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What’s Ahead
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| Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI). (Image credit – Office of Sen. Reed) |
Defense Bill Meetings Mark a Return to Routine Business
With the arrival of summer, Congress is turning some of its attention from the immediate crises facing the U.S. to address its annual legislative obligations. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a series of mostly closed-door meetings this week to work on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which updates policy for the Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration. The legislation typically includes numerous provisions bearing on R&D policy, technology priorities, and nuclear weapons, among many other matters. In the Senate, a draft of the legislation is released to the public after its consideration by the full committee, while the House Armed Services Committee traditionally releases its version before undertaking committee work in open session. The House’s meetings were originally set for April and have now been rescheduled for late June. In July, the House and Senate appropriations committees are expected to begin hammering out their proposals for legislation to fund the government for fiscal year 2021. House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) announced last week that floor debate on the House’s bills could commence the last full week of July.
Academies Panels to Address Smallsat and Radio Interference
A joint meeting this week of the National Academies’ Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board will feature a discussion of options for protecting space science instruments against optical and radio interference from small satellite constellations. Astronomers fear that plans by several companies to launch thousands of such satellites in the coming years will severely disrupt their work. Panelists include representatives from the Defense Department, United Nations, International Astronomical Union, American Astronomical Society, Satellite Industry Association, and SpaceX. The meeting will also feature general updates from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Space Council, National Science Foundation, and NASA, as well as keynote presentations on the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. The National Academies decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics is holding a separate meeting Tuesday on regulatory and technological approaches to mitigating the radio interference from various sources that affects astronomical observatories.
NSF Equal Opportunities Committee Convening
The National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE) is meeting this week to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on minority-serving institutions and to continue work on its next biennial report to Congress recommending actions to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. The committee will also hear presentations from Acting NSF Director Kelvin Droegemeier and Suzi Iacono, the head of NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities. At a March symposium marking the release of a National Academies report on women in STEM, Iacono said NSF is currently exploring ways to address the privacy challenges associated with collecting demographic data on underrepresented groups that have a relatively small number of individuals. She said CEOSE would comment on this problem in its next report.
NIST Officials to Discuss COVID-19 Response and Recovery
On Tuesday, the principal advisory committee for the National Institute of Standards and Technology will receive briefings on the agency’s role in responding to the pandemic and its plans to reopen its own research campuses in Maryland and Colorado. NIST received $66 million in emergency funds through coronavirus response legislation enacted in March, of which $50 million was for a program that provides technical assistance to manufacturing companies and $9 million was for the National Institute for Innovation in Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing. NIST’s laboratory programs have also launched projects to increase the accuracy of COVID-19 tests, improve search engines for coronavirus research papers, and assess the effectiveness of personal protective equipment. Aside from these updates, the advisory committee will also hear from White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios.
‘Urgent Redesign’ Sought for National Nanotech Initiative
The National Academies is holding a briefing on Tuesday to discuss its latest quadrennial review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), an interagency effort launched in 2000. The review committee was tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of NNI’s R&D strategy, particularly in comparison to other nation’s nanotechnology programs, and assessing whether the initiative should continue. The review affirms the importance of a coordinated nationwide nanotechnology research effort, but finds NNI’s performance has been “uneven” and suggests the program undergo an “urgent redesign” to increase emphasis on technology commercialization in light of rising global competition. “The committee believes that for U.S.-developed nanotechnology to compete in the current hypercompetitive era, the United States must rethink the entirety of its policy/funding/IP framework, within which nanotechnology knowledge is created, innovation is protected, and products are developed/commercialized by industry,” the report states.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Satellite imagery of the words “Black Lives Matter,” which the mayor of Washington, D.C., directed to be painted on 16th Street NW near the White House, amid nationwide protests against police brutality. (Image courtesy of Planet Labs, Inc.) |
Scientific Societies Condemn Racial Injustice
In the wake of national protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans, many scientific societies, including AIP, released statements last week condemning racial injustice. AIP wrote that it “stands in solidarity with the victims of police brutality, their families, and those who are protesting racism.” The organization states that it “acknowledges that these events are additional examples of a larger system of social, economic, and academic injustice that marginalizes and dehumanizes our fellow citizens” and commits to “do our part in calling out and addressing the inequities experienced by African Americans in the physical sciences.” AIP’s statement also includes links to the statements released by AIP Member Societies.
Officials Play Down Visa Restrictions for Chinese Nationals
In a background briefing with reporters on June 2, State Department officials stressed that newly announced visa restrictions for Chinese graduate students and researchers will be narrowly targeted. However, they declined to provide specific numbers concerning how many visa applications they expect to be denied under the new policy, only saying that it would be a “small percentage” of the total. While the policy indicates visa denials will be made on the basis of applicants’ past or present affiliation with institutions tied to the Chinese military, the officials further said the department does not expect to release a list of specific institutions soon. Similarly, although the policy states applicants working in some fields will be exempt, the officials did not indicate which would be exempted. They did however cite quantum technology, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and advanced materials as examples of fields the department is “concerned” about. On June 5, the State Department released a document that elaborates on the rationale behind the new policy, though it likewise offers few details concerning how it will be applied.
OPT Foreign Worker Program Defended by 21 Republicans
Amid reports the Trump administration may roll back the Optional Practical Training program, which permits foreign students to work in the U.S. for one to three years post graduation, a group of 21 Republican representatives wrote to the Departments of State and Homeland Security last week urging they announce the program will “remain fully intact so we send the right messages abroad about the U.S. as an attractive destination for international students.” The letter comes a month after four Republican senators encouraged the administration to temporarily suspend the program as a means of increasing job opportunities for Americans during pandemic recovery. The representatives, though, argue the administration should prioritize processing OPT applications as well as student visa programs to bolster U.S. international competitiveness and provide clarity as U.S. colleges and universities prepare to reopen their campuses.
OSTP Posts Responses to Open Access Input Request
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has posted a 1,000 page document that compiles the responses it received to a request for information issued this January on ways to increase public access to publications, data, and code produced through federally funded research projects. The submissions stake out a spectrum of positions, which range from denouncing the prospect of government intervention in the publishing sector to calling for a new paradigm that offers immediate free access to papers. OSTP has also posted a 400 page document compiling responses to a separate request for information on desirable characteristics for repositories that store data produced from federally funded research. The office has not offered any timeline for actions the White House may take on these issues.
NASA Builds Up Mars Sample Return Program
On May 29, NASA announced that its Mars Sample Return program will be led by Jeff Gramling, a long-time manager of NASA flight projects, and will report directly to the head of the Science Mission Directorate. The program is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency to return samples of the Martian surface to Earth, beginning with the expected launch next month of the Perseverance rover, which will collect samples for later retrieval. Both agencies are now beginning to prepare for follow-on missions planned for launch in 2026 that will retrieve samples and send them back to Earth. Gramling spent much of his career managing Earth science and communications satellite projects at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center before leaving in 2018 to become a program manager at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Space Nuclear Propulsion Study Launches
A National Academies committee evaluating nuclear space propulsion technologies held its first meeting last week. The study is co-chaired by Robert Braun, director for planetary science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Roger Myers, a former executive at Aerojet Rocketdyne. The committee is specifically tasked with assessing opportunities and challenges associated with using thermal and electric propulsion technologies on future NASA missions, including policy considerations associated with selecting highly enriched uranium as the fuel source rather than high assay low enriched uranium. At the meeting, the head of NASA’s Space Technology Directorate, Jim Reuter, noted that fiscal year 2020 appropriations legislation provided NASA $110 million to continue developing a nuclear thermal propulsion system, with a target flight demonstration date of 2024. Reuter said NASA has told Congress it would prefer that future legislation not limit it to that technology and that the demonstration be targeted for the late 2020s. He said the study should consider potential “commonalities” with related advanced nuclear technology projects at the Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office and the Department of Energy. The committee is meeting again with NASA representatives on June 8 and with DOE representatives on June 15.
NSF Offers Status Update on Telescope Reopening
At a town hall meeting last week, the National Science Foundation noted that a number of its astronomical observatories remain shuttered due to the pandemic, including the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and Gemini South, the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The director of NSF’s Astronomical Sciences Division, Ralph Gaume, said that reopening ALMA poses a particular challenge due to the number of component telescopes it employs and the site’s elevation of more than 16,000 feet above sea level. He said it is estimated it will take “at least a month, maybe two months, or perhaps longer to bring a telescope like ALMA back online.” Gaume also explained that the pandemic has halted work at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, which was scheduled to begin science operations in June, and the Rubin Observatory in Chile. NSF is exploring whether the delay will require a “replan” of the schedule and cost for both projects to ensure they meet their science goals. Observatories that have continued or resumed operations since the onset of the pandemic include the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and Gemini North in Hawaii, which resumed nighttime operations in May.
Academies Taps EPA Scientist to Lead Physical Sciences Division
The National Academies has selected Tina Bahadori to lead its Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Most recently, Bahadori worked at the Environmental Protection Agency, where she led several transdisciplinary research and risk assessment programs within its Office of Research and Development. Prior to joining EPA in 2012, she was the managing director of the Long-Range Research Initiative at the American Chemistry Council. Bahadori holds a doctorate in environmental science from the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as degrees in chemical engineering and technology and policy.
Bipartisan Bills Look to Boost AI Research
A bipartisan bill introduced in the House and Senate last week would establish a task force of technical experts to develop a “detailed plan for how the U.S. can build, deploy, govern, and sustain” a national cloud computer for artificial intelligence research. The House version was introduced by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Anthony Gonzales (R-OH), and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and a companion bill was introduced by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Two other AI bills were also introduced in the Senate last week: the AI Scholarship-for-Service Act, which aims to support the AI workforce pipeline, and the Advancing Artificial Intelligence Research Act, which would provide direction to AI research programs at the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology.
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Events This Week Monday, June 8
Tuesday, June 9
Wednesday, June 10
Thursday, June 11
Friday, June 12
Monday, June 15
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Opportunities DOD Hiring Director for ‘Technology Watch Horizon Scanning’
The Department of Defense is hiring a director of “Technology Watch Horizon Scanning” in the office of the under secretary of defense for research and engineering. The position’s responsibilities include developing new analytic tools to track global technology trends and producing comparative analyses in “emerging and disruptive technologies.” Applications are due June 16.
NOAA Seeking Input on Education Strategic Plan
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is accepting comments on a strategic plan for its education programs covering the period of 2020 to 2040. The plan “provides a framework to guide collaboration across the NOAA education community and a structure in which to track and report progress.” Comments are due July 2.
Day One Project Seeking S&T Policy Ideas
The Day One Project, an initiative to identify S&T policy proposals for the next presidential term, is accepting submissions for the second iteration of its “accelerator cohort.” Up to 15 people who submit ideas will be invited to participate in a 45-day “sprint” program to develop their submissions into formal policy memos. Submissions are due June 22.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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