Researchers have the opportunity during the next six weeks to offer
their recommendations on how to improve the management of federal
research grants. At a series of workshops to begin next week at three
locations around the country, a cabinet-level panel is soliciting the
views of research performers in preparation for a two-day meeting in
Washington, D.C. These meetings are the beginning phase of a process
to revise the science and technology research grant making and
administration process.
These meetings are being held by a subcommittee of the National Science
and Technology Council (NSTC). The council, which usually operates out
of the public's eye, is chaired by President Bush. Council members include
the Vice President, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
John Marburger, and relevant cabinet secretaries and agency heads. NSTC
should not be confused with the Office of Science and Technology Policy
or the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Information
on all of these units can be accessed through the OSTP site at http://ostp.gov
Under the NSTC is a Committee on Science. Beneath this, and responsible
for this process, is the Subcommittee on Research Business Models. Cognizant
of changes that have occurred in the conduct of federally-sponsored
research in the last few years, the subcommittee has posed nine questions
on which it is seeking the input of research performers. In a little-publicized
notice in the Federal Register on August 6, the subcommittee asks for
comments, "including how changes . . . have impacted research costs,"
in areas such as accountability, inconsistencies in the policies of
the federal government and universities, state and institutional requirements,
research support, multidisciplinary/collaborative research, research
infrastructure, information technology, and technology transfer optimization.
A careful reading of these questions is important to understanding the
subcommittee's focus. The August 6 Federal Register notice can be read
by accessing http://rbm.nih.gov./
Three regional meetings will be held to receive public comment on these
questions. The first meeting will be held October 27 at Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, the next on November 12 at the University of Minnesota,
and the third on November 17 at the University of North Carolina. Each
meeting will address different questions. These hearings will serve
as an input to a two-day subcommittee meeting in Washington on December
9 and 10. Portions of the December meeting will be broadcast. Information
on these meetings can be read in the Federal Register by accessing http://rbm.nih.gov./
under the first September 16 notice. Review of the August 6 notice is
necessary to fully understand the Subcommittee's meeting agenda.
Written comments will be accepted up to December 9 via the procedures
outlined in the second Federal Register notice. NSTC anticipates that
this effort will result in changes in some of the relatively easy
issues by next summer, but realizes that it will take longer to resolve
some of the larger issues.
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