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What’s Ahead
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| Sethuraman Panchanathan at a meeting of the National Science Board. (Image credit – NSB) |
Panchanathan Cleared to Take the Helm at NSF
The Senate confirmed Sethuraman Panchanathan as the director of the National Science Foundation by voice vote on June 18, closing the vacancy left by the departure of his predecessor France Córdova in March. Panchanathan, who often goes by the nickname Panch, is an expert in human-machine interfaces and has served as chief research and innovation officer at Arizona State University since 2010. He was also a member of NSF’s governing body, the National Science Board, from 2014 until this spring. Because NSF directors typically serve six-year terms, it is likely Panchanathan will remain in the position even if there is a change in presidential administrations next year. Both the chair and ranking member of the House Science Committee have issued statements applauding his confirmation.
House Advancing Annual Defense Policy Bill
The House Armed Services Committee is beginning public consideration of its draft of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 with a series of subcommittee meetings on Monday and Tuesday. The full committee will then combine and amend the six subcommittees’ pieces of the legislation at a marathon meeting on July 1. The Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, which oversees the Department of Defense’s R&D programs, and the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which oversees the National Nuclear Security Administration, will advance their respective portions of the bills on Monday. Provisions included in drafts released to the public include ones focused on emerging technologies, enhancing biological threat reduction programs, and defending DOD’s social science research program, Minerva, which the department has proposed to close down. The legislation is considered a “must pass” bill, and controversial amendments are often offered during the subcommittee and committee meetings.
FCC to Face Senate Panel Amid Spectrum Controversies
All five members of the Federal Communications Commission are appearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Wednesday. The hearing comes as FCC’s moves to open up portions of the electromagnetic spectrum for commercial applications have increasingly roiled federal users of the spectrum. In one of the most recent controversies, FCC’s decision to grant the company Ligado Networks use of radio spectrum bands adjacent to those used by global positioning systems has drawn sharp pushback from the Department of Defense and leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The Senate has advanced legislation that would mandate an independent technical review of potential interference, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an arbiter for federal spectrum users, has also formally petitioned the FCC to reconsider the decision. Other recent FCC spectrum controversies have involved approvals of spectrum uses that may interfere with the work of the meteorological and astronomical observations. Its actions to promote satellite constellations and expand orbital debris mitigation rules have also raised concerns among some researchers. Committee members, particularly Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), have taken an active interest in some of these disputes.
DOE Fusion Panel Discussing Long-Range Plan
The advisory committee for the Department of Energy’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences is meeting this week to discuss the long-range strategic plan it is currently preparing for the department, among other topics. On Tuesday, the committee will hear from the chair of the planning subcommittee, UCLA plasma physicist Troy Carter, as well as the co-chairs of the recently released National Academies decadal assessment of plasma science, which will be a key input for the long-range plan. The committee expects to deliver its final report by the end of the year, which will recommend investment priorities for the next ten years under three budget scenarios. The meeting will close on Wednesday with a session on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the Office of Science.
Physicists to Explore Actions for Diversifying the Profession
The American Physical Society is hosting a webinar on Wednesday to discuss tools for making physics more inclusive and equitable. Arriving two weeks after APS and other scientific societies participated in a strike to protest racial injustice, the panel will focus on identifying “concrete actions” that all members of the physical sciences community, from students to professors and administrators, can take to support increased diversity within the field. Panelists include APS President-Elect Jim Gates, AIP TEAM-UP Project Manager Arlene Modeste Knowles, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor Philip Phillips, American Association of Physics Teachers Past President Mel Sabella, and National Society of Black Physicists board student representative Farrah Simpson. The panel will be facilitated by NSBP President Stephon Alexander and Harvard University professor Lisa Randall.
Harassment Workshop Seeks to Move Beyond Compliance Culture
The Universities Space Research Association is hosting a virtual workshop this week on preventing sexual harassment in the scientific workplace, with the aim of creating a “community of practice to continue future anti-harassment efforts.” The first day of the event will feature a presentation on the National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education, a group of more than 40 universities and research institutions working to “research and develop efforts that move beyond basic legal compliance to evidence-based policies and practices for addressing and preventing all forms of sexual harassment.” The group was formed to follow up on recommendations from the 2018 Academies report on the pervasiveness of sexual and gender harassment against women in academia. Representatives from the Department of the Interior and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will also discuss efforts at their respective agencies to address harassment through prevention programs. The second day of the event includes a session focused on increasing inclusivity within the planetary science community.
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In Case You Missed It
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| (Image credit – CERN) |
Future Circular Collider Receives Key Endorsement
The CERN Council voted unanimously on June 19 to approve the European Strategy for Particle Physics Update, which recommends projects and policies for European governments and decision-makers in the field. The strategy endorses working toward construction of the proposed Future Circular Collider, stating, “Europe, together with its international partners, should investigate the technical and financial feasibility of a future hadron collider at CERN with a center-of-mass energy of at least 100 teraelectron volts.” The collider would have a circumference of about 100 kilometers and permit physicists to explore energy regimes well in excess of those currently reachable at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It is expected to cost well more than $20 billion if pursued with an electron-positron collider as an initial stage before continuing on to a higher-energy proton-proton collider configuration. According to the strategy, the collider would require contributions from a “global collaboration” to proceed. The updated strategy also endorses European support for ongoing Japanese and U.S. long-baseline neutrino facility projects as well as participation in the Japan-based International Linear Collider, should it move forward.
NOAA Officials Clash Over Hurricane Dorian Scandal
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an independent report last week that concludes NOAA Acting Administrator Neil Jacobs violated the agency’s scientific integrity policy when he helped draft an unsigned statement last September that was widely regarded as rebuking weather forecasters who tweeted information about the path of Hurricane Dorian that contradicted a tweet sent by President Trump. Jacobs has disputed the conclusion, arguing the policy does not apply to the forecasters’ tweet or the agency’s statement. He also denied the statement constituted a “criticism,” stating its aim was to “reconcile” the forecasters’ tweet with weather models the White House asserted were consistent with Trump’s tweet. Writing NOAA’s official response to the report, satellite program chief Steve Volz endorsed its findings, indicating the integrity policy “applies equally” across agency communications. However, he also noted Jacobs had tried to push back against “significant external pressure” from officials at the Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA. In his own statement, NOAA Acting Chief Scientist Craig McLean expressed disappointment the report had not recommended penalties, writing, “While there may be found causes of sympathy for the oppressed and meek subordinates of domineering autocratic ogres, I hardly can find sympathy in this scintilla of an argument for clemency. If not the single highest person in NOAA, who will stand for the Scientific Integrity of the agency and the trust our public needs to invest in our scientific process and products?”
Senators Introduce Sweeping Research Security Bill
A bipartisan group of 15 lawmakers led by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced legislation last week that aims to crack down on exploitation of the U.S. research system by rival governments, with a particular eye toward China. The bill would create a Federal Research Security Council led by the White House Office of Management and Budget, add criminal penalties for failing to disclose outside compensation on grant applications, expand the State Department’s ability to deny visas, and lower the threshold on foreign gifts and contracts that universities are required to report, among other provisions. The legislation was introduced in two pieces, with the main portion referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a smaller bill pertaining to international science and technology agreements referred to the Foreign Relations Committee. Rolling out the legislation, Portman highlighted endorsements from the CEO of Battelle, which manages several national laboratories and is headquartered in Ohio, and officials at eight universities and medical centers in Ohio. However, various research organizations have raised concerns about several provisions. The Association of American Universities stated, “While AAU shares Senators Portman and Carper’s goal of securing research conducted on our campuses, and universities are taking specific steps to address security concerns, key provisions in the bill are overly broad and will only serve to harm American science without improving national security.”
Republicans Broaden Push To Restrict Chinese STEM Visas
House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) and 22 Republican cosponsors introduced legislation on June 11 that would prohibit any Chinese citizens from receiving visas to study, work, or attend a meeting in the U.S. in any area that is related to STEM. The restriction could be waived on an annual basis if the president certifies that in the previous year the Chinese government has not engaged in any cyber espionage against an American company and that no entity in the U.S. has engaged in espionage on behalf of China. The bill comes on the heels of the introduction of legislation last month by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and two other Republican cosponsors that proposes barring Chinese citizens from receiving visas to study in STEM fields at the graduate level and from receiving funds from federal grants. At a conference last week, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who chairs two innovation advisory boards for the Department of Defense, argued against restricting Chinese participation in U.S. research. “One of the things that we looked at was the role of Chinese students in American research. And for those of you who are shocked by this, I’m sorry but I’ll tell you the truth, that many of the top graduate students are foreign-born and typically Chinese. That’s partly because the really, really smart Chinese researchers would prefer to be here,” he said.
Lawmakers Propose National Security Visa for Foreign Scientists
Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced legislation last week that would create a special immigrant visa for talented foreign scientists and other technical experts interested in working in areas that support U.S. national security. Titled the National Security Innovation Pathway Act, the bill would provide visas for up to 100 people in 2021 and would increase to 500 by 2025 and thereafter. While the bill’s text does not limit the new pathway to specific fields, its sponsors have cited artificial intelligence, quantum information sciences, biology, robotics, and hypersonics as areas of particular interest. Applicants would have to be recommended by the Secretary of Defense and the visa would enable them to work on national security issues and government-funded research. Each visa petition within the program would incur a $2,000 processing fee, a quarter of which would go toward a STEM scholarship program for American students. The bill has been endorsed by the American Physical Society (an AIP Member Society), the Federation of American Scientists, and three major university associations.
White House Releases EMP R&D Strategy
The interagency National Science and Technology Council released a report last week assessing the federal R&D activities needed to protect American infrastructure from natural and artificially generated electromagnetic pulses (EMPs). The report, mandated by an executive order in March of last year, identifies twelve focus areas ranging from improving the timeliness space weather forecasts to demonstrating viable protection and mitigation strategies for critical infrastructure. The document’s release coincided with a National Academies workshop on space weather monitoring, where relevant portions of the report were presented by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy official Adam Balkcum, who chaired the working group that prepared it.
New Director of National Quantum Coordination Office Named
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios announced last week that physicist Charles Tahan has been tapped to lead the National Quantum Coordination Office and join the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as its new assistant director for quantum information science. Tahan is the technical director of the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a National Security Agency research center located near the University of Maryland. Tahan will take over both roles from NIST physicist Jake Taylor, who has led the coordination office on an interim basis since it was established pursuant to the National Quantum Initiative Act in 2019.
Defense Department Updates Space Strategy
Last week, the Department of Defense released a summary of its new space strategy, which replaces a previous version completed in 2011. DOD cites the rise in commercial and international space activities, particularly by China and Russia, as important drivers behind the update. The strategy asserts the importance of maintaining “superiority” in space, and states DOD will work to expand R&D partnerships with international allies, capitalize on the burgeoning commercial space industry, and support space traffic management and the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, among other priorities.
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Events This Week Monday, June 22
Tuesday, June 23
Wednesday, June 24
Thursday, June 25
Friday, June 26
Monday, June 29
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Opportunities DOE Identifying ‘Grand Challenges’ for AI
The Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office at the Department of Energy is seeking input as it works to identify sector-specific “grand challenges” that would advance AI technologies. The effort stems from a 2019 executive order that directs the agencies to “drive technological breakthroughs in AI across the federal government, industry, and academia in order to promote scientific discovery, economic competitiveness and national security.” Submissions are due July 10.
DOE Seeking Input on Battery Material Supply Chains
The Department of Energy is seeking input on the “challenges and opportunities in the upstream and midstream critical materials battery supply chains.” The responses will inform an upcoming workshop focused on bottlenecks in the supply chain for battery cathode materials and opportunities for near and long-term R&D. Comments are due July 16.
Nature Surveying Postdoctoral Researchers
The journal Nature is seeking postdoctoral researchers in STEM fields to participate in its “first-ever survey dedicated entirely to postdocs, a crucial but often marginalized segment of the scientific workforce.” The survey examines topics related to job satisfaction, career progression, working hours, and financial compensation, among other areas, and is available in five languages.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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- Stanford University must speak out against xenophobia (Stanford Daily, perspective by David Shuang Song, et al.)
- Yale astronomers questioned systemic racism because they hired one Black employee 35 years ago, emails show (BuzzFeed News)
- Understanding persistent gender gaps in STEM (Science, perspective by Joseph Cimpian, et al.)
- In the wake of COVID-19, academia needs new solutions to ensure gender equity (PNAS, paper by Jessica Malisch, et al.)
- Women-only STEM college programs under attack for male discrimination (Los Angeles Times)
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