Tech Companies Call on Congress to Boost NSF Funding
Yesterday, CEOs of more than 30 major tech companies, including IBM, Amazon Web Services, Intel, and Samsung, sent a letter to congressional leaders asking them to fund the National Science Foundation at $11.89 billion in FY23. This level of funding for the science agency was authorized, but not appropriated, in the recently passed bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The CEOs’ letter emphasized the significance of the NSF both in funding research that has led to global technological innovations and in cultivating STEM talent. The CEOs asked Congress to fulfill the promises of the CHIPS and Science Act and help the country stay ahead of global competitors by sufficiently funding the NSF, including its new directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, in FY23 and in each of the next four fiscal years. ( Association of American Universities - Oct. 21, 2022)
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Science Committee Presses OSTP on Public Access Policy
House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) sent a letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy last week seeking clarification on the office’s watershed memorandum that, starting in 2026, will generally require federally funded research articles and supporting data to be made freely available upon publication. The letter registers concern that the memo is “short on details of how the new requirements will be implemented,” especially with respect to data. Concerning the memo’s directive to eliminate the 12-month embargo periods allowed under current policy, they ask how OSTP will ensure the publication fees that some journals charge to make articles open access do not sap research funds and how it will help researchers with limited resources pay such fees. ( American Institute of Physics - Oct. 24, 2022)
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Prabhakar Airs Views on US Research Enterprise
In the past, the president’s science adviser has presented a keynote address at the AAAS forum, but Arati Prabhakar gave her first major speech in that role at a standalone AAAS event late last week. In it, she outlined “three shifts” she believes are needed to better reap the benefits of science and technology. She said the first involves “building a ‘what-does-it-take’ mindset,” in which the research ecosystem mobilizes around bold goals, and cited Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative and the CHIPS and Science Act as positive examples. Second, she said the U.S. must be “much more deliberate about opening the opportunities that science and technology provides to everyone in every zip code,” such as by embracing regional innovation initiatives. Last, she called for more deeply considering the “societal implications” of new technologies, pointing to OSTP’s new “ Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” as an exemplar of such work. ( American Institute of Physics - Oct. 24, 2022)
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Debt Relief Blocked, for Now
The Biden administration is encouraging borrowers to keep applying for student loan forgiveness despite a temporary stay issued by a federal appeals court Friday night that blocked the administration from discharging any debt. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which granted the request for an emergency stay from six Republican-led states, will hear the challenge on an expedited timeline with briefs due today and tomorrow. The emergency stay comes after the Biden administration thwarted several legal challenges. A federal district judge dismissed the lawsuit from the Republican-led states because the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. The plaintiffs quickly appealed to the Eighth Circuit. Nearly 22 million people have applied for forgiveness in the week since the application opened, and that group will be among the first to see their student loan balances drop if the stay is lifted. So far, none of the six lawsuits challenging the student relief plan has been successful . . . . ( Inside Higher Ed - Oct. 24, 2022)
***See also, the following related news item:
- Biden’s Student-loan Forgiveness Program Temporarily Halted by Appeals Court - The Wall Street Journal - Oct. 21, 2022
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AAU Joins Top Businesses and Organizations in Calling on Congress to Protect Dreamers
Yesterday, AAU joined more than 80 top businesses and organizations in calling on Congress to take legislative action and protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In a letter to congressional leaders, the Coalition for the American Dream, which includes industry leaders like Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, noted that businesses, already suffering from workforce challenges, would “face another crisis if Congress fails to act on an issue that has strong bipartisan support from the American people.” The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently declared the program illegal. If the program ends, Dreamers would be unable to work in the United States and would lose protections from deportation. This would cause severe consequences for American businesses and the U.S. economy. The coalition emphasized that Congress could ward off the pending crisis by passing bipartisan measures that have already been introduced in the House and the Senate. ( Association of American Universities - Oct. 21, 2022)
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