At its quarterly meeting this week, the National Science Board will take a vote in closed session related to the two Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs), which are seeking funding from the National Science Foundation. The board has control over NSF’s funding of major facility projects, and to date NSF has not indicated whether it will request funding to support construction of one, both, or neither of the telescopes. According to the meeting agenda, the board will discuss the recommendations from the latest decadal survey for astronomy and vote on a resolution related to the telescopes. The survey recommended that NSF fund at least one of the telescopes and preferably both. A spokesperson for the board declined to explain the purpose of the vote, stating they cannot provide details beyond what is in the public agenda. Leaders of the telescope projects recently published an op-ed in Science making the case for NSF to fund both telescopes, responding to an earlier op-ed that argued NSF should only support one of the telescopes.

In open session, the board will discuss preparations for the March 13 release of its biennial report on the state of the U.S. science and engineering enterprise, called the S&E Indicators. The report used to be released in one large volume but in recent years the board has released briefer thematic reports leading up to the congressionally mandated deadline. The board published the latest thematic report on Feb. 14, spotlighting trends in public attitudes toward science. At this week’s meeting, the board will discuss policy statements it will release in conjunction with the biennial report as well as a “future vision to continue enhancing the accessibility and value of Indicators reports.” Other subjects of the open session include an update from a task force that is evaluating potential changes to NSF’s grant review criteria, a briefing on NSF’s role in supporting AI research, and tributes to former House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and former NSF Director John Slaughter, who both died recently.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced Tuesday the creation of a bipartisan task force on artificial intelligence. The task force will be led by Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) and consist of 22 additional members drawn from a range of committees already working on AI legislation. The group is charged with producing a report that offers “guiding principles, forward-looking recommendations and bipartisan policy proposals developed in consultation with committees of jurisdiction.”

The National Science Foundation is seeking nominees for the National Medal of Science – the nation’s top scientific honor for outstanding contributions to knowledge. The award was established by Congress in 1959 and is awarded by the president. Just over 500 scientists and engineers have received the award to date, according to an NSF database. Nominations for the next round of awards are open until May 5, and an informational webinar on the nomination process will take place on March 12. Other big awards also currently open for nominations include the Department of Energy’s Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, which recognizes the contributions of mid-career scientists and engineers, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Nominations for these awards are also due in early May.

The Odysseus lander built by the company Intuitive Machines is enroute to the Moon and slated to touch down on Thursday. Intuitive Machines reports that the vehicle is in “excellent health” following a successful main engine test on Feb. 16. Engine trouble scuttled the first lander supported through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is also funding Intuitive Machines. That vehicle, Peregrine, managed to reach lunar distance but not lunar orbit and eventually burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. Odysseus is the first of two robotic landers Intuitive Machines plans to launch under the CLPS program this year. The second, IM-2, will test ice-mining equipment.

The White House issued a memorandum on Feb. 14 directing science agencies to adopt common forms that grant applicants will use to provide their biographical sketches and details on their current and pending sources of research support. The forms aim to harmonize agencies’ disclosure requirements, which have expanded considerably in recent years to better identify potential risks to research security and integrity. Agencies are permitted to not use the common forms in situations where they need to “collect additional information or to apply more stringent protections to protect R&D that is classified, export-controlled, or otherwise legally protected.” The memorandum directs agencies to notify the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy within 90 days on whether they plan to deviate from the common forms.

Also on Feb. 14, OSTP issued guidance to agencies on how to implement recent legislative provisions that restrict federal employees and grantees from participating in certain foreign talent recruitment programs. The guidance includes an official definition of such programs as well as examples of conduct that does not count as a recruitment program, such as participating in international research projects or conferences that involve open and reciprocal exchanges of information. However, it notes that such conduct may still count as a recruitment program if it is funded or organized by an institution flagged by the Department of Defense as presenting research security risks.

Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, faced questions on why OSTP has taken so long to develop research security standards during a House Science Committee hearing last week. Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) said it was “unacceptable” that researchers still do not have “timely, clear, and uniform guidance,” referring to the fact OSTP has not yet spelled out how universities must comply with an impending policy that will require many to maintain research security programs. “We’ve heard from agencies and stakeholders saying they are having trouble implementing their own research security guidelines because there are no government-wide standards yet,” Lucas said, adding that he hoped to “get answers on why we aren’t further along in this process.” Lucas did acknowledge that OSTP has made some progress in advancing research security guidance, pointing to the policies on common disclosure forms and talent recruitment programs that it released just before the hearing. Prabhakar said that getting the security programs guidance right has been more difficult and time-consuming than expected, noting for instance that commenters on the draft standards OSTP published in February 2023 raised significant concerns about the administrative burden and costs of compliance. Prabhakar did not share when OSTP expects to publish the final standards but said it is a personal priority to complete them.

The White House published an update last week to its list of critical and emerging technologies (CETs) that it deems “potentially significant to U.S. national security.” The CETs list was first published by the Trump administration in 2020 and was updated by the Biden administration in 2022. The new list is organized into 18 broad topic areas and dozens of subareas. Changes to the list include the addition of positioning, navigation, and timing technologies, which were previously covered as a subarea of space technologies. The area covering cybersecurity technologies is also new and subsumes topics that were previously covered in an area focused on digital payment technologies, and the area covering clean energy merges two previous areas covering renewable energy and nuclear energy. In a report explaining the list updates, the White House cautioned the list “should not be interpreted as a priority list for either policy development or funding” but merely a resource to inform activities such as promoting U.S. technological leadership and expanding collaboration with allies.

The National Science Foundation published its updated scientific integrity policy last week, responding to a 2021 presidential memorandum that directed science agencies to refine their integrity policies. NSF published its first scientific integrity policy in 2010 and last updated it in 2019. The new version is modeled on the National Science and Technology Council’s 2023 Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice and adopts the NSTC’s definition of scientific integrity. The updated policy also includes new details on which roles within NSF are responsible for scientific integrity, who exactly the policy applies to, and what steps will be taken in the event that the policy is not followed or allegations of scientific misconduct are made.

A House Science Committee hearing last week focused on the challenges associated with decommissioning the International Space Station and NASA’s transition to using commercially built and managed stations in low-Earth orbit (LEO). Witnesses and representatives alike argued there should be a seamless transition from the ISS to future stations, especially given competition from China. “If another station is not operable by the time ISS retires, the Chinese station may be the only human-occupied station available to scientists for LEO research,” Space Subcommittee Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) said in his opening statement. Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) raised concerns about the potential for a gap in U.S. presence in LEO, the potential that federally funded microgravity research gets “lost in the shuffle” of the transition to commercial space stations, and the financial risks if NASA ends up being the only sustainable market for commercial space stations, among other issues. Mary Lynne Dittmar, the chief government and external relations manager at Axiom Space, said that “there is no clear path” to seamlessly transitioning from the ISS to commercial stations under current funding levels and called for Congress to make a “course correction.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) in Boulder, Colorado, needs hundreds of millions of dollars to repair its ailing physical infrastructure, according to a new assessment by a National Academies panel. The panel’s January report notes for instance that one of the lab’s main research centers, called JILA, is “seriously endangered by a combination of aging and lacking facilities” and that NIST officials have estimated that a $200 million repair effort “would barely bring the facilities up to the standards of international peer institutions.” The panel does not cite repair budget estimates for other divisions of PML though it does highlight the findings of a related report released by a National Academies panel in 2023 that assessed infrastructure needs across all of NIST. That report concluded NIST would need around $500 million annually for at least 12 years to comprehensively repair and modernize its infrastructure. Separate from infrastructure issues, the latest Academies panel found that PML “does not adequately ensure the safety of PML staff and visitors,” especially with regard to laser-safety protocols and the cadence of safety inspections. The panel recommends PML increase the pace of inspections and seek industry advice on safety standards, among other actions.

All events are Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.

Presidents’ Day

National Academies: “New Frontiers Mission List Review,” meeting two
10:30 am - 12:30 pm

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

NSB: National Science Board meeting
(continues Thursday)

National Academies: “Future Implications of Open-Access and FAIR Data Practices on Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Publications – A Workshop”
(continues Thursday)

NSF: Webinar on the pilot National AI Research Resource Pilot
3:00 - 4:00 pm

National Academies: “Review of the SBIR and STTR Programs at the Department of Defense,” meeting eight
(continues Friday)

NASA: Space Weather Council meeting
(continues Friday)

ITIF: “Assessing India’s Readiness to Compete in Global Semiconductor Value Chains”
9:00 - 10:30 am

NIST: National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee meeting
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

NSB: Teleconference on Antarctic Support Contract request for proposal
9:20 - 10:05 am

NSF: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm

National Academies: “Research and Application in Team Science: Committee,” meeting one
(continues Tuesday)

National Academies: “Developing and Assessing Ideas for Social and Behavioral Research to Speed Efficient and Equitable Industrial Decarbonization: A Workshop”
(continues Tuesday)

CSIS: “Nuclear Lessons from the Ukraine Conflict”
10:00 am - 4:30 pm

AAAS: “Science and Technology at the World Bank: Recommendations to President Ajay Banga”
11:00 am - 12:30 pm

NOAA: Ocean Research Advisory Panel meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm

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

Deadlines indicated in parentheses.

AIP: Science policy reporter (ongoing)
APLU: Director of governmental affairs for science policy (ongoing)
NSF: Head of the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate (Feb. 23)
GAO: Science and technology fellow (Feb. 23)
DOE: Director, Office of Carbon Management Technologies (Feb. 27)
California Council on S&T: S&T Policy Fellowship (March 1)
COGR: Director for research security and intellectual property (March 4)
Georgetown University: Research fellow, Center for Security and Emerging Technology (March 4)
NSF: Deputy director for the Division of Materials Research (March 13)
ONR: Superintendent of the Acoustics Division (March 15)
University of Idaho: Idaho S&T Policy Fellowship (March 29)

National Academies: RFI to understand how minority-serving institutions assess their research capabilities and interact with DOD (Feb. 22)
NSF: RFI on researcher and educator use cases for the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (March 8)
USPTO: National Medal of Technology and Innovation call for nominations (May 3)
NSF: National Medal of Science call for nominations (May 5)
DOE: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award call for nominations (May 9)

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 issues updated guidance to support a secure and fair research ecosystem
AAU: AAU submits comment letter to OSTP on research security program guidance
Science: Why the White House is taking so long to issue new research security rules
UVA Today: OSTP recruits engineering professor

Senate Commerce Committee: Republicans argue Biden administration should withdraw racist and unconstitutional CHIPS funding guidance
Computing Research Association: House Science Committee examines how federal science agencies can harness AI to drive scientific discoveries

Nature: Culture wars are raging on US campuses. Will they affect research?
NSF: Science and technology: Public perceptions, awareness, and information sources (report)
Nature: Largest post-pandemic survey finds trust in scientists is high
Brookings: Strategic sector investments are poised to benefit distressed US counties (report)
NBC News: Science fiction authors were excluded from awards for fear of offending China

DOE: DOE announces second annual equity action plan
NASA: NASA updates equity action plan, adds focus on STEM education, more
Science: Florida law undercuts US leadership in science (perspective by Thomas Kimbis)
Physics World: Embracing neurodiversity in neutron science

Nature: What the EU’s tough AI law means for research and ChatGPT
Physics Today: Prominent astrophysics library is set to close
Nature: Apple Vision Pro: What does it mean for scientists?
GAO: Better data and clarity on eligibility of venture capital-owned businesses for SBIR funds are needed (report)
NASA: NASA administrator names new head of small business programs
Nature: How journals are fighting back against a wave of questionable images
Retraction Watch: Stanford prof who sued critics loses appeal against $500,000 in legal fees
New York Times: The quiet withdrawal of a 2021 cancer study highlights scientific publishers’ lack of transparency around data problems
Wall Street Journal: Can billions of dollars in prize money solve the world’s problems?

NSF: New NSF-funded X-ray facility will transform ability to study elemental processes in living systems
Fermilab: India formally begins construction phase for contributions to Fermilab’s new particle accelerator
DOE: Consent order related to an unplanned radiation exposure to a worker at Fermilab
IEEE Spectrum: CERN’s future collider would be an engineer’s dream job
NNSA: Record of decision for the final site-wide environmental impact statement for continued operation of Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Voice of America: China’s new Antarctic research station renews concerns about potential security threats

AP: Biden admin providing $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to make computer chips in New York and Vermont
New York Times: Plans to expand US chip manufacturing are running into obstacles
Bloomberg: OpenAI’s Sam Altman seeks US blessing to raise billions for AI chips
Bloomberg: ASML shows off $380 million, 165-ton machine behind AI shift
PBS NewsHour: Tech giants sign voluntary accord to combat election deepfakes generated with AI

SpaceNews: UN committee to take up issue of satellite interference with astronomy
Space Review: MSR at serious risk
Space News: NASA selects ultraviolet astronomy mission but delays its launch two years
Nature: Private Moon launch a success! But will the craft land safely on the lunar surface?
The Economist: A private Moon mission hopes to succeed where others have failed
Science News: NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex nabbed over 120 grams of space rocks from asteroid Bennu
Scientific American: Space lasers will seek a new kind of gravitational waves
SpaceNews: India targets a surge in civil and commercial launches
AP: Japan successfully sends new H3 rocket into orbit in key test after last year’s failed debut

NOAA: Susan Ruffo selected as NOAA’s deputy assistant secretary for international affairs
SpaceNews: Stormy weather over NOAA’s commitment issues
MIT Technology Review: A new satellite will use Google’s AI to map methane leaks from space
Scientific American: Sucking carbon from the air becomes a lead strategy
Nature: EU climate policy is dangerously reliant on untested carbon-capture technology (editorial)
Wall Street Journal: Scientists resort to once-unthinkable solutions to cool the planet
DARPA: New BLUE program aims to capture, convert ocean energy with low environmental impact
NASA: NASA joins group to advance wildfire coordination, capabilities

PPPL: Bridging science and technology gaps to bring fusion power to the grid
The Hill: What the US needs to do to win the fusion race (perspective by Ylli Bajraktari)
Inside Climate News: DOE partners with states and research institutes to boost offshore wind development
IEEE Spectrum: Shining laser light on glass creates a solar cell

New York Times: Russia’s advances on space-based nuclear weapon draw US concerns
New York Times: Intelligence about Russia puts focus on new US satellite push
Vox: How the US is preparing to fight — and win — a war in space
SpaceNews: Why Space Force is growing more alarmed by China’s eyes in the sky (perspective by Sandra Erwin)
DOD : Audit of DOD’s oversight of cost-plus-award-fee contracts (report)

Bloomberg: WuXi AppTec, WuXi Bio slump as US lawmakers seek formal probe
ScienceInsider: Lawmaker raises new flap over US-funded virology research that critics call risky
New York Times: Could Long COVID be the Senate’s bipartisan cause? (perspective by Zeynep Tufekci)
Issues in Science and Technology: How health data integrity can earn trust and advance health (perspective by Jochen Lennerz, et al.)

Elsevier: Universities as tools of diplomacy (perspective by Rafael Reif)
The Hill: The anti-China academic panic is hurting America (perspective by Rory Truex)
Ars Technica: Roscosmos seeks to obscure bidding process to evade US sanctions
SpaceNews: Uruguay signs Artemis Accords
Science|Business: The past and future of the EU’s ‘Horizon’ Framework Program (report)
Science|Business: Ivanova visits UK to drum up Horizon Europe interest
Financial Times: Britain must be more strategic in funding science, says former adviser
Science|Business: German science minister calls for a rethink of ‘strong wall’ between civilian and military research
Nature: R&D budget cut could be the final straw for South Korea’s young scientists
Nature: Indonesian election promises boost to research funding — no matter who wins