Biophysical Society Newsletter
5
february
2014
Public Affairs
Congress Approves Two-Year
Budget Agreement
Without the fanfare and public attention that
accompanied the September 30 deadline for
Congress to pass a budget for 2014, both the
House and Senate approved a budget deal, the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, which estab-
lishes spending caps for discretionary programs
for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. The legislation,
announced December 10 by House Budget
Committee Chair
Paul Ryan
(R-WI) and Senate
Budget Committee Chair
Patty Murray
(D-
WA.), sets discretionary spending for FY 2014
at $1.012 trillion and eliminates $63 billion in
sequestration cuts in FYs 2014 and 2015. The
House approved the deal with a vote of 332-94,
and the Senate followed suit with a vote of
64-36. The smooth passage of the bill should
prevent another government shutdown in the
next year.
With a top line number in place, House Appro-
priations Committee Chair
Hal Rogers
(R-KY)
and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair
Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD) were reportedly work-
ing on establishing allocations for each appropria-
tions subcommittee, so that those committees
can approve spending for the federal programs
they oversee before the current continuing
resolution funding the government expires on
January 15, 2014. With the elimination of some
of the sequestration cuts, advocates for programs
such as science funding are optimistic that the
short-term outlook for funding will be a little
less bleak.
NSF to Increase Transparency
Under attack from the Chairman of the House
Science, Space, and Technology
Lamar Smith
(R-TX) for the grants that it funds, the National
Science Foundation announced its own plans to
demonstrate its commitment to transparency and
accountability in how it spends public funds.
On December 13, NSF Acting Director
Cora
Marrett
issued a notice to Presidents of Colleges
and Universities stating that the National Science
Board and NSF senior leadership have identi-
fied opportunities for improvement in two areas:
accountability and communication. NSF plans to
look at its processes to ensure its investments are in
the national interest, as defined by NSF’s mission
“to promote the progress of science; to advance the
national health, prosperity and welfare; to secure
the national defense...” NSF also will be examin-
ing its communications to ensure that investment
decisions are clearly articulated to the public. “We
believe we can enhance our public communica-
tions of what we are funding and why it is impor-
tant,” stated Marrett. The review may result in
new policies and procedures at the agency.
One way that NSF plans to improve its com-
munication is by having project officers, with the
assistance of researchers, write abstracts explain-
ing the significance and justification of funded
projects within the broader portfolio of awards.
While many directorates already do this, this
memo states that all directorates will be required
to provide these abstracts.
Bourne Named First NIH
Associate Director for
Data Science
In December, NIH Director
Francis Collins
announced the selection of
Philip E. Bourne
as
the first permanent Associate Director for Data
Science (ADDS). Bourne was expected to join
the NIH in early 2014.
“Phil will lead an NIH-wide priority initiative to
take better advantage of the exponential growth
of biomedical research datasets, which is an area
of critical importance to biomedical research.
The era of ‘Big Data’ has arrived, and it is vital
that the NIH play a major role in coordinating
access to and analysis of many different data
types that make up this revolution in biological
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Continued on page 8)
