Editor’s note: The next edition of FYI This Week will be published on July 10.

Congress is out of session until July 11 for its Independence Day recess, and when business resumes a top agenda item will be completing spending proposals for fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct. 1. One of the first bills Senate appropriators will advance is the one that funds NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Last week, House appropriators advanced their version of the bill that funds the Department of Energy on a party-line vote. Within their overarching proposal for a flat Office of Science budget, they would cut by 9% the Biological and Environmental Research program while partially implementing the Biden administration’s proposed scale-up of the Isotope R&D and Production program, providing about half the requested 58% increase. Most facility construction projects would be funded at the requested levels, except for a ramp up planned for the LBNF/DUNE neutrino project, which would fall $26 million short of the $251 million requested. Senate appropriators’ counterpart proposal for DOE will adhere to a higher topline spending level, but how they distribute that funding among programs will not be revealed until their meeting to advance the bill, which is not yet scheduled. For further details on proposals as they become available, visit FYI’s newly upgraded Federal Science Budget Tracker.

Spending legislation that the House is advancing for the Defense Department proposes to increase the Defense Innovation Unit budget from $191 million to more than $1 billion to oversee a “near-term hedge” portfolio. The report accompanying the bill explains the portfolio would comprise technologies such as low-cost drones, satellites, and sensors that would be obtained commercially from “non-traditional sources” and hedge against limitations in the defense industrial base and tactical and logistical risks to current weapons systems. The proposal further envisions DIU as the central body within a coordinated network of similar organizations across the military service branches that would now be designated as “Non-traditional Innovation Fielding Enterprises,” or NIFEs. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee’s innovation policy panel, added an amendment last week to the committee’s draft of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act that would establish the NIFE framework in statute, in accord with his own focus on rapidly transitioning near-term technologies into use.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees approved their drafts of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act last week on votes of 58-1 and 24-1, respectively. Lawmakers will propose further amendments on the House and Senate floor before negotiators meet to reconcile the two versions of the bill. Among the issues up for debate is what controls should be placed on scientific collaborations to prevent the misappropriation of research results. The full text of the Senate version has not been released, but an executive summary states that it would limit or prohibit the Department of Defense from funding institutions that “contract with Chinese or Russian institutions which engage in intellectual property theft or are linked to the Chinese or Russian military or intelligence services.” An amendment that Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) attached to the House version over objections from Democrats would require applications for DOD research funding to disclose extensive details about all project researchers’ past and present ties to foreign entities, along with other information about them.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is advancing legislation to broadly update policy for intelligence agencies that includes research security measures specific to the Department of Energy. The legislation would require that any foreign national from a “sensitive country” seeking to visit a DOE national lab be screened by DOE’s counterintelligence office. The office would then recommend whether the lab should admit the individual, with a requirement that the lab disclose to Congress whether it followed the recommendation. The legislation would also explicitly add DOE national lab sites to the types of real estate for which nearby purchases of property by foreign entities would trigger a review from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which recommends transactions for the president to block on national security grounds. In addition to the DOE-specific proposals, the legislation includes a section dedicated to “economic and emerging technology competition with United States adversaries.” Among its provisions is a requirement that the president create an “Office of Global Competition Analysis” to benchmark U.S. standing in critical technologies relative to that of other countries. In the past, Congress has sometimes passed intelligence policy updates by attaching them to the National Defense Authorization Act.

The magazine Issues in Science and Technology is hosting a virtual panel discussion on Tuesday to discuss ways of increasing the geographic and institutional diversity of organizations engaged in federally funded research. The event will cover recent policy initiatives such as the CHIPS and Science Act’s push to increase support for “emerging research institutions.” FYI’s Mitch Ambrose is moderating the discussion.

President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to deepening U.S.–India cooperation in science and technology during Modi’s state visit last week. India became the 27th country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish common principles for space exploration, and NASA announced that it will begin preparing Indian astronauts for a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024. The nations also signed agreements to promote further joint research in quantum information science and artificial intelligence. In addition, Modi attended a workforce event at the National Science Foundation on Wednesday with First Lady Jill Biden, and the agency highlighted its expansion of research partnerships with India through a recent cooperation agreement. A joint task force on expanding research and educational partnerships between the two countries also released a set of interim recommendations last week in support of the broader U.S.–India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) that was announced in January

The news outlet Ars Technica reported last week that project leaders for NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission have presented the agency with a new cost estimate of between $8 billion and $9 billion. In a statement provided to the outlet SpaceNews, NASA cautioned that the estimate is “highly speculative” and corrected Ars Technica’s account, stating it covers the mission’s full lifecycle cost, not just its pre-launch development cost. As of last September, NASA expected the mission would cost around $6 billion, which was itself higher than previous estimates. NASA officials have cited supply-chain issues as contributing to cost increases on MSR and other missions, but unnamed sources told Ars Technica that MSR’s plans to use a Mars lander of unprecedented size are also causing major problems.

This spring, NASA established an independent panel to review its plans for the mission and has indicated it will not publicly release a cost estimate until that effort is complete and the mission passes its confirmation milestone. Meanwhile, discontent has been growing within the space science community and Congress around the squeeze the MSR budget is putting on other missions in NASA’s science portfolio. Such tensions are poised to worsen with not only MSR’s growing costs, but also the stricter caps now placed on federal spending. Congress has appropriated $1.7 billion for the mission to date and NASA is seeking $950 million for fiscal year 2024. The European Space Agency is also contributing major components of the project that have not typically been included in cost estimates focused on NASA’s portion.

The National Science Foundation announced last week that it has published guidelines for how the agency’s research security office will perform analytics to identify potential failures to disclose information that is required as part of the grant application process. Office director Rebecca Keiser emphasized in a foreword to the guidelines that agency program officers will not be permitted to use such analytics as part of the merit review process, shielding them from the “burden of geopolitics.” The analytics will only be conducted by staff members in her office, who will be prohibited from making inquiries that are “explicitly or implicitly designed to return the identities of individuals of a specific national origin or racial identity.” NSF states these analytics are designed only to identify “potential compliance inconsistencies” and does not view them as “investigations,” which are handled by the agency’s Office of Inspector General.

The Office of Naval Research welcomed new leadership on June 16 with the arrival of Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus as chief of naval research. Rothenhaus will oversee the office’s portfolio of basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development as well as the Navy’s overall strategy for STEM workforce development. Rothenhaus holds a doctorate in software engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and most recently served in an executive role focused on naval communications networks. He succeeds Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, who had served in the role since 2020.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced plans last week to develop AI policy legislation that adheres to what he calls a “SAFE Innovation Framework.” The acronym refers to the goal of developing AI technology in ways that safeguard national security, ensure accountability for its misuses, align AI systems with foundational democratic values, and ensure such systems can explain how they draw particular conclusions. Schumer also said he has selected Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Todd Young (R-IN), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) to help lead the Senate’s development of AI legislation and that he plans to convene “insight forums” starting this September to supplement the committee hearings traditionally used to shape and justify legislation. “We need the best of the best sitting at the table — the top AI developers, executives, scientists, advocates, community leaders, workers, national security experts — all together in one room, doing years of work in a matter of months,” he said.

The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee published a report last week with recommendations for improving the federal government’s support for research, development, and use of AI. The committee proposes creating a variety of new oversight structures, such as an interagency Emerging Technology Council, an AI Research and Innovation Observatory, a Multilateral AI Research Institute, and a new White House role of chief responsible AI officer. The committee also states that agencies have not reached the funding targets set in the National AI Initiative Act and that the national coordination office overseeing the initiative has been inadequately supported. It calls for the White House to at least double the office’s staff to six full-time employees and to fill the positions of office director and U.S. chief technology officer, which respectively have been vacant since last August and since the outset of the Biden administration. The administration has recently elevated its attention to AI policy and last week announced a new working group on generative AI led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to build on the agency’s AI Risk Management Framework.

The National Academies released a congressionally mandated report last week that assesses U.S. capabilities for monitoring, detection, and verification (MDV) of nuclear weapons and fissile materials. It finds that although the U.S. has significant MDV capabilities, the “mission is inconsistently and inadequately prioritized across the U.S. government,” and that interagency coordination efforts are insufficient, limiting the nation’s ability to identify capability needs and develop new technologies. It also finds technology maturation is slowed due to classification issues and lack of access to facilities and materials. It recommends that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy establish an interagency planning process and external advisory board for MDV research and that OSTP develop policy guidance to address governance, legal, classification, and cultural barriers that prevent information-sharing between agencies. The report further identifies opportunities for the National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Defense to improve coordination and strengthen their support for basic R&D, such as by facilitating greater university and industry participation in nonproliferation R&D and better leveraging the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.

National Academies: “NASA Mission Critical Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology,” meeting five
(continues through Wednesday)

ICSSI: International Conference on the Science of Science and Innovation
(continues through Wednesday)

National Academies: “Promoting Equitable and Inclusive Implementation of Open Scholarship Policies”
11:00 am - 2:30 pm

National Academies: “Independent Study on Potential Environmental Effects of Nuclear War,” information gathering session two
12:00 - 2:00 pm

National Academies: “Roundtable on Mentorship, Well-Being, and Professional Development,” meeting four
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Federal Lab Consortium: “Lab Showcase: Here is NIST!”
3:15 - 4:15 pm

Asian American Scholar Forum / ACLU: “Perils of Warrantless Surveillance: The Case for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reform,” with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
4:00 - 5:15 pm

National Academies: “Carbon Utilization Infrastructure, Markets, Research and Development,” meeting four
(continues through Thursday)

NOAA: U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Advisory Committee meeting
(continues through Thursday)

NASA: Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Wednesday)

USGS: National Geospatial Advisory Committee meeting
(continues Wednesday)

Atlantic Council: “Tech Race with China: Toward a Comprehensive Strategy”
10:00 am

Atlantic Council: “Post G7 Summit: Advancing Industrial Decarbonization and Climate-Aligned Trade”
10:00 - 11:15 am

National Academies: “Global Microelectronics Models for the Department of Defense in Semiconductor Public-Private Partnerships”
12:00 - 1:00 pm

AI.gov: National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee meeting
2:00 - 3:00 pm, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

RFF: “Policy Road Map to Accelerate Responsible BECCS Deployment,” with Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
2:00 - 3:30 pm

Issues in S&T: “Federal Research Funding: Is There a Fairer Way to Share the Pie?”
3:00 - 4:00 pm

CSIS: “Promoting Semiconductor ‘Friendshoring’: The Role of Indo-Pacific Allies and Partners in Supply Chain Resilience”
3:00 - 4:15 pm

National Academies: “Building Defense Research Capacity at HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs and ANNHSIs,” workshop three
(continues Thursday)

National Academies: “International Talent Programs in the Changing Global Environment,” meeting three
(continues Thursday)

National Academies: “Preserving and Developing Ukraine’s Human Capital in Research, Education, and Innovation,” workshop day three
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

NSF: NSB-NSF Commission on Merit Review teleconference
12:00 - 1:30 pm

National Academies: “Elementary Particle Physics Progress and Promise,” meeting nine
(continues Friday)

ANS: “The Impact of National, State, and Local Policies on the Nuclear Workforce”
1:00 - 2:00 pm

NSF: “Listen and Learn: Implementing Public Access 2.0”
1:00 - 2:00 pm

Commerce Department: U.S. Hydrogen Industry Roundtable
1:00 - 4:00 pm

American Enterprise Institute: “Science Policy After the COVID-19 Crisis”
8:45 - 11:00 am

National Academies: Air Force Science and Technology Roundtable, meeting two
11:00 am - 5:00 pm

NASA: “Committee on NASA Mission Critical Workforce, Infrastructure, and Technology,” meeting six
(continues Friday)

National Academies: “The Current Status and Future Direction of High Magnetic Field Science in the United States, Phase II”
10:00 - 11:00 am

NASA / CERN: “Summit on Accelerating the Adoption of Open Science”
(continues through Friday)

National Academies: “Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science,” meeting four
(continues Tuesday)

Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

The National Academies is hiring a program officer and a research associate in the International Networks and Cooperation unit of its Policy and Global Affairs Division. The program officer will work on science diplomacy projects related to subjects such as semiconductors, climate change, and food security, while the associate will focus on a study related to environmental justice initiatives of the Department of Energy. Qualifications vary by position.

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University is hiring an emerging technology workforce fellow. The role will research “the global AI workforce and policies that affect it, including immigration, education pipelines, and talent recruitment and retention — with particular emphasis on the national security workforce.” Candidates must have a graduate degree in a relevant field and at least three years of experience in research and policy analysis. Applications are due July 24.

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.

OSTP: OSTP releases its first-ever scientific integrity policy
CNN: Inside the White House’s urgent push to regulate AI
Washington Post: Biden meets with tech company critics on AI
White House: Remarks by President Biden on seizing the opportunities and managing the risks of AI
White House: Readout of the National Academies workshop on incorporating climate into macroeconomic modeling

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Krishnamoorthi applauds DHS for establishing the Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council
The Hill: Our fusion moment has arrived (perspective by Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY))
Slate: Congress is woefully unprepared to regulate tech (perspective by Maya Kornberg)

Fox News Joe Rogan offers scientist Peter Hotez $100,000 to debate Robert Kennedy Jr. on vaccines, setting off firestorm
Washington Post: Vaccine scientist says anti-vaxxers ‘stalked’ him after Rogan’s challenge
Science: Scientists shouldn’t debate gaslighters (perspective by Holden Thorp)
Daily Beast: Here’s why legitimate scientists should debate RFK Jr. (perspective by Ben Burgis)
Axios: Scientists on Twitter head for the exit
Washington Post: Iowa meteorologist resigns, citing PTSD from threats over climate change coverage
Wired: Oppenheimer director says AI is not the bomb. His new movie might still scare you shitless (interview with Christopher Nolan)
NSF: Biennial report shows more than 2,500 I-Corps teams created nearly 1,400 startups and raised $3.16 billion since 2012 (report)

Hechinger Report: With new ‘talent visas,’ other countries lure workers trained at US universities
NBER: Creating and connecting US and China science: Chinese diaspora and returnee researchers (paper by Qingnan Xie and Richard Freeman)
Nature: Universities urged to improve how staff sexual-assault claims are handled
Aspen Institute: Advancing LGBTQ+ people in STEM careers (report)
ScienceInsider: How scientific conferences are responding to abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ+ laws
Physics Today: Free textbooks and other open educational resources gain popularity

NSF: NSF launches new $30 million program to assess outcomes of R&D spending
NSF: US exceeds $700 billion in gross domestic expenditures on R&D in 2020
Research Policy: Does public R&D funding crowd-in private R&D investment? Evidence from military R&D expenditures for US states (paper by Gianluca Pallante, et al.)
Macroscience: Long science (perspective by Tim Hwang)
ScienceInsider: ‘Transformative’ journals get booted for switching to open access too slowly
Stat: Doctors’ lobby doubles down on the fight against expanding open access to research
The Scholarly Kitchen: Five years of the Orchid US Consortium (interview with Sheila Rabun)
New York Times: New study bolsters room-temperature superconductor claim
NIH: Using AI in peer review is a breach of confidentiality
Nature: Open-source AI chatbots are booming — what does this mean for researchers?

ScienceInsider: Infrastructure woes could slow South Pole physics projects
NCAR: Allison McComiskey named director of NCAR’s Earth Observing Laboratory
DOE: Independent assessment of emergency management at Argonne National Lab (report)
HPCwire: Aurora’s 10,624 blades in place as exascale system nears completion
HPCwire: France will host EuroHPC’s second exascale supercomputerITER: 32nd ITER Council: A focus on updating the baseline
Bloomberg: ITER faces more delays, higher costs
EUROfusion: EUROfusion’s strong support for ITER and clarification of recent misrepresentation

NIST: CHIPS for America announces selection committee for the board of trustees of the National Semiconductor Technology Center
Commerce Department: Biden-Harris administration outlines plan to strengthen semiconductor supply chains as part of investing in America agenda
Wall Street Journal: Chemical makers, tool suppliers can now get CHIPS Act money
EE Times: Three governments investing in new semiconductor technology pledge cooperation
Phenomenal World: Semi-politics: Intel and the future of US chipmaking (perspective by Susannah Glickman)
University of Maryland: New partnership aims to make key quantum computing software available to researchers
Research Professional: Demand for UK quantum workers ‘massively’ outstrips supply
Reuters: Inside China’s underground market for high-end Nvidia AI chips
New York Times: China’s cloud computing firms raise concern for US

SpacePolicyOnline: NASA planetary science head spells out priorities if budget cuts materialize
SpaceNews: NASA opens Earth Information Center amid budget uncertainty
New York Times: Firouz Naderi, NASA scientist who led Mars missions, dies at 77
NASA: NASA and Department of Agriculture sign a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration
NASA: NASA welcomes Ecuador as 26th Artemis Accords signatory
Ars Technica: It appears that Roscosmos really is recruiting soldiers for the Ukraine War

ScienceInsider: In Montana lawsuit, a climate scientist takes the stand (interview with Cathy Whitlock)
Financial Times: EU braves climate storms by wading into geo-engineering debate
Science: Sound stewardship for a noisy planet (perspective by Matthias Rillig, et al.)
E&E News: US lawmakers have stopped visiting China — is climate cooperation at risk?

The Economist: America aims for nuclear power renaissance
AP: Alabama chosen as site of first commercial-sale microreactor assembly plant
Nuclear Innovation Alliance: Additional flexible funding is needed to break dependence on Russian nuclear fuel (report)
Canary Media: DOE offers record-breaking $9.2 billion loan to build EV batteries in the US
E&E News: DOE works to appease lawmakers after Microvast debacle

DOD: Launch of the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X)
CRS: AUKUS pillar 2 on advanced technology capabilities: Background and issues for Congress (report)
SpaceNews: Space Force missile-warning satellites drawing congressional attention
ScienceInsider: US military contract could help Black university become research powerhouse
Wall Street Journal: The ultra-secret underwater spy system that might have heard the Titan submersible implose
Politico: Supreme Court turns away veterans in case over 1966 hydrogen bomb accident
GAO: Additional actions by NNSA could improve efficiency of common financial reporting (report)

ODNI: Potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic (report)
New York Times: US intelligence agencies remain divided over lab leak theory
Wall Street Journal: US-funded scientist among three Chinese researchers who fell ill amid early COVID-19 outbreak
ScienceInsider: ‘Ridiculous,’ says Chinese scientist accused of being pandemic’s patient zero
House Coronavirus Subcommittee: Subcommittee chair announces first subpoena for ‘proximal origins’ author’s private communications with co-authors
Stat: House GOP inquiry over gain-of-function research targets a scientific giant
GAO: NIH needs to implement key workforce planning activities (report)
NIH: RFI on catalyzing the development and use of novel alternative methods to advance biomedical research
NIH: Reorganization proposed for National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
New York Times: Suddenly, it looks like we’re in a golden age for medicine
Federation of American Scientists: What’s next for the US bioeconomy? Defining it (perspective by Nazish Jeffery)

Axios: Biden administration reverses Trump policy that allowed funding to research in Israeli settlements
RAND Corporation: Scientific and technological flows between the US and China (report)
Politico: EU looks to ban companies from making sensitive tech in China
Science Business: European Innovation Council in line for an extra €2.6 billion in EU budget review
Science Business: Put more money into basic research to stop the brain drain from eastern Europe, says European Research Council head
Moscow Times: Soviet hydrogen bomb creator Grigory Klinishov dies by suicide
Nature: War shattered Ukrainian science — its rebirth is now taking shape
Research Professional: Ukraine freezes Belarus out of Antarctic research work
Nature: Two Titan submersible passengers were prominent science philanthropists in Pakistan
State Department: New program to award $232,000 focused on critical and emerging technology in Quad countries
State Department: Statement on the 3rd US–Thailand meeting on science and technology
APS: APS supports International Year of Quantum proposal passed by UNESCO Executive Committee