Federal Budget Stalemate Continues
BU IN DC
Dozens of faculty and graduate students from the Astronomy and Earth & Environment departments of the College of Arts & Sciences, the Center for Space Physics, and the College of Engineering attended the American Geophysical Union annual meeting from December 10 through 14.
FEDERAL BUDGET STALEMATE CONTINUES
Congress and the White House have not yet reached an agreement to fund parts of the federal government that are operating under a continuing resolution through December 21, including the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Without a new spending bill or an agreement to extend the continuing resolution, select federal agencies will temporarily shutdown. Some agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Departments of Education and Energy, have already received their funding for fiscal year 2019 and will not be impacted. BU Federal Relations and Sponsored Programs are closely monitoring the negotiations and will share information as it becomes available.
BUZZ BITS…
- On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee discussed China’s nontraditional espionage activities, including the country’s interest in U.S. academic research. Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director E.W. Priestap said China’s “brain gain” efforts are recruiting talented scientists to relocate to China and “encouraging theft of intellectual property from U.S. institutions.”
- The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on Thursday on alternatives to fetal tissue research. While Dr. Sally Temple of the Neural Stem Cell Institute testified that fetal tissue is essential to biomedical research, two witnesses claimed research with fetal tissue is unnecessary.
- A hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday highlighted the Department of Defense’s strategy to invest in and deploy artificial intelligence.
GRANT NEWS YOU CAN USE
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) is requesting “high-level ideas” on the research topics and fundamental biological questions that it should fund in order to spur transformative, cross-cutting research. Responses will influence topics for forthcoming “integration institutes,” NSF grant awards that are intended to unite subdisciplines of the biological sciences and foster a degree of interdisciplinary collaboration. Investigators who want to have an influence on NSF BIO’s funding priorities should submit a response of no more than two pages prior to March 1, 2019.
A Note to Our Readers: With Congress heading towards a winter recess next week, Beltway BUzz will take a break from publication until January. Be sure to check our website and Twitter feed for updates on federal budget negotiations.
Happy Holidays!