Congress Passes Spending Deal to Avoid Shutdown
BU IN DC
Joyce Wong of the College of Engineering accepted the American Association for the Advancement of Science STEM Equity Achievement Change Bronze award on behalf of the University on February 13. Provost Jean Morrison, Vice President and Associate Provost for Research Gloria Waters, College of Engineering Dean Kenneth Lutchen, Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs Daniel Kleinman, Associate General Counsel Rebecca Ginzburg, Lawrence Ziegler of the College of Arts & Sciences, and College of Engineering graduate student Cristian Morales joined her at the ceremony.
Azer Bestavros, Andrei Lapets, and Mayank Varia of the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering discussed privacy-preserving analytical technologies with Congressional staff and federal statistical agency officials on February 13.
Rena Conti of the Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy spoke at the Paying for Cures conference on February 12.
CONGRESS PASSES SPENDING DEAL TO AVOID SHUTDOWN
Yesterday, Congress passed legislation to fund the government agencies that had previously been affected by a month-long partial government shutdown. President Donald J. Trump has stated he intends to sign the measure, which he will need to do today in order to avert another shutdown. Under the bill, these research agencies will receive funding increases for the remainder of fiscal year 2019, which began on October 1, 2018:
- National Science Foundation: $8.08 billion, a 4% increase from its current level
- NASA Science: $6.91 billion, an 11% increase from its current level
- National Endowment for the Humanities: $155 million, a 1.4% increase from its current level
Other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Education, already received their fiscal year 2019 spending allocations in September.
BUZZ BITS…
- The President signed an executive order on artificial intelligence on Monday. Among other provisions, it recommends federal agencies consider artificial intelligence a priority for research and development.
- The National Institutes of Health announced the charge and membership of its Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Changing the Culture to End Sexual Harassment.
- In response to a Senate Finance Committee inquiry, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the National Institutes of Health had asked the OIG to investigate several researchers for failing to properly disclose foreign affiliations.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
Join BU Research on February 27th for “The American City: Promoting Inclusion or Sowing Division?,” the next installment of the popular Research on Tap series. Graham Wilson and Katharine Lusk of the Initiative on Cities will curate the session, which will feature microtalks from scholars at the University who are devoted to the study of urban populations, policies, and leadership. They will share their latest comparative research on the benefits and consequences of housing, health, public safety, education, and inclusion policies and priorities. A wine and cheese reception will follow.