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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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Naomi Oreskes: The Scientist as Sentinel – a Talk at the 2017 AAAS Meeting
At this year’s AAAS meeting Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, gave one of the meeting’s most inspirational talks; “The Scientist as Sentinel.” This title is in itself an interesting idea. If we think about the definition of sentinel, which is “a soldier or guard whose job is to…
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Now that we have Marched for Science, what’s next for science advocacy in Boston?
It is an unprecedented time for science enthusiasm. Last fall science was barely mentioned in the election. We know because we wrote a blog post about it and had a hard time digging up any mention of science by the candidates. Now over a million people marched for for science…
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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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Why should you march for science?
Update: AFS are officially partnered with the March for Science Boston as well as the National March for Science, join us at the march and come find our table on Boston Common on April 22 or check for updates to our Facebook group to meet up with us in D.C. If you’re not in the Boston or D.C. area, find…
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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…
Academics for the Future of Science 