What’s Ahead
New Federal Meteorological Services Council Convening
The newly established Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services is holding its inaugural meeting on Thursday, with the heads of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration serving as co-chairs. The council will assume responsibilities from the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology and work to identify relevant needs for research, observational infrastructure, and operational services across more than a dozen agencies. OSTP and NOAA created the council last month to fulfill a provision in the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 . The council’s charter sets the “aspirational goal” of enabling the development of world-leading meteorological services through an “Earth systems approach” that spans from “local weather to global climate.”
Academies Assessing Pandemic Impacts on Women in STEM
A new fast-track National Academies study kicks off on Monday to examine potential impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the careers of women in STEM. The effort will build on a study released by the Academies in February on the underrepresentation of women in STEM and take into account how the pandemic is exacerbating existing barriers, such as disproportionate child and family caregiving responsibilities. At the kickoff meeting, study members will hear from members of the prior study as well as from representatives of the new study’s sponsors, which include the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Sloan Foundation, and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The study committee is chaired by Eve Higginbotham, the inaugural vice dean for inclusion and diversity at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school.
Fusion Planning Continues, New Power Plant Study Kicks Off
The Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee is meeting on Monday to continue deliberations on the long-range strategic plan it is preparing for the Department of Energy, including a recap of last week’s virtual workshop that explored ways to merge the research community’s separate visions for fusion energy research and fundamental plasma science. The committee will also hear a presentation on “power generation investment considerations” from an energy industry executive. Separately, a National Academies committee tasked by DOE with mapping out the path to building a fusion pilot plant in the U.S. is holding its first meeting on Wednesday. The study is a follow-on to the Academies’ 2019 strategic plan for burning plasma research and will focus on identifying technical and logistical advances needed to develop a pilot plant that are independent of the plasma confinement approach used. DOE has encouraged the committee to seek input from “potential ‘future owners’ of power plants,” such as utility companies.
Astronomers Issuing Satellite Interference Mitigation Plan
On Tuesday, the American Astronomical Society and the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) are releasing a report recommending actions to protect telescopes from optical interference created by new large-scale constellations of commercial satellites. The report is based on a workshop held earlier this summer that convened more than 250 astronomers, satellite operators, dark-sky advocates, and other stakeholders to assess the impacts of systems comprising thousands of satellites that are planned by companies such as SpaceX and Amazon. The briefing will include representatives of NOIRLab, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and Steward Observatory. (AAS is an AIP Member Society.)
Astro2020 Survey Checks In With Sponsors
The steering committee of the 2020 decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics is meeting in open session on Tuesday with its sponsors from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy. The agency representatives will provide updates on their budget guidance to the committee, among other matters. At the kickoff meeting for the decadal survey last July, the sponsors urged the committee to present an “ambitious” vision and offered notional budget scenarios for it to consider, and this week’s meeting may shed light on whether the coronavirus pandemic or any other factors have altered their outlook. The committee is currently aiming to complete its report by spring 2021.
Flagship European X-Ray Source Reopens Following Upgrade
The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, is resuming user service on Aug. 25, following a €150 million upgrade project called the Extremely Brilliant Source. The upgrade increased the luminosity and coherence of the facility’s synchrotron light source by a factor of 100, allowing faster and higher-quality X-ray studies of matter down to the atomic scale. Work on the upgrade has been underway since 2015 and the synchrotron was shut down in December 2018 to accommodate construction. Associated upgrades to several of the facility’s beamlines will continue over the next two to three years. In the U.S., the Advanced Photon Source, a peer facility at Argonne National Lab, is currently in the middle of its own upgrade that will enable it to achieve similar beam characteristics. That project will involve a one year shutdown that is expected to begin in 2022.
In Case You Missed It
State Department Warns Universities About Links to China
Keith Krach, the under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, sent a letter to the governing boards of U.S. universities on Aug. 18 urging they drop investments in Chinese firms from their endowment portfolios. Citing financial risks, ethical considerations, and Chinese government efforts to exert “authoritarian influence” on U.S. educational institutions, he argued that divestment is a “moral obligation, and perhaps even a fiduciary duty.” Beyond endowments, he also characterized Chinese government-backed talent recruitment efforts as a threat to intellectual property, writing, “Just as our fine institutions vet employees for scientific rigor or allegations of plagiarism, we also must vet for financial conflicts of interest and foreign sources of funding.” In an interview posted to his personal website, Krach, who formerly chaired Purdue University’s board of trustees, said the response to the letter has been “really appreciative.” While the State Department letter is advisory in tone, the Department of Education and congressional Republicans have been undertaking a more aggressive probe of a number of universities, alleging they have not properly disclosed funding they are receiving from foreign countries, including China.
NIH Pressures Grantee to Investigate Blacklisted Chinese Lab
Last week, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that the National Institutes of Health sent a letter to EcoHealth Alliance in early July stating the agency would restore a suspended grant if the organization helped investigate its collaborators at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. The grant, which funded research on bat-borne coronaviruses, was cut off this spring after it came under fire from the White House and a number of congressional Republicans, who alleged the Wuhan institute may have unleashed COVID-19 accidentally, despite thin evidence for that scenario. In its July letter, NIH stated it had “received reports” the institute was conducting research posing “serious bio-safety concerns” and that it is concerned EcoHealth Alliance had not satisfied its “obligations to monitor” activities there. Among its demands , NIH instructed EcoHealth Alliance to arrange a third-party investigation of the institute to determine whether it worked on the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 prior to the outbreak and to provide a sample of the virus the institute sequenced during the pandemic’s early phases. In an interview with Nature, EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak said the agency’s demands concern matters outside the scope of the grant and that he does not have access to the information and materials in question. Harold Varmus, who led NIH under President Clinton, told the Wall Street Journal the agency’s letter is “outrageous,” remarking, “This whole episode is just a woeful attack on the traditional way NIH has maintained its integrity.”
Lawyers Challenge Federal Crackdown on Funding Nondisclosure
On Aug. 14, lawyers for University of Kansas chemistry professor Feng Tao filed a motion to dismiss charges he failed to disclose his connection with a Chinese university, arguing the Justice Department is seeking to use the case as a “new model” for it to prosecute professors “without having to produce evidence of intellectual property theft or export control violations.” Tao was first indicted last August on federal charges of wire fraud and program fraud alleging he had signed a full-time employment contract with the Chinese university without notifying his U.S. employer or the federal agencies funding his work, and two superseding indictments were filed this year. Tao’s lawyers maintain the case could “open the floodgates to a vast range of federal prosecutions for garden-variety employment disputes that otherwise would have, at most, subjected the employee to administrative discipline at work.” They also assert the government misrepresented the disclosure requirements and “strongly and falsely implied to the grand jury that Dr. Tao was a spy for China.” Last week, two Asian American civil rights organizations filed an amicus brief in support of Tao.
NSF Funding Center to Study HBCU STEM Education
The National Science Foundation announced last week it will provide $9 million to establish a new Broadening Participation Research Center based at Morehouse College. With participation by researchers from Spelman College and Virginia State University, the center will study 50 Historically Black Colleges and Universities to identify successful practices for undergraduate STEM education and develop evidence-based interventions to inform broad education reforms. In announcing the center, NSF noted HBCUs have a strong track record in STEM education, awarding 18% of the STEM degrees earned by Black students while representing only 8% of the Black undergraduate population. In addition, one third of all Black PhD-holders obtained bachelor’s degrees from an HBCU. NSF funds Broadening Participation Research Centers through its HBCU Undergraduate Program, which works to build STEM education and research capacity.
Acoustical Society Calls for Moratorium on Sonic Crowd Control
The Acoustical Society of America has adopted a policy statement recommending that law enforcement agencies suspend the use of acoustic hailing devices (AHDs) in crowd control applications until safeguards are put in place. ASA notes that AHDs such as Long Range Acoustic Devices, sometimes referred to as “sound cannons,” were originally developed for the military as a tool for communicating over long distances. ASA warns that at shorter distances AHDs pose potential risks to human health, including permanent hearing loss. The society urges law enforcement agencies to adopt “strict safety guidelines” prior to using AHDs that include limits on the level and duration of exposure and to put in place training procedures for device operators. The society also calls for more research on the risks of AHD use, including in “potentially untested settings such as highly reverberant urban environments.” (ASA is an AIP Member Society.)
American Academy Looks to Shore Up Science Communication
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences released the third and final report from its Public Face of Science initiative last week, recommending actions to build capacity for science communication efforts and better shape narratives about science. Among its suggestions, the report calls for higher education institutions to incorporate science communication competencies into student curricula and faculty promotion decisions and for scientific societies to build on efforts such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media fellowship program and the American Geophysical Union’s Sharing Science community-building initiative. The report also recommends that societies develop action plans for how to rapidly respond to misinformation in the media and for funding institutions to support professional organizations in developing databases and networking opportunities that connect researchers with science communication practitioners.
Idaho National Lab Director Moving to Battelle
Idaho National Lab Director Mark Peters announced last week that he will be leaving his position to become executive vice president for lab operations at Battelle Memorial Institute. Battelle manages INL and six other national labs for the Department of Energy as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center. Peters will succeed Ron Townsend, who has served in the role since 2009 and plans to retire in January 2021. Since becoming INL director in 2015, Peters has overseen a host of activities aiming to facilitate the development of new nuclear technologies, including paving the way for projects to install a small modular reactor power plant and a demonstration microreactor on lab grounds. He also has broad experience in the DOE lab system through his current role as chair of the National Laboratory Directors’ Council and past roles at Argonne and Los Alamos National Labs.
Events This Week
Monday, August 24
AIAA: Propulsion and Energy Forum (continues through Friday) DOE: Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee meeting 11:00 am - 5:30 pm Arms Control Association: “The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty” 11:00 am - 12:00 pm National Academies: “Investigating the Potential Impact of COVID-19 on the Careers of Women in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine,” kickoff meeting 12:00 - 5:00 pm NSF: Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Community Instruments and Facilities Webinar 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Tuesday, August 25
Chemical and Engineering News: Futures Festival (continues Wednesday) National Academies: “Chemical Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century,” meeting three (continues Wednesday) DOD: Board on Coastal Engineering Research meeting (continues Wednesday) National Academies: Astro2020 Decadal Survey, meeting eight 9:30 am - 5:30 pm FCC: World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee meeting 11:00 am DOE: Defense Programs Advisory Committee meeting 11:00 am - 7:00 pm Closed to the public National Academies: “Review of Capabilities for Detection Verification, and Monitoring of Nuclear Weapons and Fissile Material,” first public meeting 12:00 - 2:00 pm APS: “An Introduction to Science Policy and Federal Fellowships” 1:00 - 2:00 pm National Academies: “Human-Centered AI: Implications for Policy and Research” 1:00 - 2:00 pm NOIRLab/AAS: Release of conclusions from workshop on satellite constellation impacts on astronomy 2:00 - 3:00 pm Bipartisan Policy Center: “An AI Strategy for Congress” 3:30 - 5:00 pm
Wednesday, August 26
National Academies: “Workshop on Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2” (continues Thursday) National Academies: “Enhancing Science and Engineering in Prekindergarten through Fifth Grade,” meeting two (continues Thursday) Mitchell Institute: “Nuclear Deterrence Forum with NNSA Deputy Administrator for Nonproliferation” New America: “Innovative Ways to Communicate the Science of Early Learning” 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Space Court Foundation: “Artemis Accords and the Future of Space Governance” 1:00 - 3:00 pm National Academies: “Key Goals and Innovations Needed for a U.S. Fusion Pilot Plant,” kickoff meeting 2:45 - 4:15 pm DOE: “Quantum InnovationXLab Virtual Series: Life Sciences Webinar” 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Thursday, August 27
White House: Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services kickoff meeting ISS National Lab: International Space Station R&D Conference: Plenary Day One 10:00 am - 2:00 pm National Academies: “Machine Learning in Mechanics” 1:00 - 4:30 pm Bipartisan Policy Center: “Agricultural Soils as a Climate Solution” 2:00 - 3:00 pm NOAA: Science Advisory Board meeting 3:00 - 3:45 pm
Friday, August 28
National Academies: “Approaches for Storage Providers: Forecasting Costs for Preserving, Archiving, and Promoting Access to Biomedical Data” 12:00 - 1:00 pm NSF: NCSES Skilled Technical Workforce Workshop Three 1:00 - 2:30 pm
Saturday, August 29
NSPN/ESEP: “Science Policy Happy Hour: Exploring Afrofuturism” 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Monday, August 31
FLC: Federal Laboratory Consortium National Meeting (continues through Thursday) Explore Mars: Humans to Mars Summit (continues through Thursday) National Academies: “Sustainability and The World in 2050” 11:00 am - 12:30 pm National Academies: “Assessment of NASA Aeronautics University Leadership Initiative,” meeting seven
Opportunities
DOD Seeking Input on STEM Education
The Department of Defense is seeking input from businesses, universities, and non-profits on effective approaches in STEM education, outreach, and workforce development. DOD is specifically interested in programs connected to its priority science and technology areas , ways to transition postsecondary STEM students into the defense industrial base, and metrics for assessing program impacts, among other matters. Submissions are due Aug. 28.
OSTP Accepting Comments on PNT Resilience
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is seeking comments to inform a national R&D plan for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) resilience. The plan will focus on developing PNT systems that are “resilient to interference and manipulation and that are not dependent upon global navigation satellite systems.” Comments are due Sept. 9.
DOD Commissioning Assessment of Dual-use Technology Transfer
The Department of Defense is seeking recommendations on institutes of higher education with expertise in economics and intellectual property law who are interested in assessing the department’s “contracting and intellectual property management policies and their effects on the commercialization of and innovation in dual-use technology.” The assessment was called for in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. Submissions are due Sept. 18.
For additional opportunities, please visit www.aip.org/fyi/opportunities . Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org .
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org .
Around the Web
News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.
White House
- President Trump nominates Andrew Lawler to be assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs (White House)
- Harnessing the power of science to fight the coronavirus (Washington Examiner, perspective by Kelvin Droegemeier)
- FDA’s emergency approval of blood plasma is now on hold (New York Times)
- Trump without evidence accuses ‘deep state’ at FDA of slow-walking coronavirus vaccines and treatments (Washington Post)
- Drug makers rebut Trump tweet that FDA ‘deep state’ is delaying COVID-19 vaccines and drugs (STAT)
- FDA, under pressure from Trump, authorizes blood plasma as COVID-19 treatment (STAT)
- The Trump-Navarro mind meld on the FDA (Axios)
- Trump considers fast-tracking UK COVID-19 vaccine before US election (Financial Times)
- ‘No miracle is coming’: In acceptance speech, Biden rips Trump for COVID-19 mismanagement (STAT)
- Ramped-up testing and daily briefings: Inside Biden’s plan to take over a tumultuous COVID-19 response (STAT)
- Biden on energy: Climate change is an ‘enormous opportunity’ (E&E News)
Congress
- Multi-organization letter expressing concerns with anti-science rhetoric (American Meteorological Society)
- Lawmakers want cyberprotection for university COVID-19 research (Washington Examiner)
Science, Society, and the Economy
- Scientists have a responsibility to the public (MIT Science Policy Review, editorial)
- What the coronavirus can teach us about fighting climate change (Washington Post)
- Controlling the coronavirus narrative (Science, perspective by Nita Bharti)
- US companies vie for funds in race to build rare earths industry (New York Times)
- International scholars must resist the American campaign to inject racial tribalism into science (Quillette, perspective by Andreas Bikfalvi and Marcel Kuntz)
- How an article about the H-bomb landed Scientific American in the middle of the Red Scare (Scientific American, perspective by Alfred McCoy)
- China issues guidelines on developing a sci-fi film sector (Variety)
Education and Workforce
- ‘Painted as spies’: Chinese students, scientists say Trump administration has made life hostile amid battle against COVID-19 (USA Today)
- The ICE directive is gone, but international students still fear deportation (The Verge)
- Democratic lawmakers call on Trump administration to stop blocking new international students from entering the country (Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA))
- University of Illinois insured Chinese student tuition against virus. Then COVID-19 hit (Reuters)
- Millions of students are returning to US universities in a vast unplanned pandemic experiment (Nature)
- Share of US postgraduates with depression ‘doubles’ amid pandemic (Times Higher Education)
- Redesigning federal funding of R&D: The importance of including Black innovators (Center for American Progress)
- Use science to stop sexual harassment in higher education (PNAS, perspective by Kathryn Clancy, et al.)
- Wives, physics, and nepotism in academia: The career of Freda Friedman Salzman (Lady Science, perspective by Maggie Chen)
- Physics doctorates survey: Skills used and satisfaction with employment (AIP)
Research Management
- Grad students challenge university-mandated COVID-19 agreements (ScienceInsider)
- Science by press conference: What the Heinsberg study on COVID-19 demonstrates about the dangers of fast, open science (LSE Impact Blog)
- Foreign influence and research security: The challenges continue (COGR)
- China’s research misconduct rules target ‘paper mills’ that churn out fake studies (Nature)
- For decades, US metrologists have juggled two conflicting measures for the foot. Henceforth, only one shall rule (New York Times)
- Bridging the divide between qualitative and quantitative science studies (Quantitative Science Studies, perspective by Loet Leydesdorff, et al.)
- Jeffrey Epstein’s Harvard connections show how money can distort research (Scientific American, perspective by Naomi Oreskes)
Labs and Facilities
- The scientific justification for a US domestic high-performance reactor-based research facility (DOE, report)
- Four universities team up to design molten salt research reactor (American Nuclear Society)
- A rip in the fabric of interstellar dreams: The iconic Arecibo radio telescope is temporarily crippled by an accident (New York Times)
- Arecibo damage to take months to repair (SpaceNews)
- 133-year-old Lick Observatory survives brush with California wildfire (CNET)
- NSF discusses funding for Thirty Meter Telescope (AP)
- Corruption allegations plague Romanian site of Extreme Light Infrastructure (Nature)
- Slovenia gains member access to Institute Laue-Langevin neutron source (Research Professional)
- Long-lived particles get their moment at Large Hadron Collider (Symmetry)
Emerging Technologies
- The US’ quantum future hinges on the country remaining a global beacon for international STEM talent (Scientific American, perspective by Dario Gil)
- National Quantum Initiative architect Chris Monroe joins Duke faculty (Duke University)
- Intel advances on the road to quantum practicality (Forbes)
- DOE planning first AI training module for the fall (Fedscoop)
- Microsoft, DOE to develop disaster-response AI tools (Wall Street Journal)
- Huawei and ZTE slow down China 5G rollout as US curbs start to bite (Nikkei Asian Review)
- The measure of a country: America’s wonkiest competition with China (War on the Rocks, perspective by William Morrissey and John Givens)
Space
- NASA’s planetary science program shifts priority to asteroid missions (SpaceNews)
- OSIRIS-REx mission on course for asteroid sample collection (The Guardian)
- NASA establishes independent review board for Mars Sample Return (SpacePolicyOnline)
- Compatibility issue adds new wrinkle to Europa Clipper launch vehicle selection (SpaceNews)
- White House memo adds low Earth orbit research as R&D priority (SpaceNews)
- Call for Artemis Science White Papers (Lunar and Planetary Institute)
- Interview with David Poston, chief reactor designer for NASA’s Kilopower Project (Titans of Nuclear, audio)
- China is aiming to attract partners for an international lunar research station (SpaceNews)
- NAPA endorses Office of Space Commerce for space traffic management role (SpacePolicyOnline)
- CubeSat challenge launched for high school students (Department of Education)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- Chairwoman Johnson (D-TX) statement on extension of EPA Science Advisory Board nomination period (House Science Committee)
- EPA pesticide panel latest test case for defeated adviser policy (Bloomberg Law)
- ‘It cannot survive.’ Why Trump’s rollback of methane rule might lose in court (E&E News)
- Reflecting on 50 years of EPA research (EPA, interview with Jerry Blancato)
- How weather detectives scrutinize would-be world records (NPR)
- Wanted: Climate experts for Pentagon team (E&E News)
- Redirect military budgets to tackle climate change and pandemics (Nature, perspective by Denise Garcia)
- How can Trump ignore climate crisis with twin hurricane-season storms barreling toward us? (USA Today, perspective by Monica Medina)
Energy
- NREL found a way to modernize the grid, reduce reliance on coal, and save consumers billions. Then Trump appointees blocked it (The Atlantic)
- Smaller, cheaper reactor aims to revive nuclear industry, but design problems raise safety concerns (ScienceInsider)
- Senators warn Trump Saudi-Chinese uranium plant risks spread of nuclear weapons (Wall Street Journal)
- DOE in talks with other countries to enhance nuclear programs, officials say (Morning Consult)
- ANS convenes new task force on federal nuclear R&D funding (American Nuclear Society)
- Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors wraps up 10 years of solving nuclear problems — and hands toolbox to industry (Oak Ridge National Lab)
- $21 million awarded for AI and machine learning research on fusion energy (DOE)
- $13.5 million awarded for direct air capture (DOE)
Defense
- Kratsios discusses engineering hurdles to clear ahead of tech ‘re-shoring’ (FCW)
- Pentagon’s acquisition chief wants microelectronics production to return to the US (C4ISRNET)
- Is the ratio of investment between R&D to production in major defense acquisition programs experiencing fundamental change? (CSIS, report)
- US Air Force may have accidentally revealed interest in hypersonic nuclear weapon (DefenseNews)
- US Air Force Academy to expand space education curriculum (SpaceNews)
- New government affairs team member helps build Nuclear Threat Reduction Coalition (APS News)
- Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) remains confident about Savannah River Site pit production, but sidesteps friendly bet (Aiken Standard)
- Oak Ridge Reservation expects to have successfully removed its entire enrichment complex by year’s end (Knoxville News Sentinel, perspective by Paul Dabbar)
- Radiation detections in northern Europe: What we do and don’t know (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, perspective by Cheryl Rofer)
- The case of the top secret iPod built for DOE (Tidbits)
- Pentagon forms Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (Aviation Week)
Biomedical
- COVID-19 data will once again be collected by CDC, in policy reversal (Wall Street Journal)
- RFI on university-based approaches for COVID-19 surveillance testing (NIH)
- Trump administration bars FDA from regulating some laboratory tests, including for coronavirus (Washington Post)
- Coronavirus vaccine: Chinese scientists plan joint trials with Russia despite doubts over ‘world-beating’ breakthrough (South China Morning Post)
- Betting on better drug trials to beat COVID-19 (Wall Street Journal, perspective by Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan)
- Science: A dangerous rush for vaccines (editorial)
- Knowledge transfer for large-scale vaccine manufacturing (Science, perspective by W. Nicholson Price, et al.)
- Near misses at UNC Chapel Hill’s high-security lab illustrate risk of accidents with coronaviruses (ProPublica)
- A Trump ethics board just voted to block most fetal tissue research (BuzzFeed News)
- US bishops ‘applaud’ Trump administration over fetal tissue research decision (Catholic News Agency)
International Affairs
- Export controls and national security strategy in the 21st century (State Department, perspective by Christopher Ford)
- WHO chief implores nations to avoid vaccine nationalism (Research Professional)
- China’s CDC, built to stop pandemics like COVID-19, stumbled when it mattered most (Wall Street Journal)
- Returning Chinese scholars ‘marginalized’ at home and internationally (Times Higher Education)
- The Youth Thousand Talents Plan and China’s military (CSET, report)
- Hunting the phoenix: The Chinese Communist Party’s global search for technology and talent (ASPI, report)
- India slaps new curbs on visas, schools to stem China influence (Bloomberg)
- This constant mistrust of Chinese science and technology must be countered (South China Morning Post, perspective by Chandran Nair)
- Jobs crisis looms for generation of Australian researchers (Research Professional)
- EU’s lead Brexit negotiator hunts at progress for UK–EU R&D ties, but remains worried (Research Professional)
- Swiss National Science Foundation is trying to rally researchers to oppose an anti-immigration bill (Research Professional)
- Brazilian lawmakers in showdown to double science budget (Nature)
- ‘You can’t imagine the disaster we’re living in’: Lebanon’s researchers struggle to cope with explosion aftermath (Nature, interview with Najat Saliba)