Biophysical Newsletter - June 2014

8

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

JUNE

Public Affairs

FY 2015. The following Senators signed the letter: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D- NJ), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Benjamin Cardin (D- MD), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joe Manchin III (D-WV), Edward Markey (D- MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) plans to move the ap- propriations bill quickly through her committee and to the Senate floor in June and July; the bill funding NSF will be one of the first to be consid- ered because it is usually not controversial. On the House side, the House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for the NSF budget approved a spend- ing bill that would provide $7.5 billion for the Foundation in FY 2015 at the end of April. The vote was not contentious. NSF’s current budget is $7.17 billion. The Administration’s FY 2015 re- quest is $7.25 billion, an increase of $83.1 million or 1.2 percent. At the same time, though, the House Science Committee is considering legislation, the Fron- tiers in Innovation, Science, and Technology Act of 2014 (H.R. 4186), that would reauthorize NSF through 2015. This bill is very contentious since it calls into question how the NSF awards grants and is accountable for the research it funds. In response to the draft bill, the National Science Board, which directs the NSF, released a state- ment expressing concern that the bill “would compromise NSF’s ability to fulfill its statutory purpose,” create “significant new burdens on sci- entists” and limit the NSF’s flexibility by setting authorizations for individual NSF director ates. The Senate is not currently working on a reautho- rization bill. Thus, it does not seem likely that the reauthorization will occur in the current Congress. The House work is important to watch, though, since it could lay the groundwork for action in Congress in 2015.

NIH Changes Grant Submission Policy

On Thursday April 18, NIH released a notice indicating that effective immediately, NIH grantees, following an unsuccessful resubmission (A1) application, may submit the same proposal as a new (A0) application for the next appropriate due date. The notice states that “NIH will not assess the similarity of the science in the new (A0) application to any previously reviewed submission when accepting an application for review.” On her blog, Sally Rockey , Deputy Director for Extramural Research at NIH, explained that the policy change is being made in response to com- munity concern that meritorious research ideas not eligible for resubmission were being lost with the shrinking success rates at NIH over the past few years and productive labs have had to change focus in order to compete for NIH funding. The new applications will be considered with- out consideration of a previous submission and without an introduction of how the grant has responded to reviews prepared by the applicant. There is no time limit on when the new applica- tions may be submitted as long as it is after the summary statement is received. The time limit for A2 applications remains in effect. In addi- tion, a grantee does not have to submit an A2 but may choose to submit the same research as a new grant if desired. Appropriators Show Support

for NSF While Science Committee Expresses Concerns

With the annual appropriations process getting underway in April, 21 Senators signed a letter sent to the senior leadership of the Senate Appropria- tions Committee endorsing a $7.5 billion budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) for