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
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35 Issue 13
Featured News Senate Introduces âCOMPETESâ Reauthorization Bill Congressional News Appropriations Process Grinds to a Halt Lipinski Introduces Legislation to Improve Research Regulations Federal Agency & Administration News Impact Report Highlights Obama Administrationâs Science Initiatives Acting Agricultural Statistics Board Chair Named Scientific Workforce Diversity Discussed at NIH Advisory Committee Meeting Census Scientific Advisory Committee Seeks Nominations Nominations Open for NSB Awards Publications & Community Events NAS Webinar Puts Recent âAdvancing the Power of Economic Evidenceâ Report in International Context Funding Opportunity Announcements COSSA Member Spotlight CJRA & COSSA to Host âAsk a Criminologistâ Roundtable on Homicide Rates Events Calendar
Senate Introduces âCOMPETESâ Reauthorization Bill
On June 22, Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Thune (R-SD), and Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced the bipartisan American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (S. 3084), which is the Senateâs version of America COMPETES Act reauthorization legislation. As COSSA has been reporting, the America COMPETES Act is legislation originally enacted in 2007 to bolster U.S. investment in basic scientific research at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal science agencies. The Houseâs efforts to reauthorize COMPETES took a negative turn in recent years, resulting in legislation that would decimate federal funding for social science research and dismantle the…
Appropriations Process Grinds to a Halt
It was only a matter of time before the fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations process ground to a halt in anticipation of the extended summer recess. Tensions came to a head last week with a Democratic sit-in on the House floor in demand of a vote on gun safety legislation, and a 15-hour Democratic filibuster of the FY 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill in the Senate to force votes on gun violence-related amendments, which were allowed late in the week. In light of the renewed focus on gun control in the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy, any bipartisan progress…
Lipinski Introduces Legislation to Improve Research Regulations
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced legislation on June 24 intended to develop ways to alleviate some of the administrative burden placed on federally funded researchers and institutions. The University Regulations Streamlining and Harmonization Act of 2016 (H.R. 5583), which is co-sponsored by Lipinskiâs Illinois colleague from across the aisle, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), builds on recommendations from a 2015 National Academies report, Optimizing the Nation’s Investment in Academic Research: A New Regulatory Framework for the 21st Century, Part 1 (part 2 of the report will be released on June 28). The improvements and efficiencies proposed in the bill include establishing…
Impact Report Highlights Obama Administrationâs Science Initiatives
On June 21, the White House released 100 Examples of President Obamaâs Leadership in Science, Technology, and Innovation. Among the initiatives and policies listed are efforts to increase scientific transparency at federal science agencies, the formation of science-related councils and groups at the White House, and the creation of multiple science and research-related tax credits. Many of the initiatives promoted the social and behavioral sciences, including creating the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) at the White House, publishing thousands of federal datasets on data.gov, and implementing a multi-agency plan to harness big data. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
CJRA & COSSA to Host âAsk a Criminologistâ Roundtable on Homicide Rates
The Crime & Justice Research Alliance (CJRA) (a collaborative effort of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society of Criminology, both COSSA members) and COSSA will be hosting the first in a series of âAsk a Criminologistâ Congressional roundtables on Thursday, July 7.  This roundtable will feature new research commissioned by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) exploring why homicide rates in the United States increased in 2015 and include a discussion with CJRA Chair Dr. Nancy La Vigne, Dr. Richard Rosenfeld, and Washington Post reporter Tom Jackman. More information, and a link to RSVP, can be found…
Acting Agricultural Statistics Board Chair Named
The National Agricultural Statistics Service has named Joseph L. Parsons acting chair of the U.S. Department of Agricultureâs (USDA) Agricultural Statistics Board. The Agricultural Statistics Board âprepares and issues USDAâs official national and state forecasts and estimates relating to crop production, stocks of agricultural commodities, livestock and livestock products, dairy and dairy products, poultry and poultry products, agricultural prices, economic information, agricultural wage rates, chemical usage, and other such subjects.â Parsons currently serves as Director of NASSâ Information Technology Division and Chief Information Officer. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Census Scientific Advisory Committee Seeks Nominations
The Census Bureau has issued a call for nominations for membership to the Census Scientific Advisory Committee. This committee advises the Director of the Census Bureau on statistical data collection, statistical analysis, econometrics, cognitive psychology, and a variety of other scientific areas pertaining to Census Bureau programs and activities. According to the notice in the Federal Register, âNominees must have scientific and technical expertise in such areas as demography, economics, geography, psychology, statistics, survey methodology, social and behavioral sciences, Information Technology, computing, or marketing.â The deadline for applications is July 15, 2016. More information is available in the Federal Register….
Nominations Open for NSB Awards
The National Science Board (NSB), the policy making body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), is accepting nominations for its Vannevar Bush and Public Service awards. The Vannevar Bush Award âhonors truly exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology who have made substantial contributions to the welfare of the Nation,â according to the awardâs website. The Public Service Award honors both groups and individuals who have made contributions to increasing public understanding of science and engineering. Nominations for the 2017 honorary awards will be accepted through October 3, 2016. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Funding Opportunity Announcements
ED: FY 2016 American Overseas Research Centers (AORC) Program (Application Technical Assistance Webinar: July 8) NIH: Science of Behavior Change: Use-inspired Basic Research to Optimize Behavior Change Interventions and Outcomes (Admin Supp) (PA-16-334) NIH: Advancing Basic Behavioral and Social Research on Resilience: An Integrative Science Approach (UG3/UH3) (PAR-16-326) [OBSSR, NCCIH, NCI, NIA, NIAAA, NIAMS, NIDA, NIEHS, NIGMS, NIMH] NCI: Linking the Provider Recommendation to Adolescent HPV Vaccine Uptake (R21) (PAR-16-336), (R03) (PAR-16-337), (R01) (PAR-16-338) NIMH: Availability of RAISE Data for Secondary Data Analysis (NOT-MH-16-006) Back to this issueâs table of contents.
Events Calendar
âAsk a Criminologistâ Congressional Roundtable: Why Are Homicide Rates Rising?, Washington, DC, July 7, 2016 Joint Statistical Meetings, Chicago, IL, July 30-August 4, 2016 American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO, August 4-7, 2016 Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, August 16-19, 2016 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, August 20-23, 2016 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA, September 1-4, 2016 Economic History Association Annual Meeting, Boulder, CO, September 16-18, 2016 A list of COSSA membersâ annual meetings and other events can be found on the COSSA website. COSSA members who have an upcoming event they would…
Scientific Workforce Diversity Discussed at NIH Advisory Committee Meeting
On June 9, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity Hannah Valantine updated the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) on the findings and recommendations of the ACDâs African American/Black Funding Disparity Working Group. Valantine presented the key findings of the Working Group followed by a discussion of how the Working Group framed its suggestions regarding NIHâs plans to address the issue in the coming months. She reported that the Groupâs analysis found that there are funding disparities at every stage of the application process from submissions to funding. In particular, the analysis found…
NAS Webinar Puts Recent âAdvancing the Power of Economic Evidenceâ Report in International Context
On June 16, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) hosted a webinar to discuss the findings and limitations of its report, Advancing the Power of Economic Evidence to Inform Investments in Children, Youth, and Families, which was published in May 2016. The report uses cost analysis (CA), which looks at the costs of a program within a specified time period, cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), which determines how much of an outcome is achieved per dollar spent, and benefit-cost analysis (BCA), which determines if the value of the outcome surpass its costs, to evaluate which of the governmentâs many…
COSSA Washington Update, Volume 35 Issue 12
Featured News Senate Presses Forward on 2017 Spending Bills Congressional News Lawmakers Call for CDC Gun Research Senate Committee Approves Librarian of Congress Nominee Federal Agency & Administration News NIJ to Host Seminar on Violence Against Indigenous Adults NIGMS Seeks Input on âStrategies for Modernizing Biomedical Graduate Educationâ Funding Opportunity Announcements Events Calendar
Senate Presses Forward on 2017 Spending Bills
The Senate Appropriations Committee has been making progress over the last several weeks on its fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations bills in an effort to pass as many of the bills as possible before heading home in mid-July for the party conventions and August recess (follow all of the developments on the COSSA website). The FY 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, which made it out of Committee on April 21, is expected to be on the Senate floor later this week. Stay tuned â COSSA will be closely monitoring the floor debate as this is when we could…
Lawmakers Call for CDC Gun Research
On May 31, 146 Members of Congress signed a letter in support of eliminating appropriations riders that have prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from conducting research on gun violence prevention since 1996 (the “Dickey amendment”). The bipartisan letter, led by Rep. David Price (D-NC) states, “Although Members of Congress may disagree about how best to respond to the high incidence of gun violence, we should all be able to agree that our response should be informed by sound scientific evidence,” and argues that Congress should “allow the research community to investigate evidence-based solutions that could help…
Senate Committee Approves Librarian of Congress Nominee
On June 9, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration approved Carla D. Haydenâs nomination for Librarian of Congress. If approved by a vote of the full Senate, Hayden will be the first African-American and the first women to lead the Library of Congress. Hayden currently heads the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and has previously worked at the Chicago Public Library. Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) said he expects her nomination to move to the Senate floor later this month. If her nomination is approved, Hayden will also be the first term-limited Librarian of Congress, limited to…
NIJ to Host Seminar on Violence Against Indigenous Adults
On June 23, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will host a Research for the Real World seminar on violence against indigenous adults to help improve awareness and understanding of American Indian and Alaska Native victims of crime. AndrĂ© Rosay, University of Alaska Anchorage, will present on a large-scale survey that examined violence and victimization experienced by American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. The seminar will be moderated by NIJ Director Nancy Rodriguez and a panel on policy and practice implications will include Carrie Bettinger-Lopez, Advisor on Violence Against Women in the Office of the Vice President; Joye…
NIGMS Seeks Input on âStrategies for Modernizing Biomedical Graduate Educationâ
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a Request for Information (RFI): Strategies for Modernizing Biomedical Graduate Education (NOT-GM-16-109) seeking the input of the scientific community and the general public âon how to catalyze the modernization of biomedical graduate education through NIGMSâs institutional predoctoral training grants program.â The Institute would like to receive input on such topics addressing changes that assure that future researchers have the knowledge, skills and abilities to navigate biomedical research; major barriers to pursuing this training through NIGMS training programs; and the key skills needed by…
Funding Opportunity Announcements
NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network: Advancing Basic Behavioral and Social Research on Resilience — An Integrative Science Approach (UG3/UH3) (PAR-16-326) [NCI, NCCIH, NIA, NIAAA, NIAMS, NIDA, NIEHS, NIGMS, NIMH, OBSSR] NICHD: Characterization of the Adolescent Reproductive Transition (R01) (PA-16-314), (R21) (PA-16-315), (R03) (PA-16-316) NCI: Intervening with Cancer Caregivers to Improve Patient Health Outcomes and Optimize Health Care Utilization (R01) (PAR-16-317), (R21) (PAR-16-318) NIDCD: Mentored Career Development Award for Postdoctorate Au.D./Ph.D. Audiologists (K01) (PAR-16-320) NIDCR: Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Diversity in the Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research Workforce (K01) (PAR-16-321) Back to this issueâs table of…