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WEEK OF OCT 14, 2024
What’s Ahead
An anechoic chamber

A National Institute of Standards and Technology anechoic chamber, designed to obtain accurate measurements of the radiofrequency waves used in wireless communications.

NIST

White House releases National Spectrum Research and Development Plan

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy published its National Spectrum Research and Development Plan on Oct. 9. The strategy outlines priorities for fundamental and applied spectrum research, as well as strategies for the public and private sector to work together to maximize the usefulness of the U.S.’s finite radio frequency spectrum, which is used in a wide range of wireless communications.

Most of the goals described in the strategy support the goal of dynamic spectrum sharing – an emerging technology that would allow users in the same geographic area to use the same electromagnetic frequency without interfering with each other. Dynamic spectrum sharing was identified as a critical area of development in the National Spectrum Strategy published in November 2023.

The strategy also identifies several interagency “spectrum R&D accelerators” including data collection, spectrum sharing simulation environments, and testbeds. The report does not, however, share details on where these accelerators should be based nor how they would be funded.

While the Biden administration has expressed a desire to more effectively manage finite spectrum bands, Congress has yet to reinstate the Federal Communication Commission’s spectrum auction authority, which lapsed in March 2023. Earlier this year, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, introduced a bill that would use spectrum auction funds to finance CHIPS and Science Act programs . The bill has not made any progress since April.

OSTP releases prelude to National Science and Technology Strategy

The Office of Science and Technology Policy released its first Quadrennial Science and Technology Review on Sept. 30. The report is the prelude to the National Science and Technology Strategy that OSTP is set to produce in conjunction with the National Science and Technology Council. Both documents are requirements created by the CHIPS and Science Act. The review finds that the U.S. science and technology ecosystem is “robust” and “unparalleled in size, scope, and impact” but is increasingly challenged by growing competition from China and deteriorating research infrastructure.

The report details the distribution of the federal R&D budget, which in 2023 consisted of $97 billion for research (both basic and applied) and $98 billion for development. It adds that inadequate funding for facility modernization and upkeep has led to significant infrastructure challenges at U.S. research facilities, echoing the findings of other reports on this topic. National security, climate change, public health, and AI are recommended as areas of future R&D focus. The report asserts that “the most pressing strategic challenge to our national security is from powers that layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy.” It goes on to specifically highlight China as “the only competitor to the U.S. with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective.”

Experts discuss priorities and challenges ahead for NDEA 2.0

Plans to create a national STEM talent strategy modeled on the National Defense Education Act of 1958 are taking shape, but plenty of work remains to make an NDEA 2.0 a reality, members of the National Academies Board on Higher Education and Workforce acknowledged during an open meeting on Oct. 11.

Darío Gil, chair of the National Science Board and director of IBM Research, said during the meeting that the forthcoming administration change presents a “moment of opportunity to address the domestic STEM talent crisis.” Gil said the National Science Board plans to complete a draft proposal for an NDEA 2.0 this December.

“We have seen growing bipartisan interest from Congress, and I think the next administration, regardless of election outcome, could embrace it,” Gil said. He said the scale of the current talent gap is so large that “half measures and band-aids are not going to meet the moment,” adding that NSB is “imagining legislation on the scale of $20 billion over five years.”

While members of the National Academies workforce board expressed broad support for an NDEA 2.0, some acknowledged the challenge of securing sufficient funding and garnering bipartisan support for diversity initiatives. To build support for an NDEA 2.0, board members suggested focusing on industry workforce needs, securing match funding from states, and highlighting the need for the U.S. to push back against competition from China.

Hurricanes disrupt research and NASA probe launch

NASA delayed the launch of its Europa Clipper probe due to Hurricane Milton last week. The probe was originally set to launch on Oct. 10, but the agency postponed the launch and closed Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the storm. The launch was rescheduled for today and is in progress as of publication. Europa Clipper is slated to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030 to study the icy moon Europa. NASA hopes the mission will confirm research indicating that Europa possesses a subsurface saltwater ocean, which would be among the top candidates in the solar system for harboring extraterrestrial life.

Hurricanes Milton and Helene forced university closures across southern states over the past two weeks and disrupted research at numerous institutions, including the National Centers for Environmental Information. No new hurricanes are presently forecast to form or make landfall in the U.S., but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted in May that this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30, would be “above normal.” Both Milton and Helene formed and strengthened unusually quickly, with both making landfall as Category 3 and Category 4 hurricanes, respectively, just days after being first detected.

Also on our radar

  • The National Academies will hold a summit this week on preventing sexual harassment in higher education. The agenda includes a session examining the impact of collective bargaining efforts by graduate students.
  • CERN announced last week that it will extend the Large Hadron Collider’s current research run and delay a planned shutdown by seven and a half months. The shutdown, which will be used to deploy upgrades to the LHC, has also been extended by four months, meaning the LHC’s next research run will not begin until mid-2030.
  • The National Science Foundation is holding its annual conference dedicated to its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) this week. Some members of Congress have criticized a restructuring of the program in recent months.
  • OSTP Director Arati Prabhakar said it is time for the U.S. government to “go big” on R&D spending during a conversation with the American Enterprise Institute on Oct. 8. Prabhakar explained that, without sufficient funding for research, agencies such as NIST (which she once led) cannot complete much-needed construction work, and the potential of AI and other emerging technologies cannot be fully realized.
In Case You Missed It

The report identifies needs across sectors such as research, space traffic control, and emergency management.

Upcoming Events

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

Monday, October 14

IAF: International Astronautical Congress (continues through Friday)

NSF: EPSCoR National Conference (continues through Wednesday)

Tuesday, October 15

EPA: Science Advisory Board meeting (continues Wednesday)

National Academies: Incentivizing urgency, speed and scale to support future U.S. innovation (continues Wednesday)

National Academies: Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment 2024 public summit (continues Wednesday)

National Academies: State-of-the-science and the future of cumulative impact assessment
12:00 - 4:00 pm

AAAS: Ask a fellow anything: Application tips and interview process
1:00 - 2:00 pm

National Academies: Geophysical consequences and applications of space weather: Committee on Solid Earth Geophysics meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm

NASA: Planetary science research programs town hall
3:00 pm

Wednesday, October 16

NASA: Astrobiology and the future of life meeting (continues through Friday)

USGS: National Geospatial Advisory Committee meeting (continues Thursday)

National Academies: Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering meeting (continues Thursday)

ARI: Midwest defense innovation summit (continues Thursday)

DOE: Secretary of Energy Advisory Board meeting
10:30 - 11:30 am

RFF: Analyzing industrial greenhouse gas emissions mitigation
2:00 - 3:00 pm

National Academies: A science strategy for the human exploration of Mars, meeting 17
2:30 - 4:00 pm

American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Rebuilding trust in science
6:00 - 7:15 pm

Thursday, October 17

NSF: AI-assisted data manipulation & programming: User experiences, and neuro-symbolic techniques
11:00 am - 12:15 pm

National Academies: Graduate students as part of the instructional workforce for undergraduate STEM education
1:00 - 2:30 pm

CSIS: Completing the allied circuit on semiconductors: Cooperation to enhance economic security

Friday, October 18

CSIS: The future of critical minerals and national security: 2024 CSIS-West Point conference
8:45 am - 3:45 pm

NSF: Exploring the ethics and societal interactions of climate intervention
11:00 am - 4:30 pm

Brookings: Helping communities prepare for climate risks
2:00 - 3:15 pm

Monday, October 21

NASA: Planetary science technology symposium (continues through Thursday)

National Academies: Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences meeting (continues Tuesday)

Commerce Department: Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee meeting
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

NSF: Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science & Engineering meeting
10:00 am - 4:30 pm

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

Opportunities

Deadlines indicated in parentheses. Newly added opportunities are marked with a diamond.

Job Openings

Johns Hopkins: Associate director, Emerging Technologies Initiative (ongoing)
Fusion Industry Association: Manager for public policy (ongoing)
NSF: Director, Division of Graduate Education (Oct. 15)
National Academies: Jefferson Science Fellowship (Oct. 15)
DOE: Director, Collaborative Research Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Oct. 16)
NASA: Senior program specialist, Office of the Chief Scientist (Oct. 18)
NSF: Senior advisor, Math and Physical Sciences Directorate (Oct. 21)
AAAS: S&T policy fellowship (Nov. 1)
APS: Congressional fellowship (Nov. 1)
NRC: Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (Nov. 7)
NSF: Deputy director, Electrical, Communications & Cyber Systems Division (Nov. 8)
Library of Congress: Analyst in Science and Technology Policy (Nov. 12)
AIP: Congressional fellowship (Dec. 1)
Optica: Congressional fellowship (Jan. 3)
AGU: Congressional fellowship (Jan. 15)

Solicitations

FAS: Call for policy ideas for new administration, Day One Project (ongoing)
National Academies: Survey on visa application experiences (Oct. 18)
DOD: RFI on financing support for covered technology categories (Oct. 22)
NIH: RFI on re-envisioning US postdoctoral research training and career progression (Oct. 23)
DOE: RFI on planned awards under Civil Nuclear Credit Program (Oct. 28)
USGCRP: RFC on the first National Nature Assessment (Nov. 4)
Commerce: RFC on export controls for advanced technologies (Nov. 5)
DOE: RFI on the Frontiers in AI for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative (Nov. 11)
NSF: RFI on research ethics provision in the CHIPS and Science Act (Nov. 15)
NOAA: RFC on petition for rulemaking regarding weather modification activities (Nov. 19)
DOD: RFC on rule requiring public access to results of federally funded research (Nov. 25)
EPA: RFC on new technologies for quantifying facility methane emissions (Nov. 27)
DOJ: RFC on National Institute of Justice draft public access plan (Nov. 29)
NIST: RFI on safety considerations for chemical and/or biological AI models (Dec. 3)
NIST: RFI on implementation of the National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (Dec. 9)

Around the Web

White House

The Conversation: Trump and Harris are sharply divided on science, but share common ground on US technology policy
E&E News: Biden decries Trump’s ‘onslaught of lies’ about the federal response to hurricanes Helene and Milton
E&E News: Supreme Court seeks Biden admin views on state climate fight

Congress

House Science Committee: Science committee leaders request more information on NIST’s digital identity guidelines
ITIF: Lawmakers want government to promote use of digital IDs
FedScoop: Senate bill to create NSF-awarded AI challenges gets House companion

Science, Society, and the Economy

Nature: Does the 2024 US election matter to science? Take Nature’s poll
Issues in Science and Technology: For a more competitive US research enterprise, the work begins now (perspective by Marcia McNutt)
Stat: Why Scientific American endorsed Kamala Harris (perspective by Torie Bosch)
Nature: Nobel prizes are globally unrepresentative — the nomination process must be opened up (editorial)
The Economist: AI wins big at the Nobels
CSIS: Defining success: Does the US need an “end state” for its China policy? (report)
Stat: Trump’s dangerous COVID-19 revisionism (perspective by Rick A. Bright)
E&E News: Vance worried about ‘weird stuff’ in water, food supplies
NSF: NSF Growing Convergence Research awards advance innovation across disciplines
ITIF: The conservative weaponization of government against tech (perspective by Ash Johnson)
New York Times: Oppenheimer’s communist past draws new attention

Education and Workforce

Chemical & Engineering News: A third of researchers leave science within 5 years
Inside Higher Ed: Higher ed censorship becoming more discreet, PEN reports
University World News: Annual survey shows student housing crisis is getting worse
Inside Higher Ed: Report: Understanding student parents using data

Research Management

Scholarly Kitchen: Overcoming skepticism through experimentation: The role of AI in transforming peer review (perspective by Krishna Kumar Venkitachalam)
Scholarly Kitchen: The mental health effects of bullies in the scholarly publishing workplace
Scholarly Kitchen: PLOS’s next big thing (perspective by Alice Meadows)
Nature: How AI-powered science search engines can speed up your research

Labs and Facilities

CERN: A test stand for the High-Luminosity LHC
Oak Ridge National Lab: discusses AI’s role in advancing climate and weather research at Senate panel
Oak Ridge National Lab: ‘Neutron Nexus’ brings universities, ORNL together to advance science
Research Professional: Sesame synchrotron facility ‘has serious funding problems’
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Day in the life of deterrence (video)

Computing and Communications

Financial Times: The perils of America’s chips strategy (perspective by Rana Foroohar)
FedScoop: Data, talent, funding among top barriers for federal agency AI implementation
Ars Technica: The more sophisticated AI models get, the more likely they are to lie

Space

Science|Business: ESA opens ‘Moon on Earth’ to advance space research
Washington Post: As International Space Station ages, air leaks from Russian section
The Guardian: To boldly go: John McFall hopes to be the first astronaut with a disability
The Guardian: European space mission to examine NASA asteroid impact site
SpaceNews: US Space Force taps commercial satellites for Hurricane Helene disaster relief
Space Review: Cosmonaut exploitation: The CIA and Gherman Titov’s 1962 visit to the United States
Space Review: Cubesats are changing the way we explore the solar system
SpaceNews: Dominican Republic signs Artemis Accords
SpaceNews: NASA awards Rocket Lab study contract for Mars Sample Return
SpaceNews: NASA “really looking forward” to next Starship test flight
NASA: NASA’s Roman space telescope’s ‘exoskeleton’ whirls through major test
NASA: Public participation in machine learning bolsters extraterrestrial research

Weather, Climate, and Environment

Wired: Right-wing influencers claim ‘they’ defeated physics, geoengineered Hurricane Milton
E&E News: ‘The worst I have ever seen’: Disinformation chaos hammers FEMA
New York Times: The problem with the hurricane category rating
Inside Climate News: Why Hurricane Helene could finally change the conversation around climate change
E&E News: US won’t retreat on international climate aid, vows top Biden official
The Guardian: Earth’s ‘vital signs’ show humanity’s future in balance, say climate experts
Ars Technica: Greening of Antarctica shows how climate change affects the frozen continent
IAEA: IAEA experts find evidence of microplastic pollution in Antarctica from NUTEC plastics research mission
New York Times: Latest WWF wildlife survey points to ‘alarming’ declines
Carbon Brief: Interactive: Who wants what at the COP16 biodiversity summit
NOAA: Updated implementation timeline for the modernized National Spatial Reference System
USGS: Jennifer Lacey selected as associate director for Core Science Systems mission area
Research Professional: US environmental archive ‘severely’ affected by hurricane
Power: Severe solar storm threatens power grid amid Hurricane Helene, Milton recovery
Science: Still reeling from Helene, scientists brace for another monster hurricane

Energy

Symmetry: US physicists prioritize closer study of the Higgs
American Nuclear Society: DOE issues $49 million to shift national lab research toward fusion energy vision
FedScoop: Deputy energy secretary sees role in counteracting AI industry’s ‘profit motive’
American Nuclear Society: IAEA warning issued after alleged assassination of Zaporizhzhia worker
American Nuclear Society: NRC seeks comments on proposed rule for new reactors
E&E News: It’s time to study methane removal, National Academies says
E&E News: Renewable energy boom puts tripling target within reach — IEA
New York Times: The staggering price you’re paying for America’s nuclear makeover (editorial)
E&E News: Supreme Court denies case seeking to rein in FERC
E&E News: Supreme Court nuclear case opens door to agency challenges
MIT Technology Review: Why AI and clean energy need each other (perspective by Michael Kearney and Lisa Hansmann)

Defense

American Nuclear Society: US Navy soliciting ideas for nuclear energy
Breaking Defense: On Army bases, nuclear energy can’t add resilience, just costs and risks (perspective by Alan Kuperman)
DOD: Climate change resiliency a high DOD priority, deputy defense secretary says
DOD: US allies focus on partnerships in Iceland amid rapid change in region
DOE Office of Science News: DOE announces $49 million for research on foundational laboratory fusion

Biomedical

FedScoop: HHS developing new AI strategic plan
E&E News: Feds reject bid to protect macaques used in biomed research
NIH: NIH all about grants podcast – keeping your eye on the prize…competition (audio)
NIH: NIH grant coming to an end? Complete closeout correctly!

International Affairs

Issues in Science and Technology: Science diplomacy and the rise of technopoles
Science|Business: MEPs reject cuts to research and innovation
Science|Business: EU needs to boost investment in research infrastructures (perspective by Katarina Bjelke)
Research Professional: Draghi report criticized for ‘narrow view’ of research quality
Research Professional: Europe ‘is lagging on both research and infrastructure’
Research Professional: French research braces for budget cuts
Research Professional: MEPs to seek €242m more for Horizon Europe in 2025
Science|Business: Academics push back against moves to put Polish Academy of Sciences under government control
Nature: The Israel–Hamas conflict one year on: Researcher resilience in the face of war
Science: Indian government accused of political meddling in science prizes

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