Biophysical Society - July 2014 Newsletter

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

JULY

Public Affairs Controversial FIRST Bill Approved by Committee

be in a reauthorization, including authorization levels that allow for growth and language that al- lows scientists to choose the best science to fund rather than mandating changes to peer review or spending levels by directorate. There is no timetable set for bringing the FIRST Act to the House floor for consideration. NRC Report Calls for Coordination of Convergent Research Convergent research,

On May 29, the full House Science, Space, and Technology Committee approved the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science and Technol- ogy (FIRST) Act with a party line vote. The bill authorizes National Science Foundation (NSF) funding for FY 2015 at a level slightly higher than the amount requested by the President and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at a level less than the President’s request. The purpose of this authorization bill, which the committee had been working on since the fall of 2013, is to not only set funding targets, but also policy for the NSF and the NIST for 2014 and 2015. Unlike previous authorizations for these agencies included in the America COMPETES Act, the FIRST bill has been controversial and partisan since it was first introduced. Chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Lamar Smith (R-TX), has been an outspoken critic of the NSF’s grant making process and of funding for the Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Directorate of the Foundation. The bill requires NSF to “publish a justification of each grant’s scientific merits and relevance to broad national interest.” Based on his opening remarks, Smith strongly believes research funded by the SBE Directorate does not have broad national interest. The bill also sets spending targets for each of NSF’s directorates, rather than for NSF as whole as has been done in the past. By setting funding levels for each Directorate, Smith was able to slash fund- ing for SBE by 28% but still authorize increased spending for the agency overall by moving the money to other directorates. The bill also proposes cutting funding for international and integrative activities, which include funding for graduate research fellowships. Prior to the vote, the Biophysical Society joined with other members of the Coalition for National Science Funding to express principles that should

defined as research that crosses tradi- tional disciplinary boundaries and integrates tools and knowledge from the life sciences, physical sciences, engineer- ing, and other fields, has the potential to spur innovation, but

needs greater national coordination, according to a May 2014 report from the National Research Council. The committee that prepared the report also found that partnerships are necessary to sup- port boundary-crossing research and to translate advances into new products. “Some of our most difficult real-world problems do not respect disci- plinary boundaries, and convergent science, which brings together insights and approaches from many fields, can help us find solutions,” said commit- tee chair Joseph DeSimone , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, in a press release. “It is time for a sys- tematic effort to highlight the value of convergence as an approach to R&D, and to address lingering challenges to its effective practice.” The report identifies strategies that institutions have successfully used to support convergence ef- forts, such as creating research institutes or pro- grams around a common theme, problem, or sci- entific challenge; hiring faculty in transdisciplinary clusters; and embedding support for convergence