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WEEK OF SEPT 23, 2024
What’s Ahead

Mike Johnson CR Vote

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) talks with reporters about negotiations over stopgap budget legislation for fiscal year 2025.

Angelina Katsanis / POLITICO via AP Images

Congress Set to Pass Three-Month Budget Stopgap

Congress will vote on stopgap legislation this week that funds federal agencies at current levels through Dec. 20, averting a government shutdown that would otherwise begin at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Both the House and Senate will then head on recess next week and not return until after the election on Nov. 5. The stopgap legislation punts decisions on the final budget for fiscal year 2025 to right before Christmas, adding pressure to wrap up negotiations ahead of the holiday break and before the new Congress convenes in January. However, negotiations may still drag out into the new year.

NDAA Waiting in the Wings; DOE Visitor Screening Proposal Narrowed

Another key remaining item of legislative business is to finalize the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which in recent years has been a vehicle for enacting significant science policy changes that extend well beyond the Department of Defense. The House passed its version of the bill in June and the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version in July. Committee leaders released a package of amendments last week that they intend to propose during the final negotiations with the House. Amendments on the table include:

  • Revising the Department of Energy’s approach to screening national lab visitors who are not U.S. citizens;
  • Creating new disclosure requirements for outbound investments in advanced semiconductors, AI, quantum information technology, hypersonics, satellite-based communications, and networked laser scanning systems;
  • Directing DOD to establish an “advanced computing infrastructure program”; and
  • Prescribing the scope of the State Department’s recently created Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology.

Notably, the provision on DOE lab visitor screening does not include an earlier proposal that would have barred citizens of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Cuba from visiting labs unless they had legal permanent residence status or secured a waiver.

Other Science Bills Also Advancing

Lawmakers are hustling to pass dozens of other bills in the hopes they will make it into law before expiring at the end of the year. Among them, the House is scheduled to vote this week on the NASA Reauthorization Act, which endorses various NASA programs already underway. The House will also take up bills focused on advanced nuclear fuel, pipeline R&D, mathematics education, semiconductor manufacturing, commercial Earth observation imagery, and research ship cybersecurity.

The House Science Committee will also meet Wednesday to consider advancing bills focused on DOE’s role in AI research and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s role in tracking AI security risks as well as bills that would support small modular reactor demonstrations and renew the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. Also on Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will consider the Risky Research Review Act, which would create a new oversight board for life sciences research that poses risks to public health or national security.

DOE Advisers to Discuss Basic Energy, Fusion, and Computing Research

In the wake of a 2021 study that found the U.S. is losing ground in the field of basic energy sciences, a panel of advisers to the Department of Energy will meet Tuesday and Wednesday to consider approving a follow-on report that recommends changes to DOE’s approach to steering research programs in the field. A subpanel of the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee wrote the report at the request of the DOE Office of Science. Among its recommendations, the draft report suggests the Office of Basic Energy Sciences improve its use of data to inform its R&D priorities by working with publishers, industry, and AI-powered tools. It also recommends that BES funding be assessed for “investment balance” among recipients such as national labs and academia.

Separately, the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee will meet Thursday and Friday to discuss a new charge to review the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, the results of a basic research needs workshop on quantum computing and networking, and the status of the National AI Research Resource, which launched in pilot form in January. Next Monday, the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee will meet to review the progress of a panel that is reassessing its decadal plan and to receive updates on the forthcoming U.S. Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap.

Also On Our Radar

  • The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote Wednesday on whether to advance the nomination of Kristen Sarri to lead the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
  • Artificial intelligence will be the primary focus of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s fall advisory committee meeting this week. The committee will discuss the challenges of designing AI suitable for scientific uses, including for the highly influential scientific assessments (HISAs) made in the National Climate Assessment.
  • The Space Weather Advisory Group will roll out its user-needs survey conducted in response to the PROSWIFT Act at a meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. Separately, the National Academies Committee on Solar and Space Physics will also meet Tuesday through Thursday.
  • The annual Golden Goose Awards, which recognize seemingly obscure research projects that went on to have profound impacts, will be announced at a ceremony on Tuesday.
  • The National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation have just awarded $20 million each for two new AI institutes focused on astronomical sciences.
Nuclear fusion experts shared varying estimates of the time it will take to commercialize reactors following news the ITER fusion research project is again delayed.

The House passed legislation to reinstate the Justice Department’s China Initiative under a new name, but the White House has pledged to oppose it.

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, September 23

PRW: Peer Review Week (continues through Friday)

Optica/APS: Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science (continues through Thursday)

NIH: Center for Scientific Review Advisory Council meeting
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

CSIS: Seizing the quantum opportunity: Deputy Secretary Don Graves on Commerce’s quantum initiatives
10:00 - 11:00 am

Alexander Hamilton Society: Back in class: Foreign funding and malign influence on US higher education
6:30 pm

Tuesday, September 24

National Academies: Committee on Solar and Space Physics meeting (continues through Thursday)

DOE: Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee meeting (continues Wednesday)

NIST: Unleashing AI innovation, enabling trust (continues Wednesday)

Hoover Institution: The digitalist papers: AI and democracy in America
12:00 pm PT

Golden Goose Award: 2024 ceremony
5:30 pm

UCSD: The war for Chinese talent in America
8:00 pm

Wednesday, September 25

NOAA: Space Weather Advisory Group meeting (continues Thursday)

National Academies: US Global Change Research Program Advisory Committee meeting (continues Thursday)

SPIE: Photonics Industry Summit
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

NITRD: Towards a robust and sustainable open-source software ecosystem for future wireless R&D
8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Senate: Meeting to advance the nomination of Kristen Sarri to lead the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
10:00 am, Foreign Relations Committee

C2ES: Elements for success at COP29 and beyond
10:00 - 11:00 am

House: Meeting to advance the DOE AI Act and three other bills
10:00 am, Science Committee

House: Meeting to advance the Research Security and Accountability in DHS Act and other legislation
10:00 am, Homeland Security Committee

Federal Labs: Impacts and benefits of working with federal laboratories
2:00 pm

Senate: Reading the room: Preparing workers for AI
2:00 pm, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

APS: Amplifying voices: The journey to a PhD through the lens of Black women in physics, part one
3:00 - 4:00 pm

C2ES: Early warning systems for all by 2027
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Carnegie Science: An enterprise approach to biotech and medicine
6:30 - 8:00 pm

Thursday, September 26

DOE: Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee meeting (continues Friday)

Commerce Department: National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee meeting
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Atlantic Council: Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics
9:00 am - 6:00 pm

National Academies: Assessment of the SBIR and STTR programs at DOE, meeting three
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

National Academies: Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board meeting
1:00 - 4:30 pm

Friday, September 27

USGS: Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee meeting
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Sunday, September 29

NCSA: International Climate Computer Summit (continues through Wednesday)

Monday, September 30

DOE: Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee meeting
10:00 am - 5:00 pm

NSF: Integrative Activities Advisory Committee 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.

Opportunities

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

Job Openings

Natcast: Executive director, NSTC Investment Fund (ongoing)
Natcast: Senior analyst, research security (ongoing)
MIT: Deputy director, Plasma Science and Fusion Center (ongoing)
AAAS: Program associate, S&T Policy Fellowships (Sept. 28)
DOE: Basic Energy Sciences program manager, Scientific User Facilities Division (Sept. 30)
NSF: Director of innovation and technology ecosystems, Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (Oct. 4)
ODNI: Deputy national intelligence officer for emerging and disruptive technologies (Oct. 8)
NSF: Director, Division of Graduate Education (Oct. 15)

Solicitations

National Academies: Call for experts on assessing research security efforts in higher education (Oct. 4)
Commerce: RFC on reporting requirements for development of advanced AI models and computing clusters (Oct. 11)
NSF: Request for topic ideas for the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation program (Oct. 15)
EPA: Nominations for the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (Oct. 15)
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)
Commerce: RFC on export controls for advanced technologies (Nov. 5)
NSF: RFI on research goals affecting proposed Antarctic cable and route design (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)
EPA: RFC on new technologies for quantifying facility methane emissions (extended to Nov. 27)

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

Around the Web

White House

White House: Fact sheet on the 2024 Quad Leaders’ Summit
White House: The Wilmington Declaration joint statement from the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the US
White House: Quad countries launch Cancer Moonshot Initiative to reduce the burden of cancer in the Indo-Pacific
White House: Joint fact sheet: The US and India continue to expand comprehensive and global strategic partnership
White House: A US framework for climate resilience and security
White House: Biden-Harris administration takes further action to strengthen and secure critical mineral supply chains
Scientific American: Vote for Kamala Harris to support science, health, and the environment (editorial)
Wall Street Journal: A very unscientific Harris endorsement by Scientific American shows why voters don’t trust scientific elites (editorial)
Washington Post: For only the second time, a top science journal endorses for president (perspective by Jennifer Rubin)

Congress

MIT Technology Review: There are more than 120 AI bills in Congress right now
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): Schumer brings NSF director to Capitol to build support for upgrades to LC-130H ski-birds in end-of-year funding agreement
Export Compliance Daily: Recent China bills ‘just the start,’ select committee chair says
E&E News: House panel pursues ocean carbon removal bill
NASA: NASA’s hidden figures honored with congressional gold medals

Science, Society, and the Economy

Harvard Belfer Center: Belfer Center launches new program on emerging technology, scientific advancement, and global policy
American Nuclear Society: The overruling of the Chevron doctrine: A call for proactive engagement by technical organizations (perspective by Paul Dickman)
Undark: A campaign to restore the Chandra telescope funding demonstrates the importance of engaging the public in science. (perspective by Katherine Laliotis)
Nature: Science-policy advisers shape programs that solve real-world problems
The Guardian: Elite US universities rake in millions from big oil donations, research finds

Education and Workforce

American Physical Society: APS partners with scientific societies to fight federal anti-DEI legislation
NASA: NASA, NAACP partner to advance diversity, inclusion in STEM fields
Inside Higher Ed: How are pandemic-era students faring now?
Nature: Harassed? Intimidated? Guidebook offers help to scientists under attack
The Hill: EPA officials retaliated against 3 scientists, says watchdog
Research Professional: EU and OECD launch research careers observatory

Research Management

Chronicle of Higher Education: Does a landmark lawsuit against academic publishers have legs?
Scholarly Kitchen: Thoughts on a class action lawsuit brought against scholarly publishers (perspective)
OSTP: Readout of webinar on advancing digital accessibility for scientific and technical publications
Stat: Research misconduct claims are growing. Will new rules help universities investigate them?
Stat: New HHS rules can’t address the primary reason for research misconduct (perspective by Paul Martin Jensen)
Nature: Can AI be used to assess research quality?
Photonics Spectra: Optica to put procedural changes in place following funding investigation
ChinaTalk: R&D renaissance with Kumar Garg (audio interview)
Nature: Unearthing ‘hidden’ science would help to tackle the world’s biggest problems (editorial)
American Physical Society: How the discovery papers on plutonium were finally published after World War II

Labs and Facilities

Nature: CERN prepares to expel Russian scientists — but won’t completely cut ties
Berkeley Lab: Peter Fischer appointed director of Berkeley Lab’s materials sciences division
Oak Ridge National Lab: Researchers build AI model database to find new alloys for nuclear fusion facilities
NIST: NIST funds Climate Measurements Center of Excellence at the University of Vermont

Computing and Communications

The Information: Microsoft, Blackrock to launch $30 billion fund to invest in data centers, power for AI
HPCwire: EU spending €28 million on AI upgrade to Leonardo supercomputer
NSF: NSF investing $48M to broaden participation in computing
Nature: AI laws in the US states are feeling the weight of corporate lobbying
Science|Business: Time to strengthen Europe’s leadership through AI in science (perspective by Iliana Ivanova)
The Economist: China’s AI firms are cleverly innovating around chip bans
New York Times: How SMIC, China’s semiconductor champion, landed in the heart of a tech war
ITIF: US quantum computing lead over China threatened by weakness in commercialization
Shtetl-Optimized: Quantum computing: Between hope and hype (perspective by Scott Aaronson)

Space

Science: ‘Worst nightmare’: Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites could blind radio telescopes
SpaceNews: China set to unveil long-term vision for space science
New York Times: NASA’s Europa Clipper mission looked doomed. Could engineers save it?
NASA: NASA completes spacecraft to transport, support Roman Space Telescope
Ars Technica: NASA has a fine plan for deorbiting the ISS — unless Russia gets in the way
Scientific American: Why is it so much harder for NASA to send people to the Moon now than it was during the Apollo era?
Scientific American: The next president should end NASA’s space launch system rocket (perspective by Daniel Vergano)
SpaceNews: Saudi Arabia plots space industry transformation

Weather, Climate, and Environment

Weather Geeks: NOAA: Undervalued and underfunded? (audio interview with Scott Rayder)
NOAA: NOAA debuts first imagery from GOES-19
E&E News: Scientists invite help as they craft big nature assessment
MIT: Liftoff: The Climate Project at MIT takes flight
Inside Climate News: ‘Grim outlook’ for Thwaites glacier
New York Times: Could altering ocean chemistry help slow global warming?
New York Times: Critics fear tax subsidies for carbon capture won’t be checked
Scientific American: The Arctic seed vault shows the flawed logic of climate adaptation (perspective by Naomi Oreskes)
E&E News: ‘Funding cliff’ looms for US scientists hunting critical minerals

Energy

American Nuclear Society: Charges brought over sale of nuclear technology to Russia
Power: ACU secures NRC permit to build research molten salt nuclear reactor
New York Times: Three Mile Island plans to reopen as demand for nuclear power grows
Fusion Industry Association: FIA launches US strategic priorities document ahead of election
E&E News: DOE official details next steps for ‘clean’ hydrogen hubs

Defense

Washington Post: US and allies seize control of massive Chinese tech spying network
Wall Street Journal: The US compensates victims of fallout. Why offer it to those the government never harmed? (perspective by Luke Lyman)
Defense News: Pentagon to oversee $3 billion effort to strengthen microchip supply
Emerging Technologies Institute: DOD’s new acquisition policy innovation engine: The AIRC (video)

Biomedical

The Atlantic: Why didn’t facing a common enemy bring us together? (perspective by Francis Collins)
Nature: COVID pandemic started in Wuhan market animals after all, suggests latest study
Nature: Is bird flu spreading among people? Data gaps leave researchers in the dark
Science News: Vaccines for mpox are finally reaching Africa. But questions about the virus remain
NIH: NIH releases mpox research agenda

International Affairs

South China Morning Post: US study finds China’s tech innovation ‘much stronger’ than previously understood
Science|Business: Xi Jinping’s ‘new productive forces’: what researchers need to know
Reuters: US probes uranium imports from China to prevent circumventing Russian ban
South China Morning Post: China’s foreign joint venture universities feel chill as political controls tighten
Science|Business: Who is Ekaterina Zaharieva, new commissioner for start-ups, research and innovation?
Science|Business: European universities not in favor of dual-use research
Research Professional: UN advisers call for international scientific panel on AI
Research Professional: Europe launches zero-tolerance code on gender-based violence
The Atlantic: The timekeeper of Ukraine

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