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Defending Science and Scientific Integrity in the Age of Trump: a Session at the 2017 AAAS Meeting
(Note the title and content of this blog post are a reflection on a session at this years AAAS meeting and not an official position of the Academics for the Future of Science.) The message of keeping science as a top priority for the U.S. was evident from many conversations at the 2017 American Association…
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A Personal Perspective on Science; the AAAS President’s Address at the 2017 AAAS Meeting
As an introduction to this session, Dr. Geraldine Richmond (Presidential Chair in Science and Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon) first spoke of the AAAS meeting as being an interdisciplinary meeting, and of global nature. To this latter point, Richmond‘s assertion that “science depends on openness, transparency, and the freeflow of ideas and people” is…
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The NIH Grant Support Index: Help for Young Scientists or Collaboration-Killer?
The National Institutes of Health recently released a proposal to cap researchers’ “Grant Support Index”. In effect, each grant type counts for a certain number of “GSI points”, with the R01 (the flagship independent-investigator award) counting for 7 points. The full scale is described in NIH’s GSI blog post linked above, and the rationale for…
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How Early Career Scientists Can Serve Science Through Policy: a Workshop at the 2017 AAAS Meeting
Early career researchers aspire to engage with society while still pursuing their research careers. They may engage by contributing directly to policy decisions or by becoming community advocates. This type of engagement is critical for making the public understand what science is and what scientists do. At the same time, it gives junior scientists multiple…
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Real world evidence and the 21st Century Cures Act
Late last year, US Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act,* a bipartisan bill that would increase funding for medical research, reevaluate the current mental health systems in the US and enhance the regulatory requirements for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. I am compelled to write a piece on a very interesting amendment to the law:…
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AFS NEWS 01/20/16 – PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION DAY SCIENCE POLICY ROUNDUP
On the day of President Trump’s inauguration, we thought it would be good to highlight some of the key issues from the last week that could impact the future of science and research in the US over the course of the next administration. Trump nominees discussing science Over the last week, Donald Trump’s choices for key…
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AFS NEWS ROUNDUP 06/20/16 – REGULAR UPDATES ON SCIENCE FUNDING, POLICY, AND RESEARCH NEWS
$2 billion boost for NIH in Senate spending bill A Senate spending panel has approved a $2 billion (6.2%) increase in the National Institutes of Health budget. A large proportion of this increase is for specific initiatives, such as Alzheimer’s research and brain-mapping projects. While this news is promising, the prospects for bills being approved by Congress…
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What it’s like to lobby for science
The fact that consistent funding for biomedical research has decreased over the years is known to everyone who works in basic science. Indeed, it is a reason for many to leave the field altogether and explore other options. I wondered if there was something I could actively do to understand how funding at a federal…
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AFS interviewed Dr. Reba Bandyopadhyay, AAAS policy fellow
AAAS Science and Technology policy fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers to learn first-hand about policymaking and contribute their knowledge and analytical skills in the policy realm by serving in the federal government. Disclaimer from Reba: The views and opinions expressed here are entirely my own and should not be construed to reflect or represent…
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What have the 2016 US presidential candidates had to say about science funding?
It has been almost impossible to escape the primary race here in the US and, as a currently New England residing ’alien’ from the original England, I know it has also had a certain morbid curiosity overseas too. With the primaries starting to reach their conclusions, we thought it would be a good time to look…
Academics for the Future of Science 