Congress Takes Up Research Regulatory Burden
BU IN DC
Anthony Janetos of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Daniel Segrè of the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Engineering attended a meeting of the Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee on March 22 and 23. Janetos also attended the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education meeting on March 30 and 31.
John Clarke of the Center for Space Physics participated in the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science meeting at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine on March 29 through 31.
Gael Orsmond of Sargent College participated in the American Psychological Association’s Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology on March 30.
Monica Wang of the School of Public Health received an early investigator award at the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s annual meeting from March 30 through April 2.
Joyce Wong of the College of Engineering co-organized a workshop on inclusion in science with the American Association for the Advancement of Science on April 6 and 7. It was attended by Provost Jean Morrison, Associate Dean Stan Sclaroff and Lawrence Ziegler of the College of Arts & Sciences, Nancy Benton Insley of Institutional Research, and Gretchen Fougere of the College of Engineering.
CONGRESS TAKES UP RESEARCH REGULATORY BURDEN
A key Senate committee passed a bill this week to reduce the regulatory burden associated with grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while a Congressman has asked the scientific community for input on his own draft bill to address regulatory burden across the research enterprise. The Promoting Biomedical Research and Public Health for Patients Act passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to modify the timing and substance of financial conflict of interest reporting, allow the NIH to establish exemptions for subrecipient monitoring, and create a Research Policy Board to review duplicative agency rules. The measure may be voted on by the full Senate later this month.
BUZZ BITS…
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently made several announcements:
- Kim Hunter Reed will serve as Deputy Under Secretary overseeing higher education, replacing Jamienne Studley, who stepped down last year. Dr. Reed previously worked at a public affairs firm representing the Lumina Foundation and held several roles in Louisiana higher education.
- ED released a supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking further input on teacher preparation and distance education by May 1. The agency has been working on updating the regulations governing teacher preparation programs since 2014, and plans to release the final rules this fall.
- In order to improve student loan servicing, ED is working to create a single web portal for student loan borrowers.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
Are you looking for support to establish a research center or enable large, collaborative research activities? Check out the Federal Relations web site for a new primer on federal funding opportunities for large centers, with detailed information on programs available at the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation.