What’s Ahead
Science Committee to Peer into Future of Space Telescopes...
The House Science Committee is holding a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), and a fourth space telescope mission NASA would select sometime after 2020. The witness lineup will be Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate; Cristina Chaplain, director for acquisition and sourcing management at the Government Accountability Office; Thomas Young, former director of the Goddard Space Flight Center and former president of Martin Marietta; Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, which will operate JWST; and Chris McKee, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley, who will testify on behalf of the National Academies. The discussion is apt to range from the potential capabilities of next-generation telescope concepts to how NASA will descope WFIRST to rein in rising cost estimates.
... And Review NSF Innovation Corps Program
Also on Wednesday, the House Science Committee is holding a separate hearing to review the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. The purpose of the hearing is to discuss I-Corps’“goal of preparing scientists and engineers to extend their research from lab to market, to examine the successes and challenges of the program, and to discuss recommendations for the future of I-Corps and its role in the innovation ecosystem.” Congress recently directed NSF to expand the program. The hearing witnesses are Dawn Tilbury, the new head of NSF’s Engineering Directorate; Steve Blank, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University; Dean Chang, the principal investigator for the D.C. I-Corps Regional Node; and Sue Carter, a physics professor and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Cures Act Getting Congressional Checkup
The Senate authorization committee with jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health is meeting on Thursday to review progress in implementing the 21st Century Cures Act . The witnesses are NIH Director Francis Collins and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Collins and Gottlieb reflected on the act’s one-year anniversary last Thursday at a similar hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During that hearing, Collins expressed his gratitude to Congress for establishing the NIH Innovation Fund, which he said provides 10 years of “consistent support” for projects such as the BRAIN and Cancer Moonshot Initiatives. He emphasized the importance of the stable funding for these projects, remarking that “it is often difficult to see a path for sustained funding in year-to-year appropriations.”
Pruitt to Discuss EPA’s Mission with House Committee
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will meet on Thursday with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to discuss the agency’s mission. Committee members are likely to raise the role and use of science at the agency. As Pruitt works to roll back tens of major federal environmental regulations, he is making significant changes to how EPA presents and uses science, including by overhauling its scientific advisory board system and removing agency websites devoted to climate change. In addition, Pruitt is planning a “red team/blue team” exercise , in which the merits of the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change would be debated by dueling experts before the public.
USGCRP Advisory Committee Meeting at National Academies
On Monday and Tuesday, the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate will host an advisory committee meeting for the U.S. Global Change Research Program that includes a lineup of industry, academic, and government leaders in climate change research and policy. Topics include the effort to launch a sustained National Climate Assessment, national security needs for sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting, and the recently enacted Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act, among others.
Congress to Vote on Spending Extension to Dec. 22
With federal spending set to expire on Dec. 9, Congress will have to act by the end of this week to prevent a shutdown of the federal government. House leaders introduced legislation over the weekend that would extend the current continuing resolution funding the government through Dec. 22 to buy extra time for negotiations on a final deal covering federal budget caps and fiscal year 2018 appropriations. Leading lawmakers and President Trump are currently struggling to reconcile significant outstanding differences on a slew of policy and budget issues including the appropriate balance of defense and nondefense discretionary spending levels for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
In Case You Missed It
Senate Narrowly Passes Tax Bill
The Senate passed its version of a tax overhaul bill by a vote of 51 to 49 in the early morning hours of Dec. 2. The legislation now heads to a conference committee where appointed members of the House and Senate will seek to reconcile the many differences between their respective bills. The House is expected to vote on a slate of conferees today, and the Senate to follow suit shortly afterward. Prior to final passage of the Senate bill, over 50 scientific and engineering societies urged the Senate to preserve a set of education incentives that the House bill would eliminate, including the tax-exempt treatment of graduate student tuition waivers. The final Senate bill did retain these incentives.
Politico reports that Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), chair of the committee that has jurisdiction over tax policy, said he will work to craft a “positive solution on tuition assistance in conference,” and that Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tim Scott (R-SC) have said they are confident the House provision will not make it into the final bill. Among the other research-related provisions to reconcile, business groups have raised concerns that last minute changes made to the Senate bill may have unintentionally undercut companies’ ability to leverage the R&D tax credit.
NOAA Nominee Myers Embraces Climate Science, Addresses Conflicts of Interest
At his Nov. 29 confirmation hearing , NOAA administrator nominee Barry Myers testified to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee that two of his top priorities as head of NOAA will be regaining American weather model superiority and implementing the recently enacted Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act . Saying scientific integrity would be a “core value” of his leadership, Myers touted his longtime membership of the American Meteorological Society (an AIP Member Society) as evidence of his engagement with the scientific community. When asked by Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) about his views on the recently released Climate Change Special Report . Myers concurred that humans are the primary driver of global climate change and pointed to AMS’ consensus statement on climate change . Facing a number of questions about his potential conflicts of interest, Myers promised to “completely separate” himself from AccuWeather, the private weather company he leads, and attested his “interests will be solely those of the American people.”
DOE Launching High Energy Physics Portfolio Review
At last week’s meeting of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP), Department of Energy official Glen Crawford discussed a new review of the department’s current portfolio of high energy physics (HEP) experiments that will evaluate their “scientific impact and productivity.” As it strategizes for fiscal year 2019 and beyond, DOE intends to use the review to inform its prioritization of its HEP experiments, including its contributions to experiments outside the U.S. Crawford explained the review was partially motivated by the prospective decisions the office confronted after President Trump proposed to cut its budget by 18 percent. Additional information can be found at the HEPAP website .
Also at the HEPAP meeting, Eric Colby, another DOE official, provided an update on the “laboratory optimization process” that the department initiated last year. That process has now completed its analysis phase and is turning toward implementation, which will entail realigning resources at national labs with anticipated needs to bolster the long-term financial sustainability of DOE’s HEP program. Slide decks from all the presentations at the meeting can be found here .
Smith Calls for Diversion of NSF Social Science Funding to Other Priorities
Citing Chinese advances in quantum technology and advanced computing, House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) wrote in a Nov. 30 op-ed that U.S. progress is, by comparison, “slowing down.” Arguing that public funds need to be invested more “sensibly,” he complained that too much of the funding granted by the National Science Foundation is “wasted on low priority, even frivolous activities.” He singled out a number of studies in the social sciences, echoing criticisms he has previously made in hearings, while offering new proposals for NSF’s management of its portfolio in social and behavioral research. Smith calls on Congress to reduce funding for these fields by 10 to 20 percent for fiscal 2018 and shift the funds to other research areas. He also proposes that NSF set aside 10 percent of the funds it does allocate to them for validating research results and that it focus the rest on “crucial national problems,” such as multi-generational poverty, overcoming learning disabilities, and natural disaster preparedness. Democratic members of the committee have criticized Smith’s past efforts to influence how NSF apportions money between its six research directorates and have defended the agency’s work in the social sciences
Higher Education Act Reform Bill Introduced in House
On Dec. 1, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced a bill to overhaul the Higher Education Act, a law that authorizes a number of federal aid programs that support postsecondary students and academic institutions. Of note, the bill would eliminate the current law’s Title II, Part A, which authorizes the $41 million Teacher Quality Partnership Grants program supporting teacher preparation and professional development in STEM subjects. The House is expected to consider the bill early next year.
Terry Wallace To Be Next Los Alamos National Lab Director
Los Alamos National Laboratory announced on Nov. 28 that Terry Wallace will be the lab’s new director as of Jan. 1, succeeding Charlie McMillan. Wallace, who is currently the lab’s principal associate director for global security, received his PhD in geophysics from Caltech and is an expert in forensic seismology. He has previously served as the lab’s principal associate director for science, technology, and engineering, and as its associate director of strategic research. He will assume his new role at a time of transition for the laboratory, as the National Nuclear Security Administration is currently bidding out the lab’s management contract. The laboratory has also recently come under scrutiny for a series of accidents and breaches of safety protocols. In a statement , NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said, “We look forward to working with Dr. Wallace over the next year as Los Alamos continues to deliver the leading-edge science and technology needed to support NNSA’s vital national security missions.”
New UK Industrial Strategy Focuses on R&D investment
Last month, the UK government launched a new flagship Industrial Strategy, which has as one of its aims making the UK the world’s foremost innovative nation by 2030. As part of this strategy, the government aims to increase the rate of GDP investment in R&D from 1.7 to 2.4 percent by 2027, with aspirations to eventually reach 3 percent. The government also plans to invest an additional £7 billion in R&D over the next five years, strongly focused on four “grand challenges”: (1) leading in artificial intelligence, (2) capitalizing on the global shift to clean growth, (3) shaping the future of mobility, and (4) meeting the needs of an aging society. The strategy also emphasizes that the UK “has signalled its desire to seek a far-reaching science and innovation agreement with the EU that establishes a framework for future cooperation.”
Events This Week
Monday, December 4 National Academies: “Advice to the US Global Change Research Program,” meeting 28
(continues Tuesday)
Open sessions: 10:30 am - 5:00 pm, Mon.; 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, Tue.
National Academy of Sciences (2100 C St. NW, DC)
Webcast available
National Academies: “Modeling and Visualizing S&T Developments”
(continues Tuesday)
Beckman Center (Irvine, CA)
Tuesday, December 5 National Academies: “Review of Governance Reform in the National Nuclear Security Administration,” meeting 20
National Academy of Sciences (2100 C St. NW, DC)
NASA: Technology, Innovation, and Engineering Advisory Committee meeting
8:00 am - 5:00 pm, NASA headquarters (300 E St. SW, DC)
Webcast available
Senate: Hearing to consider DOE and DOI nominations, including Timothy Petty to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science
10:00 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee (366 Dirksen Office Building)
National Academies: “Independent Assessment of S&T for DOE’s Defense Environmental Cleanup Program,” meeting two
(continues Wednesday)
Open session: 10:00 am - 5:30 pm, Tue., Keck Center (500 5th St. NW, DC)
National Academies: Water S&T Board 35th Anniversary Meeting
12:30 - 5:30 pm, National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave. NW, DC)
Senate: Subcommittee on Energy hearing to receive testimony on various energy infrastructure and innovation bills
2:30 pm, Energy and Natural Resources Committee (366 Dirksen Office Building)
Wednesday, December 6 House: “From Lab to Market: A Review of NSF Innovation Corps”
10:00 am, Science Committee (2318 Rayburn Office Building)
Secure World Foundation: “Opportunities and Challenges of Citizen Science for Earth Observation”
11:30 am - 5:00 pm, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC)
NSF: Business and Operations Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Thursday)
1:00 - 5:30 pm, Wed.; 8:00 am - 12:00 pm, Thur.
NSF headquarters (Alexandria, VA)
House: “NASA’s Next Four Large Telescopes”
2:00 pm, Science Committee (2318 Rayburn Office Building)
AAAS: “Energy Transitions: How Realities Intervene” colloquium
4:00 - 5:00 pm, AAAS headquarters (1200 New York Ave. NW, DC
Thursday, December 7 Senate: “Implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act: Progress and the Path Forward for Medical Innovation”
10:00 am, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (430 Dirksen Office Building)
House: “Transforming the Department of the Interior for the 21st Century”
10:00 am, Natural Resources Committee (1324 Longworth Office Building)
House: “Examining DHS’s Efforts to Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction”
10:00 am, Homeland Security Committee (210 House Visitor Center)
NASA: NASA Advisory Council meeting
(continues Friday)
1:00 - 5:00 pm, Thur.; 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, Fri.
NASA headquarters (300 E St. SW, DC)
Webcast available
National Academies: “Opportunities and Approaches to Supplying Molybdenum-99 and Associated Medical Isotopes to Global Markets: A Symposium,” meeting six
(continues Friday)
(Moscow, Russia)
National Academies: “Supporting English Learners in STEM Subjects,” meeting four
(continues Friday)
Beckman Center (Irvine, California)
Friday, December 8 Brookings Institution: “The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Does it have a future?”
10:00 - 11:30 am, Brookings Institution (1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC)
National Academies: “Toward an Open Science Enterprise,” meeting four
Closed in its entirety
National Academies: “Impacts of Sexual Harassment in Academia” meeting six
Closed in its entirety
Saturday, December 9 Arthur C. Clarke Foundation: “Unleash Imagination – Shape the Future” conference
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, George Washington University (805 21st St. NW, DC)
Webcast available
Monday, December 11 American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting
(continues through Friday)
New Orleans Convention Center (New Orleans, LA)
FGDC: National Geospatial Advisory Committee teleconference
1:00 - 4:30 pm
Opportunities
NSF Seeking Director for Education and Human Resources Directorate
The National Science Foundation is currently accepting recommendations for individuals to lead its Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate. Candidates should have extensive leadership experience and a deep understanding of STEM research and education. Recommendations should be submitted by Jan. 22.
2019 California S&T Policy Fellowship Program Open
The California Council on Science and Technology is accepting applications for the 2019 California S&T Fellowship Program. Fellows spend a year in the California legislature gaining experience in the policymaking process. Individuals with a Ph.D. in a STEM field are encouraged to apply by Feb. 28.
University of Michigan Seeking Program Manager for S&T Policy Program
The University of Michigan is currently accepting applications for a program manager for the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy program based in Ann Arbor. The position is responsible for managing educational activities, event programming and outreach, and grant research and development, among other duties. Individuals with advanced knowledge of science and technology policy and 2 to 3 years of experience managing academic programs are encouraged to apply by Jan. 10.
Know of an upcoming science policy opportunity? Email us at fyi@aip.org.Know of an upcoming science policy event? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
Around the Web
News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.
White House
- Trump tells confidants that a government shutdown might be good for him (Washington Post)
- Trump’s acting directors are quietly dropping ‘acting’ from their titles (The Intercept)
- White House OSTP visitors records, January to May 2017 (ProPublica)
Congress
- Shutdown of the federal government: causes, processes, and effects (Congressional Research Service, updated report)
- McConnell: ‘There’s not going to be a government shutdown’ (Politico)
- No shortage of cringeworthy material in government waste report (The Oklahoman, editorial)
Political Engagement
- Researchers and AAAS launch project to understand how policymakers use science (AAAS)
- This scientist wants to bring Star Trek values to Congress (Wired)
- Scientists and policymakers – not such strange bedfellows (PLOS SciComm Blog, perspective by Krista Hoffmann-Longtin)
Tax Reform
- GOP tax plan rattles higher education (Politico)
- University graduate students walk out to protest tax plan that hurts them (NPR)
- Tax reform that students, colleges, and our country can’t afford (Chronicle of Higher Education, perspective by Margaret Spellings)
- Why you should be worried about Congress trying to tax graduate students (Washington Post, perspective by David Nirenberg)
- Universities are also to blame for the GOP’s ‘grad student tax’ (Washington Post, perspective by Sarah Arveson)
- A tax that would hurt science’s most valuable — and vulnerable (NPR, perspective by Adam Frank)
Education and Workforce
- STEM education is the key to diversifying America’s energy workforce (American Petroleum Institute, report)
- National Math + Science Initiative Names Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr. as CEO (PR Newswire)
- STEM students shortchanged in entrepreneurship classes (Wall Street Journal)
- Geologist appeals finding that he sexually harassed grad student in Antarctica (ScienceInsider)
- Anti-evolution and anti-climate science legislation scorecard: 2017 (National Center for Science Education)
- By 2022, American will need 1 million more college grads with STEM training than we are on track to produce (The 74, perspective by Blair Blackwell and Talia Milgrom-Elcott)
Technology and Innovation
- The six laws of technology everyone should know (Wall Street Journal)
- Assessment of the future economic impact of quantum information science (Science and Technology Policy Institute, report)
- Competition, collaboration fuel US photonics industry (Photonics.com)
Science, Society, and the Economy
- Pioneering physicist Enrico Fermi on the ‘utility’ of science (Brain Pickings)
- Scientifically illiterate America (Hoover Institution, perspective by Henry Miller)
- Corporate-spun science should not be guiding policy (Undark, perspective by Carey Gillam)
- Real numbers: mixed messages about public trust in science (Issues in Science and Technology)
Research Management
- Universities report increased federal R&D funding after 4-year decline (NSF, report)
- National Academy says Stanford professor is trying to ‘silence’ scientific debate with his $10-million lawsuit (Los Angeles Times)
- Recommendations for ensuring public access to research data (AAU/APLU, report)
- It’s gonna get a lot easier to break science journal paywalls (Wired)
- Technology behind bitcoin could aid science, report says (Physics Today)
- Q&A: Cyndi Atherton on the draw of science philanthropy (Physics Today)
- Philanthropic funding makes waves in basic science (The Scientist)
- Understanding bias in peer review (Google Research)
- Springer Nature asks JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley to organize IPO: sources (Reuters)
- Five ways to fix statistics (Nature, perspective)
- Make reviews public, says peer review expert (Retraction Watch)
- What makes research teams tick? (Nature, book review)
Labs and Facilities
- $99 million to be awarded for Energy Frontier Research Centers (DOE)
- UT regents authorize offer of bid to operate Los Alamos National Lab (University of Texas)
- University of California leaders make case to keep managing Los Alamos lab (Santa Fe New Mexican)
- Federal documents show why Honeywell company won Sandia Labs contract (Albuquerque Business First)
- Plans to build ‘exascale’ machines are moving forward, but still face major technological challenges (Nature)
- Remembering the Chicago Pile, the world’s first nuclear reactor (New Yorker)
- Reckoning with the legacy of the nuclear reactor, 75 years later (The Atlantic)
- The microscope makers (Nature)
- What is still neglected about experiment? (Physics in Perspective, editorial)
Space
- As it faces key decisions, NASA hasn’t had a formal leader for 315 days (Ars Technica)
- Arizona state treasurer nominated to be NASA CFO (SpaceNews)
- NASA is scrambling to cut the growing cost of its latest big astronomy mission (The Atlantic)
- New caucus to advocate for NASA’s needs in Congress (SpaceNews)
- Pleas of support for Green Bank Observatory (WV Metro News)
- Nearly 50 argue for Green Bank’s future at NSF hearing (WV Register-Herald)
- Let’s save Green Bank Observatory (Charleston Gazette-Mail, perspective by Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV))
- NASA sensor to study space junk too small to be seen from Earth (ScienceInsider)
- SpaceX’s big mars rocket could help chase down interstellar asteroid (Space.com)
Energy
- Dear colleague letter on accelerating development of and research impacts from quantum information science (DOE)
- Management challenges at DOE for fiscal year 2018 (DOE IG, report)
- Report: US agency holding nuke bombs grapples with oversight (AP)
- Nuclear energy: overview of congressional issues (Congressional Research Service, updated report)
- The US under-invests in energy innovation, asserts former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz (Huffington Post)
- Max-Planck-Princeton partnership in fusion research confirmed (Max Planck Institute)
- Kilopower: Powering up NASA’s human reach for the Red Planet (NASA)
- NASA sees a future with nuclear power (Physics Today)
Weather, Climate, and Environment
- Pruitt ‘guaranteeing’ debate on climate science soon (E&E News)
- Climate scientists watch their words, hoping to stave off funding cuts (NPR)
- Tillerson exit might bring climate disbelief to State (E&E News)
- EPA extends grant policy to new advisory panels (E&E News)
- Lending an eye to a beleaguered guardian of the environment (Environmental Science & Technology, perspective by David Sedlak)
- Ohio State researcher defies EPA advisory board policy, refuses to resign (The Lantern)
- Volcano and landslide provisions in the Energy and Natural Resources Act (Congressional Research Service)
- Quake warnings, seismic culture (Science, perspective by Richard Allen)
Defense
- Pentagon working on new ‘modernization strategy’ for technology investments (Defense News)
- Trump expected to sign defense bill calling climate change a ‘direct threat’ (Washington Post)
- Force launches major electronic warfare study (Breaking Defense)
- DOD innovation insurgents gain footing in Pentagon bureaucracy (Inside Defense)
- Future wars may depend as much on algorithms as on ammunition, report says (Washington Post)
- Study: LANL may not be best for plutonium pit-making (Albuquerque Journal)
- What I learned from the people who built the nuclear bomb (MIT Technology Review, perspective by Ash Carter)
Biomedical
- NIH to researchers: Don’t publish in bad journals, please (Retraction Watch)
- Why a lot of important health research is not being done (New York Times, perspective by Aaron Carroll)
- Medical preprints—a debate worth having (JAMA, perspective by David Maslove)
International Affairs
- US bans most government scientists from travel to Cuba (ScienceInsider)
- UK industrial strategy brings focus on interdisciplinary research (*Research)
- Long-awaited UK industrial strategy pins hopes on commercial gains from research (Nature)
- UK will need new form of research collaboration with EU after Brexit (*Research)
- Loss of ‘vital’ technicians could harm research post-Brexit (*Research)
- Wanted: Academics wise to the needs of the UK government (Nature, perspective by Chris Tyler)
- New coalition aims to secure the future of open science (Liber Europe)
- European physicists call for ‘urgent’ completion of nuclear facility (Physics World)
- European Commission pleased with Copernicus program (SpaceNews)
- Canada’s Arctic research station secures last-minute funding (Physics Today)