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What’s Ahead
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| Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), center, participates in a discussion on updating the National Quantum Initiative Act with, from left, Duke University physicist Chris Monroe, National Photonics Initiative Chairman Ed White, and Optica Director of Global Policy and Affairs David Lang. (Image credit – Office of Rep. Stevens) |
National Quantum Initiative Update in the Works
The House Science Committee is gearing up to propose updates to the National Quantum Initiative Act, a 2018 law that spurred federal agencies to launch major research centers focused on different facets of quantum information science. Republican and Democratic staff members of the committee are discussing potential provisions at an event on Tuesday hosted by the Center for Data Innovation, which follows a private stakeholder meeting committee members participated in last month that was organized by the National Photonics Initiative advocacy group. Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), and Haley Stevens (D-MI) have already introduced bipartisan bills focused on quantum R&D that would likely be integrated into any broader legislation the committee advances. In anticipation of congressional action, the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee is meeting later this month to approve a report offering its own recommendations on how to update the law.
DOE and NNSA Heads Testifying on Budget and Workforce Strains
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and National Nuclear Security Administration head Jill Hruby are testifying before Senate appropriators on Wednesday to justify their budget requests for fiscal year 2024, following on two other joint appearances before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. NNSA is currently grappling with supply-chain disruptions and technical workforce shortages that have contributed to major delays across its infrastructure modernization projects, including large-scale ones to reconstitute capabilities for manufacturing the plutonium cores of nuclear weapons. NNSA is also seeking to stem a tide of attrition in its federal and laboratory workforce. Hruby told senators last week that a mid-year salary adjustment across its contractor-operated labs has helped to return attrition close to normal levels of 3% annually but that the attrition rate for its federal employees remains at a decadal high of around 12%. These issues are discussed at length in the stockpile stewardship and management plan NNSA submitted last week to Congress.
Presumptive NIH Director Nominee to Testify at Budget Hearing
Senate appropriators are holding a hearing on Thursday to discuss the National Institutes of Health’s budget request with acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak and the directors of NIH’s institutes for cancer, aging, mental health, and drug abuse. Notably, President Biden is widely expected to nominate National Cancer Institute Director Monica Bertagnolli as the next director of NIH. (Update: Bertagnolli was initially scheduled to appear but was replaced with NCI Deputy Director Douglas Lowy.) The post has been vacant since Francis Collins stepped down at the end of 2021 after 12 years in the job and the length of time preceding the nomination of a successor has been attributed in part to difficulties in finding someone willing to lead the agency amid the congressional scrutiny and public criticism of public health agencies that grew with the coronavirus pandemic. Bertagnolli was appointed by Biden to lead the National Cancer Institute in August 2022 and she was previously a professor of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School.
University Leaders to Discuss Legal Challenges to DEI Efforts
On Monday and Tuesday, the National Academies is hosting a workshop titled “Protecting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education and the Workforce,” which will examine how political and legal challenges against affirmative action and other diversity policies could affect STEM fields. Through a series of case studies, the workshop will also explore best practices for promoting the inclusion of students and employees from underrepresented and under-resourced populations through policies and procedures that do not use race-based criteria. It will conclude with a session on the economic impact of reversing STEM diversity initiatives. The event comes as the Supreme Court prepares to issue a ruling in a case challenging affirmative action policies and as a number of state legislatures are advancing bills to limit DEI initiatives.
Federal Plans to Promote Regional Innovation Taking Shape
Regional innovation initiatives set in motion by the CHIPS and Science Act will be the focus of a conference on Wednesday organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Following keynote addresses from Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), federal officials will discuss the forthcoming launch of the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines as well as the Commerce Department’s Regional Technology Hub program. NSF plans to spend $200 million this year on its first set of Engines after reviewing hundreds of concept outlines pitched last year by regional teams across the U.S. The Commerce Department anticipates it will provide strategy-development funds for at least 20 technology hubs across the country, of which it will select at least five for further funding using the program’s initial appropriation of $500 million. In addition, the conference will explore how the department’s planned National Semiconductor Technology Center aims to promote regional innovation. Such efforts will be further explored next Monday at a workshop on regional economic development policy hosted by the National Academies.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Image credit – NIST |
NIST Details Vision for National Semiconductor Technology Center
The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a report last week describing its vision for the National Semiconductor Technology Center, a key component of the semiconductor R&D program funded by the CHIPS and Science Act. The paper identifies three overarching goals for NSTC: extending American leadership in the development of advanced semiconductor technologies, reducing the time and cost of commercializing new technologies, and building a semiconductor workforce-development ecosystem. NSTC will include a headquarters facility that will maintain in-house R&D programs, manage an investment fund for emerging semiconductor companies, and support a network of affiliated technical centers with capabilities for fabricating prototypes and testing materials. NSTC will also offer memberships to organizations from across the entire semiconductor ecosystem, providing a platform for collaboration between universities, national labs, government agencies, and industry, and potentially certain international companies and research organizations. NIST anticipates creating a “purpose-built, independent, nonprofit entity” to operate NSTC and is currently soliciting nominations for a committee that will select its board of trustees.
Academies Report Charts Path to Commercializing Advanced Reactors
A National Academies report released last week outlines efforts needed to make new types of nuclear reactors into a major source of power for an increasingly decarbonized electric grid. To date, Congress has appropriated billions of dollars to a variety of efforts supporting R&D on such “advanced” reactors and the construction of commercial demonstration plants, the first of which are supposed to come online around 2030. The report encourages the Department of Energy to adopt a more formalized project management framework for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and consider how to structure the program’s next phase. In addition, the report recommends ways of facilitating commercial expansion beyond incentives provided in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. These include creating a new DOE research program that will set “aggressive” goals for improving nuclear fuels and materials performance and enhancing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s capabilities for resolving issues related to advanced reactors. For that purpose, the report suggests that Congress provide NRC with additional funding “on the order of tens of millions of dollars per year” that is not drawn from fees the agency charges to licensees and applicants. The Academies report follows on the heels of a report DOE released in March that likewise addressed commercialization pathways for advanced reactors.
Harvard Chemist Sentenced Following China Initiative Conviction
A federal judge sentenced Harvard University chemistry professor Charles Lieber to serve two years of supervised release and pay a $50,000 fine plus $33,600 restitution for lying to federal officials about receiving funds from a Chinese talent recruitment program and for failing to report the income to the IRS. Prosecutors had recommended a fine of $150,000 and a 90-day prison sentence, but the judge declined to add prison time beyond the two days Lieber had already served after his arrest. Lieber asked for leniency in sentencing due to his illness with cancer, according to reporting by the Harvard Crimson. Lieber was among the most high-profile academics charged through the Justice Department’s China Initiative and one of the few defendants who is not of Asian descent. Charges for many of the other cases involving academics did not hold up in court or were settled before trial, and the department later reworked the initiative after concluding it created a “harmful perception” within the research community that the prosecutions were ethnically biased. Among cases that are still active, University of Kansas chemist Franklin Tao is appealing the remaining false statement conviction against him after a judge threw out various other charges premised on his non-disclosure of ties to a university in China.
PCAST Weighs in on Extreme Weather Preparedness
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released a report last week on ways to better predict and prepare for risks associated with extreme weather. It recommends that federal science agencies should coordinate work at their high-resolution modeling centers to better quantify the annual likelihood of extreme weather events, specifically mentioning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and NASA. It also proposes creating a data portal to provide broad access to observations and modeling products related to extreme weather, developing high-quality public and private-sector risk-assessment tools, and preparing a National Adaptation Plan. Earlier this year, PCAST issued another report on hazards associated with climate change that focused on modernizing wildfire response. The council will hold its next meeting on May 18 and 19, at which it will discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence on science and society.
NASA Secures Future Use of Earth-Observation Calibration Site
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced on April 26 that it is reserving 22,634 acres of public land in a dry lakebed in Nevada so that NASA can continue to use it as a calibration site for instruments aboard Earth-observing satellites. According to NASA, the area, called Railroad Valley, is uniquely well-suited for calibration insofar as it is “large, flat, free of vegetation, of a consistent surface color, undisturbed, easy to access, and with good visibility from space.” The agency has been using the site for calibration since 1993, but attractive alternative uses include lithium mining, which has become increasingly important with the rapid expansion of lithium-ion battery production and a growing interest in expanding domestic lithium supplies. NASA first approached BLM about preserving the site in 2018 and the bureau’s decision will keep it in its current state for the next 20 years.
India Approves New LIGO Facility
Last month, the government of India approved the expenditure of 26 billion rupees, or about $320 million, to construct a gravitational wave detector near Aundha Nagnath, a town 450 kilometers east of Mumbai. Called LIGO–India, the facility is expected to be operational by the end of the decade and will be nearly identical to the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory facilities in the U.S. Following the two U.S. LIGO facilities, Italy’s Virgo facility, and Japan’s KAGRA facility, it will be the world’s fifth gravitational wave detector and will work in concert with them to locate gravitational-wave sources in the cosmos, better enabling tandem research with telescopic observatories and neutrino detectors. LIGO and Virgo achieved a breakthrough in such “multi-messenger” astronomy in 2017, when they successfully directed telescopes to the aftermath of a merger of two neutron stars.
US and South Korea to Expand STEM Exchanges
The U.S. and South Korea announced last week they are contributing $30 million each to expand educational exchanges, one of a series of commitments made during South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the U.S. The effort will support around 4,000 students in STEM fields and the humanities and includes funding for 200 Fulbright scholars in STEM, which the White House called the largest-ever Fulbright cohort focused on STEM. This effort adds to another STEM exchange program focused on the Asia-Pacific region, the Quad Fellowship between the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan. The U.S. and South Korea also pledged to expand bilateral personnel exchanges and research partnerships in quantum information science and to enhance collaboration in space exploration. As part of the visit, Yoon Suk Yeol toured NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland with Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, May 1
(continues through Wednesday)
(continues Tuesday)
11:00 am - 4:00 pm
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Tuesday, May 2
(continues through Friday)
(continues Wednesday)
(continues Wednesday)
9:00 am
9:30 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
4:45 pm, Armed Services Committee
Wednesday, May 3
(continues through Friday)
(continues Thursday)
(continues Thursday)
(continues Thursday)
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
9:00 am - 4:45 pm
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee
10:00 am, Budget Committee
10:30 - 11:30 am
1:00 - 2:00 pm
2:00 - 5:00 pm
3:00 - 4:00 pm
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Thursday, May 4
(continues Friday)
9:30 am - 3:40 pm
9:30 am, Armed Services Committee
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee
1:00 pm, Health Committee
Friday, May 5
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
1:00 - 2:00 pm
2:15 - 3:45 pm
3:00 - 5:00 pm PST
Sunday, May 7
(continues through Friday)
(continues through Thursday)
Monday, May 8
(continues Tuesday)
(continues through Wednesday)
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
12:00 - 1:00 pm
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Opportunities NSF Seeks Input on Priorities for New Technology Directorate
The National Science Foundation is soliciting input to inform the development of a roadmap for its newly established Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The roadmap will help the directorate prioritize its investments over the next three years in the 10 key technology focus areas and five societal challenges identified in the CHIPS and Science Act. Comments are due July 27.
NSF Hiring Program Director for Physics Facilities
The National Science Foundation is hiring a program director for facilities in the Physics Division of the Math and Physical Science Directorate. The program director will manage a portfolio of large and midscale facilities and oversee projects through planning, construction, and operations. Applicants must have a doctorate in physics and at least six years of experience in research or administration. Applications are due May 4.
SRI Hiring S&T Policy Research Analyst
SRI International’s Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy is hiring a science and technology policy analyst to contribute to research, strategic planning, and program evaluation for a wide range of clients. Applicants should have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a STEM field and one to five years of work experience in a related field.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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Around the Web
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