Short Takes

Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, led by Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), have introduced bipartisan legislation to create a new postdoctoral fellowship program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help keep early career researchers whose employment opportunities have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the STEM pipeline. "I am deeply concerned about the disappearance of STEM job opportunities and the potential long-term consequences for our STEM pipeline," stated Chairwoman Johnson. "For established researchers, the COVID-19 crisis has severely limited their access to their laboratory space. But for early career researchers, these disruptions come at a critical juncture in their research career, threatening to derail their career path." The Supporting Early-Career Researchers Act (H.R.8044) would allocate $250 million over fiscal years 2021 and 2022 "to prevent the loss of research talent due to job market disruptions caused by any economic decline during and after the pandemic." A group of nearly 40 Democratic Senators are calling on the Commission on Presidential Debates "to break precedent and publicly call on the moderators" to include climate change in the topics that will be addressed during the debates. In a letter led by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), the lawmakers argued: "This is not just any election. It is one that will determine how our country responds to the worsening climate crisis that we face each and every day...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news