Congressional Outlook For 2020
BU IN DC
Wheelock College of Education & Human Development Dean David Chard addressed the Annual Principal Investigators Meeting at the Institute of Education Sciences on January 9.
Andrew Bacevich of the Pardee School of Global Studies spoke about his new book at Politics and Prose Bookstore on January 8.
Ioannis Paschalidis of the College of Engineering and Daniel Fulford of Sargent College attended a National Science Foundation workshop on smart and connected health on January 6 and 7.
CONGRESSIONAL OUTLOOK FOR 2020
Congress returned to Washington this week with a short list of priorities to achieve before this fall’s election season begins. The higher education community is anticipating action on the following items:
- Debate over the annual spending bills that determine federal agency budgets. The amount of money available for research and student aid is expected to be constrained by the spending caps set by last year’s bipartisan budget deal.
- Updates to the laws that set policies for the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and research programs at the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Consideration of measures designed to protect research from inappropriate foreign interference, particularly as Congress works on the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
A possible Senate impeachment trial and the looming fall election will limit the number of legislative days available, so Congress may not make progress on all its pending agenda items.
BUZZ BITS…
- Steven Walker announced that he will step down as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), effective today. Deputy Director Peter Highnam will serve as acting director until a permanent replacement is named.
- The White House issued its final plan for implementing the federal data strategy. This is the first phase of a comprehensive, ten-year process to help federal agencies better utilize the valuable data they collect.
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a Dear Colleague letter urging social, behavioral, and economic scientists to pursue NSF funding opportunities relevant to graduate education.
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
Come learn how to incorporate data analysis about books, articles, and other publications in your research at a SciVal bibliometrics database workhshop hosted by BU Research on January 22 from 3 to 5 pm. SciVal is one of the leading sources of bibliometric data for academic institutions, and is free for the BU community. This workshop will provide an overview of SciVal, its potential applications, and a practical understanding of how to use the database, including practice time to investigate your own topics and ask questions with an expert on hand.