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What’s Ahead
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| At a hearing this Thursday, current Under Secretary of Energy for Science Paul Dabbar, left, and former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will offer their perspectives on the state of energy innovation in the U.S. (Image credits – DOE) |
Senators to Review State of US Energy Innovation
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing Thursday on the “status and outlook of energy innovation in the U.S.” The committee will hear from Under Secretary of Energy for Science Paul Dabbar, who last week released an overview of DOE R&D policy titled “American Scientific Leadership in the 21st Century.” Ernest Moniz, energy secretary under President Obama and head of the Energy Futures Initiative, a policy research group, will offer his own perspective on current affairs. While Congress has adopted budgets and priorities for DOE that largely extend Obama-era policies, the Trump administration has proposed dramatically realigning DOE’s budget away from applied R&D and commercialization assistance activities. Other witnesses are ClearPath CEO Jay Faison, Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet, Council on Competitiveness CEO and President Deborah Wince-Smith, and the interim director of the Energy Institute at West Virginia University, James Wood.
House Kicks Off Climate Change Hearings
Following through on post-election promises to turn their attention quickly to climate, on Wednesday the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources Committees will each hold a hearing on climate change’s environmental and economic impacts. The Natural Resources Committee will hear from the governors of Massachusetts and North Carolina, Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb, and representatives from several activist groups. The Energy and Commerce Committee has not yet released its witness list. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are working on developing climate-related legislation. The New Democratic Coalition, a large caucus of centrist Democrats, has set up a climate task force led by Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA), Sean Casten (D-IL), Susan Wild (D-PA), and Elaine Luria (D-VA). It has also been widely reported that Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are preparing to introduce legislation for an ambitious “Green New Deal.”
House to Vote on Earthquake Preparedness Bill
The House is scheduled to consider the Pacific Northwest Earthquake Preparedness Act on Wednesday. The bill would direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop an earthquake early warning system for the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which stretches along the Pacific Coast from northern California to Canada. The bill would also create a taskforce that would make recommendations on earthquake and tsunami preparedness in coordination with the National Academies and relevant federal agencies. This bill reflects recent congressional interest in improving natural hazard preparedness.
Academies Forums to Explore STEM Education Futures
The National Academies is hosting two events this week focused on improving the U.S. system of higher education in STEM fields. On Wednesday, the Academies is holding a “national convocation” on the role of Minority Serving Institutions in strengthening the U.S. STEM workforce, focusing on ways to implement recommendations from its recent report on the subject. House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) has said she will consider the report’s recommendations as she prepares to reintroduce the STEM Opportunities Act in the new Congress. On Thursday, the Academies is also hosting an event to discuss “systematic weaknesses” in the U.S. higher education system, featuring authors of newly published essays promoting institutional change within the STEM education enterprise.
Transparency Advocates to Discuss Implementation of Open Data Law
The Center for Data Innovation is hosting an event on Thursday to discuss how federal agencies will implement the Open Government Data Act, which Congress incorporated into the Foundations for Evidence Based Policy Act prior to its final passage last year. President Trump signed the legislation in January. The law codifies aspects of an Obama administration memorandum on open data issued in 2013, directing agencies to generally make data they produce open and machine-readable “by default.” Among those participating in the event is the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, which has hailed the bill as a “watershed moment” for open data policy in the U.S.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette speaking at an event in 2017. Brouillette announced last week that the Department of Energy will bar its employees and grantees from participating in foreign talent recruitment programs operated by “sensitive” countries. (Image credit - DOE / Charles Watkins) |
DOE to Bar Scientists from Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Department of Energy issued a memorandum on Feb. 1 announcing plans to bar its employees, contractor personnel, and future grant recipients from participating in foreign talent recruitment programs operated by “sensitive” countries. According to the article, the memo does not specify countries of concern, but is nevertheless viewed as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on China’s efforts to acquire strategically important technologies. U.S. intelligence officials and some members of Congress have asserted that China’s Thousand Talents Program and related programs have served as a conduit for espionage and otherwise inappropriate transfers of technology to that country. The program offers both expatriate and foreign researchers generous stipends to set up labs in China. Speaking generally about such programs, the DOE memo states they target individuals who “have top-level access to and research capabilities in technological fields of interest to the foreign government,” though senior department officials declined to say how many government-funded scientists have participated in them. Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told the Journal the action is meant to “protect U.S. national security interests and scientific integrity,” adding, “You’re either going to work for us or work for them.”
Intelligence Chiefs Warn of Waning US Lead in S&T
The annual “worldwide threat assessment” released by U.S. intelligence agencies last week highlights the declining U.S. lead in scientific and technological fields as a trend with broad implications for the strategic environment. “For 2019 and beyond,” they state, “the innovations that drive military and economic competitiveness will increasingly originate outside the United States, as the overall U.S. lead in science and technology (S&T) shrinks; the capability gap between commercial and military technologies evaporates; and foreign actors increase their efforts to acquire top talent, companies, data, and intellectual property via licit and illicit means.” They describe China and Russia as the foremost countries of concern, noting that those nations’ leaders “view strong indigenous science and technology capabilities as key to their country’s sovereignty, economic outlook, and national power.” Raising particular concerns about China’s “technology development strategy,” they assert that China’s intelligence agencies will “exploit the openness of American society, especially academia and the scientific community, using a variety of means.” Top officials from U.S. intelligence agencies presented the document at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Jan. 29. Committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) echoed concerns about the shrinking U.S. lead in S&T fields in his closing remarks at the hearing.
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| In their annual assessment of global trends relevant to national security, U.S. intelligence agencies draw attention to the declining influence of U.S. research, as measured by percentage of total journal citations. (Image credit - Office of the Director of National Intelligence) |
New Faces Land Top Spots on House Science Committee
The House Science Committee’s Democratic majority has released its list of subcommittee leaders for the 116th Congress. All are new arrivals to the committee and to Congress except for incoming Energy Subcommittee Chair Conor Lamb (D-PA), who joined Congress and the committee about a year ago after winning a special election. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), a lawyer who defeated noted NASA advocate Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) in the November election, will take the Environment Subcommittee’s gavel. The Research and Technology Subcommittee will be led by former Obama administration official Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who tweeted that an article on the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts for science had motivated her to run for Congress. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a former Navy pilot and federal prosecutor, will lead the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. Leadership of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee is passing to Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK), a former head of communications and government affairs for the Space Foundation. That subcommittee’s former ranking member, Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), will now be vice chair of the full committee. The committee’s Republican minority has not yet named their subcommittee ranking members. The committee will adopt rules that govern its subcommittees at a business meeting on Wednesday.
Congress’ Watchdog Launches Science and Technology Team
On Jan. 29, the Government Accountability Office announced plans to hire new staff to build out a new Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics Team. While GAO has always conducted reviews and audits of S&T programs for Congress through its Center for Science, Technology and Engineering, Congress recently directed it to create a “new more prominent office” dedicated to such matters. At the same time, Congress directed the Congressional Research Service to explore additional options for enhancing the S&T advice available to Congress, including the possibility of restoring the defunct Office of Technology Assessment.
New H-1B Rule Prioritizes U.S. Advanced Degree Holders
On Jan. 31, the Department of Homeland Security announced it had finalized a rule change for the H-1B visa lottery system that prioritizes applicants who possess advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates the rule will result in a 16 percent increase in H-1B visa holders possessing masters degrees or higher from U.S. institutions, amounting to about 5,300 workers. Large U.S. technology companies stand to benefit from the rule, while IT contracting firms worry they will be negatively impacted. The portion of the rule that would have required petitioners to register electronically prior to submitting an application has been delayed until the 2020 cycle, citing concerns over the short implementation timeline. The new rule will take effect on April 1 without the electronic registration requirement.
Scientific Societies Object to Proposed Title IX Changes
Seventy-five academic and professional societies submitted a letter to the Education Department last week, objecting to its proposed changes to Title IX regulations. The rules are one of multiple mechanisms used to respond to sexual and gender harassment and discrimination in the sciences and academia. The societies argue the department’s changes “do not reflect the extant research and data on the nature and extent of harm caused by sexual harassment in educational programs,” citing a recent National Academies report on the subject and other studies. They maintain the proposal unduly narrows the definition of harassment, overly restricts the applicability of the regulations, and disincentivizes institutions from investigating allegations. (Several AIP Member Societies are signatories of the letter.) The public comment period for the proposal, which closed last week, garnered over 100,000 submissions.
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Events This Week
POSTPONED -- Senate: “Worldwide Threats”
10:00 am, Armed Services Committee (216 Hart Office Building)
Friday, February 8 ISS National Lab: Annual public board meeting
9:00 am - 12:00 pm, Omni Shoreham Hotel (2500 Calvert St. NW, DC)
Webcast available
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Opportunities Astro2020 White Paper Deadline Extended
The co-chairs of the upcoming decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics (Astro2020) have extended the deadline to submit science white papers to March 11 because of the government shutdown. The co-chairs announced that this is the final date to provide scientific input, even if another government shutdown occurs. They are also continuing to accept nominations for the survey committee and panels until Feb. 5.
NSF Earth Sciences Decadal Survey Seeking Input
A National Academies committee conducting a decadal survey for the National Science Foundation’s Division of Earth Sciences is seeking input on research and infrastructure priorities for the coming decade. Submissions are due March 1.
Knauss Ocean Policy Fellowship Accepting Applications
The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship is accepting applications for the 2020 program cycle. The fellowship places graduate students with an interest in oceans policy in legislative or executive branch offices for a one year term in Washington, D.C. Applications for the state Sea Grant program are due Feb. 22.
Know of an upcoming science policy opportunity? Email us at fyi@aip.org.Know of an upcoming science policy event? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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- Justice Department charges Huawei with fraud, ratcheting up US–China tensions (Washington Post)
- UC Berkeley bans new research funding from Huawei (Nature)
- For science, or the ‘motherland’? The dilemma facing China’s brightest minds (SupChina)
- Why Chinese science seems so secretive — and how it may be about to change (The Conversation, perspective by Joy Zhang)
- China’s military-run space station in Argentina is a ‘black box’ (Reuters)
- China is beating the US in the new space race (SpaceNews, perspective by Brandon Weichert)
- Shenzhen has designs on hosting key Beijing-backed science centre (South China Morning Post)
- Europe wrestles with a plan to build the ‘Amazon of science’ (Science|Business)
- Copyright proposals must be ditched, European research groups say (*Research)
- Keeping photonics on the European agenda (Laser Focus World)
- No-deal Brexit will unleash brain drain, warn scientists (*Research)
- French research chief: grants are up, bureaucracy is down (Nature, interview with Thierry Damerval)
- Ireland’s scientists seek a shift in support toward basic research (Physics Today)
- Macedonia name change paves way for science cooperation with Greece (Nature)
- A 25% pay raise? That’s not nearly enough, young Indian scientists say (ScienceInsider)
- Russia secretly offered North Korea a nuclear power plant, officials say (Washington Post)
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