications at Webster University in St. Louis. She will begin her tenure at NCA on April 1. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
AERA Extends Deadline for Congressional Fellowships
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA Governing Member, has extended the deadline for the 2017-2018 Congressional Fellowship Program. Applications are due January 17, 2017 for fellowships that run from September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018. The fellowship aims to “use education research skills to inform public policy in a Congressional office in Washington, D.C.” Interested candidates can apply here. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Events Calendar
AERA Centennial Lecture: Bridget Terry Long – Supporting College Student Access and Success, January 11, 2017, Los Angeles, CA Society for Social Work and Research Annual Meeting, January 11-15, 2017, San Francisco, CA Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, January 12-14, 2017, New Orleans, LA Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, January 19-21, 2017, San Antonio, TX AERA Centennial Lecture: Deborah Lowe Vandell – The Opportunities and Challenges of Early Child Care and Education, Feburary 22, 2017, Oklahoma City, OK American Psychosomatic Society Annual Scientific Meeting, March 15-18, 2017, Seville, Spain Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, March 16-19,…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35 Issue 23
Featured News COSSA Releases 2017 Rankings of Social and Behavioral Science Funding at Colleges and Universities COSSA in Action COSSA Joins Scientific Community in Calling for President-Elect to Name a Science Advisor New Issue of “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Wasteful Research’” Congressional News Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Adjourns 21st Century Cures Act Becomes Law Last-Ditch Effort to Pass “COMPETES” Legislation Falls Short GOP Chairmen Send Letter of Support for NIH Director; Maryland Lawmaker Expresses Interest in Leading Agency Federal Agency & Administration News Healthier Lives Through Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: NIH OBSSR Releases Strategic Plan for 2017-2021…
COSSA Releases 2017 Rankings of Social and Behavioral Science Funding at Colleges and Universities
COSSA recently released its 2017 College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlights the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences. Nine of this year’s top 10 recipients of federal funding in the social and behavioral sciences are COSSA members. Based on federally collected data, the COSSA rankings use an inclusive selection of fields to calculate the total federal R&D funding received by universities in the social and behavioral sciences. The 2017 rankings reflect spending from fiscal year 2015, the most current available data. You can find more information on how COSSA…
COSSA Joins Scientific Community in Calling for President-Elect to Name a Science Advisor
In a letter to the presidential transition team, COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus joined the leadership of 28 other leading science organization in calling for President-Elect Trump to quickly appoint a qualified Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. They urge the President-Elect to name a candidate who is “a nationally respected leader with appropriate engineering, scientific, management and policy skills.” The letter notes, “If we are to maintain America’s global leadership, and respond to the economic and security challenges currently facing the nation, we must build on our strong history of federal support for innovation, entrepreneurship and science…
New Issue of “Setting the Record Straight on ‘Wasteful Research’”
COSSA has released the latest issue of Setting the Record Straight on “Wasteful Research” (PDF available here), a series of interviews with researchers whose work has been called out in Congressional wastebooks or other attacks. This series aims to give these scientists the chance to set the record straight about the value and potential of their work– and confront misconceptions about social science research funded by the federal government. This edition features Megan Tracy (James Madison University), whose National Science Foundation-funded study on regulations in China’s dairy industry was one of the targets of Lamar Smith’s inquiry into NSF grants in 2013 and…
Congress Passes Stopgap Funding Bill, Adjourns
Congress passed another continuing resolution (CR) late in the evening on December 9, just a few hours before government funding would have run out. This stop-gap funding measure will keep the government funded until April 28, 2017. The bill, passed with the support of the incoming Trump Administration, will leave the fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations process unfinished and delay major spending decisions to the next Congress and next Administration. The text of the Continuing Resolution is available here. For full details of the FY 2017 spending debate as it pertains to social science research, check out COSSA’s coverage. Back…
21st Century Cures Act Becomes Law
In a display of bipartisanship, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act. The House overwhelmingly passed an updated version of the bill (H.R. 34) on November 30 by a vote of 392 to 26. On December 7, the Senate followed suit with its consideration of the bill and passed it by a recorded vote of 94 to 5. President Obama signed the bill on December 13. The comprehensive bill provides an infusion of funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve drugs and devices with greater urgency, provides resources…
Last-Ditch Effort to Pass “COMPETES” Legislation Falls Short
In a last-minute show of bipartisanship, the Senate passed the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S. 3084) before adjourning for the year. However, given that the House had already effectively adjourned for the remainder of the 114th Congress, the bill will not become law this year. It may resurface early in the next Congress; however, given all of the questions surrounding the incoming Trump Administration, future consideration is not guaranteed. Before the House adjourned, House and Senate Committees had been quietly conferencing S. 3084 with the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1806) over the last several weeks. As previously reported,…
GOP Chairmen Send Letter of Support for NIH Director; Maryland Lawmaker Expresses Interest in Leading Agency
On December 2, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and House and Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairmen Tom Cole (R-OK) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) sent a letter to President-elect Trump’s transition team, urging the new administration to retain National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins. The chairmen state that Collins is the “right person, at the right time” to lead the NIH. They further emphasized that “under his leadership with Congress’ commitment to biomedical research as a national priority, the National Institutes of Health…
Healthier Lives Through Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: NIH OBSSR Releases Strategic Plan for 2017-2021
On November 23, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) officially released its Strategic Plan 2017-2021. The plan focuses on the scientific priorities and fundamental research challenges that “OBSSR is uniquely positioned to address,” according to OBSSR Director William Riley. The overarching theme of the three “equally important scientific priorities identified in the plan … is to encourage a more cumulative and integrated behavioral and social science research enterprise that extends from basic science through the adoption of approaches to improve the nation’s health.” Specifically, the three priorities are: Improve the synergy of…
U.S. Surgeon General Releases Landmark Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health
On November 17, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy released the first-ever Surgeon General’s report on the substance abuse health afflicting communities. The comprehensive report, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, reviews the science of substance use, misuse, and disorders, providing an in-depth look with chapters covering neurobiology, prevention, treatment, recovery, health systems integration, as well as recommendations for the future. It also calls for a “cultural shift in the way Americans talk about the issue,” and recommends actions that can be taken to prevent and treat these conditions, as well as promote recovery….
Interagency Working Group on Language and Communication Seeks Input on R&D Report
The Interagency Working Group on Language and Communication (IWGLC) is seeking public input on its recently released report, which establishes a taxonomy to classify current federal research and development activities related to language and communication. Housed within the National Science and Technology Council, the IWGLC (charter) is made up of representatives from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Department of Commerce, National Endowment for the Humanities,…