Graduate Students: Apply for the 2020 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award
Are you a science graduate student looking to make a difference in science policy and funding? The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is now accepting applications for the 2020 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award. This award recognizes graduate students in the biological sciences who are demonstrating an interest and aptitude for working at the intersection of science and policy. Recipients of the AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award receive: A trip to Washington, DC, to participate in the AIBS Congressional Visits Day, an annual event where scientists meet with lawmakers to advocate for ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - December 9, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

OSTP Requests Input on American Research Environment
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has requested information from the public on the American Research Environment. In a notice published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2019, OSTP has requested input on behalf of the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC’s) Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE) on “actions that Federal agencies can take, working in partnership with private industry, academic institutions, and non-profit/philanthropic organizations, to maximize the quality and effectiveness of the American research environment.” Comments ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - December 9, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Journal Editors Criticize EPA Transparency Rule
In a joint statement, the editors of six major scientific journals have expressed concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” which would bar the use of scientific studies in crafting regulations unless the underlying data “are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” In the statement released on November 26, 2019, the editors of Science, Nature, PLOS, Cell Press, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and The Lancet wrote: “We urge the EPA to continue to adopt a...
Source: Public Policy Reports - December 9, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Elsevier Signs Open Access Deal with U.S. Institution
Elsevier, which now describes itself as an “information analytics business,” has inked an open-access agreement with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the first U.S. institution to enter such an agreement with Elsevier. The “transformative agreement” was announced on November 22, 2019. The agreement allows researchers at CMU to both publish open-access articles in any Elsevier journal and access paywalled Elsevier articles by paying one flat fee. Previously, publishing and accessing open-access articles involved two separate payment mechanisms. CMU was engaged in negotiations for an open-access dea...
Source: Public Policy Reports - December 9, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Societies Urge Lawmakers to Complete FY 2020 Appropriations
On December 4, 2019, 162 organizations, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences, sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to complete work on fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations. Government agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, have been operating under FY 2019 funding levels since FY 2020 began on October 1, 2019. The letter reads, in part: “Federal investments provide the lifeblood for research, discovery and innovation in the United States, driving one of the most powerful engines for American prosperity and global leadership. At leas...
Source: Public Policy Reports - December 9, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Short Takes
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is seeking nominations for 5-7 new members of its Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) Council with appointments beginning in early 2020. ILAR conducts activities related to advancing science to benefit human and animal health, with a focus on the responsible use, care, and welfare of animals in research and education. Nominations should be submitted by December 11, 2019. More information at https://nas.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=18fe6f8f25ec0bc7509e65e97&id=1ed6f0a5d6&e=cfc3938e72. NASEM is also accepting nominations for experts to ser...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Registration Open: Enabling Interdisciplinary and Team Science
Reports abound from professional societies, the Academies, government agencies, and researchers calling attention to the fact that science is increasingly an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international endeavor. In short, science has become a “team sport.” There is a real and present need to better prepare scientists for success in this new collaborative environment. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is responding to this call with a new program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams. Team science is increasingly...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Call for Applications: 2020 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award
Are you a science graduate student looking to make a difference in science policy and funding? The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is now accepting applications for the 2020 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award. This award recognizes graduate students in the biological sciences who are demonstrating an interest and aptitude for working at the intersection of science and policy. Recipients of the AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award receive: A trip to Washington, DC, to participate in the AIBS Congressional Visits Day, an annual event where scientists meet with lawmakers to advocate for ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

EPA Plans to Propose Supplemental to " Secret Science " Rule Next Year
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to propose a supplemental addition to the proposed rule “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” also referred to as the “secret science” rule, according to a report in the New York Times. The regulation, first proposed by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in April 2018, would bar the use of scientific studies in crafting regulations unless the underlying data “are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.” The proposal received more than 600,000 comments during a public comment period las...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

White House Research Summit Tackles Research Security
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) held a closed-door summit of the recently established Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE) on November 5, 2019 to hold discussions on topics of transparency, foreign influence in research, conflicts of interest, and sexual harassment. JCORE was established by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) in May 2019. In a September 16, 2019 letter to the U.S. research community, OSTP Director Kelvin Droegemeier announced that JCORE would focus on four major areas, namely research security, safe and inclusive research environments, research ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Second Stopgap Funding Bill Keeps Lights On
Congress has passed and the President has signed a second stopgap funding bill in the form of a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until December 20, 2019 at fiscal year (FY) 2019 levels. The first continuing resolution passed by Congress before the current fiscal year began on October 1, 2019 funded the government until November 21, 2019. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 231-192 on November 19 to pass another short-term measure that extends funding until the end of the year. The Senate followed on November 21, approving the measure with a 74-20 vote. Lawmakers now have another month to complete t...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

AIBS Shares Recommendations with House Select Committee on Climate Crisis
The American Institute of Biological Sciences has offered a series of recommendations to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The Committee was soliciting input from a broad range of stakeholders on the policies that Congress needs to develop to maintain and expand efforts to address climate change. The panel was established in the U.S. House of Representatives to “investigate, study, make findings, and develop recommendations on policies, strategies, and innovations to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis, which will honor ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 25, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Enhance Your Interdisciplinary and Team Science Skills
Reports abound from professional societies, the Academies, government agencies, and researchers calling attention to the fact that science is increasingly an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international endeavor. In short, science has become a “team sport.” There is a real and present need to better prepare scientists for success in this new collaborative environment. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is responding to this call with a new program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams. Team science is increasingly...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 12, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Short Takes
President Trump has announced his intention to nominate cancer specialist Dr. Stephen Hahn to be the next Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Hahn currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, where he oversees clinical care. He previously worked at the National Cancer Institute and the University of Pennsylvania medical school, where he chaired the radiation oncology department for nine years. Until Dr. Hahn is confirmed by the Senate, Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, will oversee the FDA. The Biolo...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 12, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news

Call for Community Input: NSF RFI on Data-Focused Cyberinfrastructure
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Data-Focused Cyberinfrastructure Needed to Support Future Data-Intensive Science and Engineering Research. According to the notice, the challenges of growing volumes of scientific data - their availability, transmission, accessibility, management, and utilization - have become urgent and ubiquitous across NSF-supported science, engineering, and education disciplines. NSF is particularly interested in understanding how broader cross-disciplinary and domain-agnostic solutions can be devised and implemented, along with the structural, functi...
Source: Public Policy Reports - November 12, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news