Biden Transition Begins
BIDEN TRANSITION BEGINS
As President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris prepare to transition into their new roles, they have identified COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity, and climate as top priorities. On Wednesday, Biden announced that Ron Klain, who spearheaded the Obama Administration’s successful response to the Ebola epidemic, will be White House Chief of Staff. On Tuesday, the Biden-Harris transition identified the members of the review teams who will oversee the hand-off at specific federal agencies. Education scholar Linda Darling-Hammond will oversee the Department of Education transition team and Obama Administration alumna Cristin Dorgelo will oversee the transition at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
SENATE NUDGES BUDGET PROCESS ALONG
The fiscal year 2021 budget process inched forward this week as the Senate Appropriations Committee released proposed spending bills for each federal agency. The Senate bills recommend a significant increase for the National Institutes of Health (4.2%), modest increases for the National Science Foundation (2.4%) and Pell Grant awards (2.4%), and flat funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities. The package does not include COVID-19 relief funds. To avoid a government shutdown, Congressional negotiators need to reach agreement on funding levels for the entire federal government before the current continuing resolution expires on December 12.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate of the National Science Foundation recently released a Dear Colleague Letter inviting proposals that address challenging infrastructure contexts that require a human and social centered approach. The Strengthening American Infrastructure program invites both Conference and Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals that incorporate scientific insights about human behavior and social dynamics to better develop, design, build, rehabilitate, and maintain strong and effective American infrastructure. Conference proposals are due by the end of the month, and outlines for EAGER proposals are due no later than December 11.