On Aug. 10, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Eric Lander announced that within 90 days the office will develop implementation guidance for a directive issued late in the Trump administration that establishes minimum standards for research security policies across the government. Among other requirements, the directive delineates what activities grant applicants and grantees will have to disclose to their funding agencies, such as any participation in talent recruitment programs sponsored by foreign governments. Explaining the directive’s rationale, Lander specifically called out the Chinese government for “working vigorously to illicitly acquire, and in some cases outright steal, U.S. research and technology,” but adds that in working to counter such behaviors, the Biden administration will aim to avoid steps that “fuel xenophobia or prejudice.” He also states that new security requirements should be “clear and uniform” to lower the burden of compliance for well-intentioned scientists and should avoid “undermining the openness that is central to both scientific discovery and our national character.” Lander suggested one way of simplifying disclosure processes would be to create an “electronic CV” system that scientists could use to report their funding sources and institutional affiliations when applying for any federal grant. To inform the implementation guidance, OSTP held a private forum with research community representatives last week and is accepting public input by email at researchsecurity@ostp.eop.gov.

House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) petitioned the Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 10 to conform its limits on out-of-band emissions near the 24 gigahertz band of the radio spectrum with those agreed to at the 2019 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC). FCC’s auction of that band earlier that year ignited controversy because of fears that 5G telecommunications equipment making use of that spectrum would interfere with sensitive satellite observations of water vapor necessary for accurate weather forecasting and other Earth science research. The emissions limits negotiated at the WRC are stricter than those originally proposed by FCC, though scientists are concerned they will still be insufficient. In their letters, Johnson and Lucas ask FCC to “pay particular attention” to filings recently submitted on the matter by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which governs federal use of spectrum, and by the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, and National Weather Association. Those filings likewise urge FCC to adopt the WRC-negotiated limits as well as to take other steps they say are needed to secure the integrity of forecasts, particularly in the near term before more stringent limits would go into effect. (AMS is an AIP Member Society.)

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory announced last week that it has received $23 million from the National Science Foundation for begin design and development work on the Next Generation Very Large Array, the proposed successor to the Very Large Array in New Mexico, which has been operating since 1980. The new array is envisioned as comprising 244 antennas that are 18 meters in diameter and would provide a 10-fold increase in sensitivity over the VLA. NRAO has selected a German company to produce a prototype antenna, which will be tested at the VLA site. Assuming NSF and Congress approve the project, NRAO estimates that construction on the full array could begin by 2026, with early scientific observations starting in 2029 and full operations by 2035. The forthcoming National Academies decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics will assign a priority ranking to the project relative to other major facility proposals. According to preliminary estimates provided as input to the survey committee, the total construction costs could exceed $2 billion, including international contributions. Congressional appropriators encouraged NSF to support preliminary work on the array as the agency awaits the results of the survey, and earlier this year the project was endorsed by a Canadian advisory panel.

Last week, the National Science Foundation announced the 19 members of a new committee that will contemplate the future shape of the agency’s EPSCoR program, which sets aside funds for states and territories that have historically received a lesser share of agency funding. With a target completion date of next spring, the committee will assess the effectiveness of EPSCoR’s current investment strategies and recommend new approaches to achieving the program’s mission of increasing participants’ research competitiveness. NSF also intends for the exercise to improve the metrics used for attributing improvements in research competitiveness to specific program strategies. The review comes as members of Congress have expressed interest in bolstering the EPSCoR program. The Senate included a provision in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act it passed this summer that would require at least 20% of all NSF funds to go to EPSCoR jurisdictions.