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What’s Ahead
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| Copies of the president’s budget request roll off the printer at the Government Publishing Office. (Image credit – GPO) |
Biden to Release Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request
President Biden will outline his fiscal year 2024 budget proposals for federal agencies at an event in Philadelphia on Thursday. The release arrives about a month after the statutory deadline for submitting the budget request to Congress, though such delays are not uncommon. The initial release will include funding toplines for agencies and highlight certain key proposals, but some agencies may not release their detailed budget justification documents for days or weeks. The initial release will offer a sense of how the Biden administration is responding to the science budget targets set by the CHIPS in Science Act, which calls for quickly expanding the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy Office of Science. Biden requested large boosts for NSF and NIST in his previous requests, but sought comparatively small increases for the Office of Science, leading its backers in Congress to argue he was neglecting the office. Congress is already beginning to hold hearings to discuss the budget and various science agency officials will be called to testify over the course of the spring as House and Senate appropriators draft their own spending proposals. Congress rarely passes new appropriations by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, and with the Republican-controlled House planning to propose large cuts to non-defense programs that will be unacceptable to Democratic-controlled Senate, that trend seems unlikely to be broken this year.
Science Committee Examining DOE Interagency Partnerships
The House Science Committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday to inform legislation it is developing that would provide statutory grounding for the Department of Energy’s science and technology collaborations with other federal agencies. Appearing on behalf of DOE is Harriet Kung, the deputy director for science programs in the Office of Science. The other witnesses are NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate head Sean Jones, NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate head Jim Reuter, and Michael Morgan, who oversees the environmental observation and prediction portfolio at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Draft bills posted to the hearing website address collaborative activities in areas such as physics and astronomy research, use of DOE high-performance computers to run weather and climate models, and the development of space nuclear power and propulsion systems. On Thursday, a separate Science Committee hearing will review R&D programs at the Federal Aviation Administration at the same time as a House Transportation Committee hearing kicks off its development of broad policy legislation for that agency.
Proposal to Strengthen DOE Nuclear Data Program Ready
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, will present a subcommittee report on DOE’s nuclear data program, which curates information on atomic nuclei relevant to applications in medicine, energy, defense, and science. The report recommends DOE address data gaps in eight topical areas and expand the infrastructure and workforce needed to compile and maintain data sets. It estimates these initiatives will take at least five years and require the program’s annual budget to increase by about $6.5 million, or roughly 65%. At the meeting, the committee will also hear an update on the long-range planning exercise for nuclear physics research it launched last July and it will discuss diversity and workforce initiatives underway at DOE and NSF with officials from each agency.
Physicists Roll Into Las Vegas for APS March Meeting
The American Physical Society’s annual March Meeting is underway in Las Vegas this week. The agenda includes sessions on the role of large-scale scientific facilities in diplomacy, the nuclear security implications of the war in Ukraine, and physics careers in policy, journalism, and entrepreneurship. There will also be several sessions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a roundtable on mental health. The meeting will continue with virtual sessions March 20 through March 22, starting with a plenary session on research security that will include representatives from federal science agencies. (APS is an AIP Member Society.)
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In Case You Missed It
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| Nicky Fox speaking at a NASA event ahead of the 2018 launch of the Parker Solar Probe, a flagship mission for which she was the project scientist. NASA named her the head of its Science Mission Directorate on Feb. 27. (Image credit – Frank Michaux / NASA) |
Heliophysicist Nicky Fox Takes Reins of NASA Science Directorate
NASA named Nicky Fox, the director of its Heliophysics Division, as the agency’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate on Feb. 27. Fox earned a doctorate from Imperial College London in space and atmospheric physics, held a postdoctoral position at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and worked for much of her career at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a major center for space mission development. At APL, she served in roles such as operations scientist for the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program, deputy project scientist for the Van Allen Probes, and the project scientist for the flagship Parker Solar Probe, which is currently making closer approaches to the Sun than any previous spacecraft. Fox was named to lead the Heliophysics Division following the probe’s launch in 2018, and at the time of her promotion to lead the directorate she was the longest-serving among the heads of NASA’s five science divisions. She succeeds Thomas Zurbuchen, who is also a heliophysicist and stepped aside at the end of 2022 after leading the directorate for six years. The Heliophysics Division will be led on an acting basis by Peg Luce, who was also its acting director prior to Fox’s appointment.
ESA Also Appoints New Science Director
The European Space Agency announced on March 1 that astrophysicist Carole Mundell is its new director of science. Mundell earned a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Manchester in the U.K. and has held academic positions at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Bath, focusing on extragalactic black holes and observations of high-energy transient phenomena such as gamma ray bursts. She has also served as chief scientific adviser and chief international science envoy in the U.K.’s foreign affairs office and in 2021 was elected president of the U.K. Science Council, which oversees scientific credentialing in that country.
Semiconductor Manufacturing Subsidy Competition Begins
On Feb. 28, the Commerce Department opened its solicitation of applications for the semiconductor manufacturing incentives provided by the CHIPS and Science Act, and it issued an accompanying “Vision for Success” document outlining its funding strategy. The department states it aims to catalyze the creation of at least two “new large-scale clusters of leading-edge logic [chip fabrication facilities]” in the U.S. It will also support the construction of high-volume advanced packaging facilities as well as fabrication facilities for leading-edge dynamic random access memory chips and current-generation and mature-node chips. Project proposals are expected to vary substantially in structure and will be reviewed on a highly individualized basis using nine criteria covering topics such as proposals’ economic viability and their plans for fostering a “skilled and diverse workforce.” Applicants are permitted to seek loans and loan guarantees as well as direct subsidies, and they are encouraged to take advantage of the manufacturing investment tax credit that the act also created. Requests for direct funding are generally expected to account for between 5% and 15% of the total project cost, while the combined value of loans and direct funding are to account for no more than 35%. All applicants are required to have been offered incentives through state or local governments, and applicants requesting more than $150 million must commit to securing affordable child care services for employees. The department also outlines certain project “guardrails,” including a provision allowing it to claw back the entirety of an award if the applicant is found to “knowingly engage in any joint research or technology licensing effort with a foreign entity of concern that raises national security concerns.”
Top DOE Appropriator Joins House Science Committee
Republicans on the House Science Committee announced last week that one of their remaining vacant seats will be filled by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), who is chair of the House appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Department of Energy. Fleischmann, whose district includes DOE’s Oak Ridge National Lab, said in a statement that he plans to use his spot on the Science Committee to support DOE’s network of national labs and its portfolio of nuclear energy research. The committee also added Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who was secretary of the interior during the Trump administration but stepped down amid a misconduct probe that found he violated ethics obligations by maintaining involvement with a land development project in his home state while serving as secretary. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ committee roster has been in flux. Former Environment Subcommittee Chair Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) were initially appointed to the committee but are no longer listed as members on the official roster, while Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), a longtime committee member, has been added. There is now one remaining vacant seat on each side of the committee aisle.
Adversaries Deemed Unlikely Cause of ‘Anomalous Health Incidents’
Most U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded it is “very unlikely” a foreign adversary is responsible for the “anomalous health incidents” reported in recent years by U.S. personnel overseas, according to an updated assessment released last week by the National Intelligence Council. The agencies affirm the reality of the ailments and find they “probably” stem from other causes, such as “preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors.” Known colloquially as “Havana syndrome” after the first set of cases were reported in Cuba in 2016, the ailments have been the subject of intense study, including speculation they were caused by a weapon employing directed radiofrequency energy or acoustic energy. The assessment states that all intelligence agencies “acknowledge the value of additional research on potential adversary capabilities in the [radiofrequency] field, in part because there continues to be a scientific debate on whether this could result in a weapon that could produce the symptoms seen in some of the reported [anomalous health incidents].”
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, March 6
Tuesday, March 7
Wednesday, March 8
Thursday, March 9
White House: Fiscal year 2024 budget request release
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Friday, March 10
Monday, March 13
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Opportunities DOE Seeking Input on Quantum Workforce Development
The Department of Energy is soliciting input from institutes of higher education on approaches needed to prepare students for careers in quantum information science. DOE is especially interested in ways its network of national laboratories could contribute to QIS workforce development. Responses are due April 20.
NSA Embarks on Hiring Surge
The National Security Agency recently announced it has begun one of its biggest hiring surges in 30 years and has more than 3,000 job openings. Among its in-demand career fields are physical sciences and engineering. Application deadlines vary by position.
‘Science of Science’ Conference Seeking Submissions
The International Conference on the Science of Science and Innovation, which will be held June 26 to 28 at Northwestern University, is soliciting abstracts and papers from researchers across academia, government, and the public sector. Submissions may address a broad range of topics, including but not limited to the societal impacts of innovation, the drivers of innovation, risk and failure in science and innovation, diversity and equity, and the uncertainties of scientific careers. Abstract submissions are due March 19.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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