DOE Office of Science Director Ray Orbach called January 16 a "very
important day for science in the United States" at an all-day
workshop on the forthcoming DOE Office of Science Strategic Plan.
Scheduled for final release in March, this planning document, with an
up to twenty year horizon, "will play a terribly important role
in
the Office of Science."
This well-attended workshop at a conference center in suburban
Washington brought together major stakeholders from many interests.
In his opening remarks, Orbach said the plan would chart a course for
the Office of Science, and will be utilized by the White House,
Congress, and the Office of Management and Budget.
Insight into some of the thinking that will guide the Office of Science
is provided by the nine Occasional Papers on future opportunities that
were discussed in FYI
#8. Papers are to be issued on astrophysics and accelerator design.
Noting the "vanishingly small" percentage of university students
studying in the physical sciences, many of whom are foreign, Orbach
asked "where have the Americans gone?" This lack of attention
to the physical sciences results in less-than-desired levels of scientific
literacy among the general American population, he said.
Asking "what is it about the Office of Science that makes it
special?," Orbach told the workshop participants that it was very
important to "get it right" in drafting the Strategic Plan.
Pointing
to a pie chart that showed 43% of federal support to the physical
sciences coming from DOE (with 31% from NASA, 16% from NSF, 6% from
DOD, and 4% "other") he asked if DOE's role was appropriate.
Balance within DOE's portfolio must be considered, Orbach saying "maybe
it's
right, maybe it is not," when referring to its support for the
laboratories and universities. Allocations for that research
directly related to the nation's energy supply and research for the
sake of science must also be considered. A third "balance"
issue is
the allocation of federal dollars for the life sciences and other
sciences, Orbach explaining that "in the White House and Congress
there is the feeling that it is out of balance."
Bob Vallario of the DOE Office of Planning and Analysis told the
workshop participants that the Office of Science Strategic Plan would
have a clear intuitive link to the larger Department of Energy plan
which is also being developed. It is expected the Office of Science
plan will be about twenty pages long, with an expected final release
in March. The "critical thinking" on the plan over the past
few
months has had input from the Office's Advisory Committees, with the
plan now one-third to one-half complete, Vallario said. A draft
version will be available on the web within one month for public
comment.
Vallario raised several other points. Energy and national security
issues are "front page," he said. He described "severe"
budget
pressures, and stated that interest in performance measures
continues. Vallario described an aging workforce, the importance of
international research collaborations, and numerous future research
opportunities that were "across the stove pipes." Looking
to the
future, he asked the audience, are we missing anything?
In another development, last month Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
appointed MIT President Charles M. Vest to chair a Task Force on the
Future of Science Programs at the Department of Energy. This task
force will act as a subcommittee to the Secretary of Energy Advisory
Board. The 13-person task force will report to the board toward the
end of this summer. A DOE release explains that the task force "will
examine science and technology programs across the department and
consider future priorities for scientific research." The task force
met once last fall, and then again in a closed session last week.
Future hearings on the task force's findings before the entire Board
are contemplated.
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