On March 29, the Obama Administration announced a "Big Data Research and Development Initiative”[1]. The Big Data initiative aims to develop new tools and techniques to manage vast and complex data sets to help address societal challenges in areas such as environmental and biomedical research, education, and national security.

The initiative involves six Federal departments and agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DOD), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy (DOE), and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The agencies will invest more than $200 million to improve how large data sets are accessed, organized and interpreted through a number of ongoing and new activities. According to the White House press release, the initiative aims to:

• Advance state-of-the-art core technologies needed to collect, store, preserve, manage, analyze, and share huge quantities of data.
• Harness these technologies to accelerate the pace of discovery in science and engineering, strengthen our national security, and transform teaching and learning.
• Expand the workforce needed to develop and use Big Data technologies.

As part of the initiative, several new competitions were announced at NSF, NIH, and DARPA. Below is information on selected individual opportunities.

National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes for Health (NIH) – Joint Solicitation: Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science & Engineering

This solicitation will advance science and technology to manage, analyze, visualize, and extract information from large data sets. According to the solicitation, proposals should address one of three areas: data collection and management, data analytics, or e-science collaborative environments. All proposals should also address capacity building. NIH seeks proposals that tackle the above issues as part of data sets related to health and disease, especially imaging, molecular, cellular, electrophysiological, chemical, behavioral, epidemiological, or clinical data sets.

Many offices at NSF and NIH are participating in the solicitation. NSF offices include the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), Geosciences (GEO), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE); and the Offices of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI) and Polar Programs (OPP). NIH offices include the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Library of Medicine (NLM), and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).

Letters of Intent: Letters of Intent are not required.

Due Dates: No preliminary proposals are required. Full proposals are due June 13, 2012 for mid-scale projects and July 11, 2012 for small-scale projects.

Total Funding and Award Size: NSF and NIH plan to award a total of $25 million to 15 to 20 projects. Small-scale awards will be up to $250,000 per year for up to three years, while mid-scale awards will be up to $1 million per year for up to five years.

Eligibility and Limitations: This solicitation uses regular NSF eligibility requirements. There are no limits on the number of proposals that can be submitted per organization. Principal investigators are limited to two proposals.

Additional Resources: Contacts and additional information are available at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504767.

NSF Dear Colleague Letter – IGERT-CIF21 Track

NSF has released a Dear Colleague letter to alert the community that it will establish a Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21) track in its Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program. The CIF21 track aims to educate and support the next generation of researchers working on big data issues. NSF will publish a funding opportunity with more details shortly. The Dear Colleague letter is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12059/nsf12059.jsp.

NSF Dear Colleague Letter – Data-Intensive Education-Related Research Funding Opportunities

EHR, SBE, CISE, and OCI released a joint Dear Colleague letter to alert the community that a solicitation on data-intensive education research will be released shortly. The solicitation will call for participants in an Ideas Lab to "advance teaching and learning focused on transforming large datasets into knowledge that leads to actions that can improve learning environments”. NSF expects to fund a range of research projects generated at the Ideas Lab. The Dear Colleague letter also highlights existing NSF funding opportunities in this area. The Dear Colleague letter is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12060/nsf12060.jsp.

Other Activities

In addition to the new competitions listed above, NSF, DOE, and USGS announced newly awarded grants and projects:

National Institutes of Health (NIH) – 1,000 Genomes Project Data Available on Cloud

NIH posted the 1000 Genomes Project data on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) computing cloud. According to the NIH press release,[2] the data set is the world’s largest on human genetic variation and will now be available for use by researchers.

National Science Foundation (NSF) – New Big Data Awards in Ongoing Initiatives

• The Directorate of Geosciences will award the first round of grants to support the Earth Cube[3] initiative, which aims to create a unified data infrastructure for the geosciences.
• The Expeditions in Computing program[4] will award $10 million for a project at University of California, Berkeley to integrate machine learning, cloud computing, and crowd sourcing to convert large volumes of data into useable information.
• The Research Training Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (RTG) program[5] will award $2 million to the University of California, Davis for undergraduate training in graphical and visualization techniques for complex data.
• The Focused Research Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (FRG) program[6] will award $1.4 million to an unnamed group to support statistical and biological research on protein structures and biological pathways.
• The international Digging into Data Challenge announced its second round of awards to support humanities and social science research involving large data sets.[7]

A complete listing of NSF announcements related to Big Data is available at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123607.

Department of Energy (DOE) – New Scientific Discovery Through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) Institute

DOE announced[8] a $25 million award to create a new SciDAC Institute, the Scalable Data Management, Analysis, and Visualization Institute (SDAV). SDAV will be led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and will bring together six national laboratories and seven universities to help scientists manage and visualize data from large and complex simulations run on DOE supercomputers.

US Geological Survey – Big Data for Earth System Science Awards

The John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis[9] announced its latest round of awards, which will contribute towards the Big Data initiative. These awards will help improve understanding of a range of issues including how species respond to climate change, earthquake recurrence rates, and the next generation of ecological indicators.

Ongoing Programs

The White House also compiled an extensive listing of ongoing programs across the Federal government that relate to Big Data challenges: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/big_data_fact_sheet.pdf.

ASPB’s Executive Director, Crispin Taylor, will be testifying to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science Space and Technology, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight on the topic of Federally Funded Research: Examining Public Access and Scholarly Publication Interests. The hearing is currently scheduled for Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. EDT and will be webcast live.

Consistent with ASPB’s response earlier this year to an Office of Science and Technology Policy request for information on similar topics, Taylor will argue that the government should adopt sensible, flexible, and cautious approaches to drafting and revising public access policies or regulations. These approaches should engage all concerned parties, including federal agencies, scientists, university administrators, librarians, publishers, and the public and should foster innovation and collaboration. Policies should focus on providing access to the definitive version of an article, which is typically hosted on the publisher’s website; developing robust metadata standards; and ensuring increased interoperability among journal articles and other valuable sources of information online. Policies should also recognize and embrace the global nature of scientific research and scholarly publishing. Taylor will further testify that government mandates that specify business models or embargo periods are detrimental to collaborative progress toward improved access to and utility of scholarly information online. Please see full written testimony.

Taylor has served as the Executive Director of ASPB since 2004. He previously held the positions of news and reviews editor and managing editor at The Plant Cell (http://www.plantcell.org), which is published by ASPB, and he has also worked at Science’s Next Wave (now part of Science Careers website, http://www.sciencecareers.org) where he collaborated with AAAS’s Education and Human Resources unit to develop the Minority Scientists’ Network (http://www.miscinet.org).

For more information on the hearing, including other public witnesses and a link to the live webcast, please see the following website: http://science.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-investigations-and-oversight-hearing-examining-public-access-and-scholarly.

This week both sides of the House of Representatives spoke out in support of passing the 2012 farm bill this year on The Hill’s Congress Blog: Where lawmakers come to blog. Representative Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri) and Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) both highlighted the importance of agriculture to our nation’s economy.

Rep. Hartzler stressed that, "Only about half of 1 percent of the [federal] budget supports food production -- a very small investment to keep our food supply safe, affordable and reliable.” Furthermore, funding of research for food and agriculture makes up an even smaller fraction of the one half of one percent. Rep. Hartzler called out the importance of agricultural research in feeding a growing global population. "Crop yields have increased tremendously over the past few years due to improved genetics and enhanced crop protection products…continued improvements are necessary to feed the world.”

Rep. Cuellar worries about other pieces of long-term legislation taking precedence over the farm bill and the effects of not passing the bill this year. "Without a new farm bill, USDA is unable to assist with new difficulties that have arisen since 2008 - such as the expanding citrus diseases – and cut areas that have out lived their usefulness.”

In February, ASPB joined 86 other organizations by signing a letter to House and Senate Agriculture Committee leadership in support of completing the farm bill in 2012. We will continue to monitor the Farm Bill debate and provide updates on its progress.

• Farm Bill necessary for nation's food security, by Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), 03/06/12: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/214347-rep-vicky-hartzler-r-mo

• Farm Bill needs to be reauthorized this year, by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas),03/05/12: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/214151-farm-bill-needs-to-be-reauthorized-this-year

Shape the Future of Student Pugwash USA.

Are you passionate about issues in science and technology policy or science, technology, and society? Do you want to be a leader in engaging young people on these issues? Want to help decide the future of a student-run national nonprofit with over 30 years of experience in promoting social responsibility in science and technology? If so, apply today to become a student board member of Student Pugwash USA.

The Board of Directors is different from many other national social benefit organizations because students make up almost a third of it, with full voting rights just like all other board members. Student Board Members will work with the full Board of Directors to help set SPUSA’s national priorities and agenda, foster and maintain our network of students, manage our social media strategy and blog, and help to develop funding for programs and activities for engaging students in critical issues relating to science and technology policy. Current SPUSA programs include a 2012 science, technology, and society in the elections contest; SPUSA alumni networking happy hours; and an under development Student Pugwash fellowship program.

Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – January 2012

On January 9, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National Science Board (NSB) published a report titled NSF Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. After extensive review and stakeholder consultation, the NSB concluded that Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts should be maintained as the two review criteria used to assess NSF proposals. The report provides clarification on the meaning of the two criteria and how they should be applied in the merit review process.

As previously reported by Lewis-Burke Associates, an NSB Task Force on Merit Review was established in February 2010 to examine the effectiveness of the two Merit Review Criteria. The Task Force sought extensive stakeholder engagement including: interviews with senior NSF staff; a public consultation resulting in over four thousand responses from reviewers and Principal Investigators; data from two hundred Committee of Visitor Reports; and data from over 100,000 research proposals submitted to NSF between 2006-09.

NSB concluded that while the two criteria remain appropriate, there is a need to provide greater clarity on each of the criteria and explain how they relate to the NSF core principles. The updated review criteria definitions are:

• Intellectual Merit: The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and
• Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

NSB also established a set of overarching principles for merit review:

• Support highest quality projects.
• Aggregate of NSF projects to contribute to societal goal.
• Appropriate evaluation and assessment of projects.

In addition to the new principles and definitions for the two criteria, NSB has provided revised guidance on elements that should be considered in the review process for both criteria. This guidance will replace the individual guidance currently provided for each of the two criteria.

The report notes that the Broader Impacts criterion is required as an element of merit review under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. The COMPETES Reauthorization states that the overall goals of the broader impact criterion should be increased or improved to address issues including: economic competitiveness; global science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce competitiveness; participation of women and underrepresented minorities; partnerships with industry; preK-12 STEM education; undergraduate STEM education; public scientific literacy; and national security. However, NSB recommended that NSF not include this list or other examples of broader impacts in the criteria to avoid being too prescriptive or restricting the creativity of NSF researchers.

NSF will be implementing the enhanced merit review criteria in subsequent months.

The full report is available at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/meritreviewcriteria.pdf.

The current criteria can be found at http://nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/gpg_3.jsp#IIIA.

In an effort to save $150 million, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Monday the closure of 259 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offices. Most of the savings have come from reducing travel and supplies, whereas the office closings will result in about $60 million in savings. The closures will impact offices at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., 46 states, and one U.S. territory and include 12 Agricultural Research Service (ARS) programs in ten locations. In public statement, Vilsack said, "the Blueprint for Stronger Service effectively means that in an era of reduced budgets, we’re not going to see reduced service.” Vilsack added that if the USDA did not undertake the consolidation of offices with zero to two employees in many cases, the remaining option would be furloughs or a reduction in workforce, ultimately leading to a reduction in service.

Despite Visack’s commitment to stronger service, some raise concerns about effects on food safety as the USDA plans to close five of the fifteen Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) district offices throughout the United States. Undersecretary for Food Safety, Elisabeth Hagen says that although the offices are being consolidated, there would be no reduction in inspectors or inspection work. "Not only do we have a statutory obligation to be in every facility, we have an unwavering commitment to food safety,” Hagen said in a statement. "We will still be on the job, in every facility, every day.” It will be clear in time whether the USDA can maintain its current standard of service following the closures.

Additional information regarding the USDA office closures:

• News release: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/newsReleases?area=newsroom&subject=landing&topic=ner&newstype=newsrel&type=detail&item=nr_20120109_rel_0003.html

• Blueprint for Stronger Service (including a statement by Secretary Vilsack): http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=blueprint_for_stronger_service.html

• Impacted offices: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=impacted_offices.html

• MSNBC article about the possible impact on food safety: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45933954/ns/politics/t/closing-usda-offices-raises-safety-concerns/#.Tw75A4Fop9M

Lewis-Burke Associates LLC – December 2011

The U.S. Congress voted to accept a package of fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations measures to avoid a shutdown of a significant portion of the Federal Government as the current Continuing Resolution was set to expire Friday night. This action followed months of wrangling over the federal debt and deficit and reducing federal spending. The final bills represent real compromise and sustain important investments in federal research and education programs, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Department of Defense (DOD) basic research, and Pell grants, at current levels or with modest increases. The House of Representatives passed the package early on Friday while the Senate passed the bills on Saturday.

The final conference agreement details funding amounts and agency directives for federal agencies, including:

• Defense Appropriations Bill – Department of Defense (DOD)
• Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill – Department of Energy (DOE)
• Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Bill – Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services including the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The $915 billion Consolidated Appropriations bill includes $30.698 billion for NIH for an increase of $299 million (0.7 percent) above FY 2011. The final bill creates the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), which is the top priority for NIH Director Francis Collins, and includes $10 million for the new Cures Acceleration Network (CAN). The bill decreases the NIH salary cap from Executive Level I ($199,700) to Executive Level II ($179,700)—a better outcome than the House draft bill, which recommended Executive Level III, but the first time Congress has decreased the NIH salary cap.

The DOE Office of Science would receive $4.889 billion, an increase of $46.34 million (about one percent) above FY 2011. The final bill provides $20 million each to establish two new Energy Innovation Hubs – one on Batteries and Energy Storage and one on Critical Materials. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) programs of the Department are slated for level funding at $1.825 billion. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), will receive $275 million, half of the $550 million requested by the President.

DOD basic and applied research programs remain a priority within the bill as the overall increase for the Department was held to $5 billion above the FY 2011 level, a compromise between the House’s $17 billion increase and the Senate’s proposed freeze. For DOD research overall, a total of $72.4 billion is approved. While this represents a $2.5 billion decrease below the current level, the reduction is less than experienced by other aspects of the defense budget.

The final bill includes the necessary funding to continue the maximum Pell grant award at $5,550, while making changes to the program to reduce cost. However, the program is still expected to face increased funding pressures because of the overall growth of the program.

Additionally, the Senate rejected, in a 43 to 56 vote, a resolution that would have triggered a 1.83 percent across-the-board reduction against all discretionary spending except for defense, military construction, and veterans programs. The reduction was designed to pay for an additional $8.1 billion in disaster relief appropriations, which will now be provided as emergency spending following Senate approval of that legislation.

The Congress also passed, and the President has signed, a bill to extend the Continuing Resolution through December 23rd to allow the President to review and sign the Consolidated Appropriations bill into law this week. These actions will finally complete the FY 2012 appropriations process.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Foundation (RMF), and the World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF) invite nominations for the 2012 AAAS Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture to be held in Spring 2012 at AAAS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The lecture was named for the Missouri research entomologist, Charles Valentine Riley, known for implementing one of the first successful uses of biological control of an insect pest. The annual lecture, which commenced in 2010, is aimed at highlighting the important role of agricultural research as the most basic human endeavor and to enhance agriculture through increased scientific knowledge.

Prior lecturers include ASPB members Roger Beachy (2010), then USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) director, and Pamela Ronald (2011), Professor, Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis.

The 2012 nominees should be well-respected scientists working at the forefront of a pressing issue at the nexus of agriculture and society (see lecturer eligibility specifics below). They should have outstanding scientific contributions or significant policy accomplishments related to agriculture with demonstrated societal impact. The lecture carries an honorarium of $5,000.

Nominations should be typed and include: (1) the nominator’s name, title, institutional affiliation, email address, and phone number; (2) the nominee’s name, title, institutional affiliation, address, email address, and phone number; (3) a summary of the basis of the nomination (not to exceed 500 words); (4) a curriculum vitae (3 page maximum); (5) any documentation (books, articles, or other materials) that exemplify the nominee’s accomplishments with respect to agriculture and society (optional).

Please submit all nominations in PDF or Word format via email to Anne Moraske at amoraske@aaas.org by January 10, 2012. For more information, please send Ms. Moraske an email or call 202-326-6759.

Lecturer eligibility:

• Nominees may not self-nominate;
• Nominations must be for individuals and not institutions;
• Members (and immediate family members) of the Selection Committee and staff of AAAS, RMF, and WFPF are ineligible

Information regarding the sponsors and program for last year’s 2011 AAAS Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture can be found here: https://www.signup4.net/public/ap.aspx?EID=AAAS11E&OID=50.

Indirect costs, also known as facilities and administration costs, included in many USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funded grants have previously been limited to at most 22%. The FY 2012 minibus appropriations bill provides language (see below) that allows for up to 30% for indirect costs, at least for grants funded in FY 2012. Indirect cost rates for most research institutions hover around 50%. This change in policy at the USDA represents a major step towards rates honored at other science funding agencies.

Text from the appropriations bill:

SEC. 720. None of the funds in this Act shall be available to pay indirect costs charged against any agricultural research, education, or extension grant awards issued by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture that exceed 30 percent of total Federal funds provided under each award: Provided, That notwithstanding section 1462 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310), funds provided by this Act for grants awarded competitively by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture shall be available to pay full allowable indirect costs for each grant awarded under section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638).

This post includes content provided by ASPB's external government relations consultant, Lewis-Burke Associates LLC.

The House and Senate have come to a conference agreement on the first fiscal year (FY) 2012 "minibus” bill (H.R. 2112), which combines three appropriations bills into one package – the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration bill; the Commerce, Justice, Science bill; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill. These bills provide funding for federal research agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), among others. While science agencies did well overall, with most gaining modest increases over FY 2011 levels, Administration priorities such as the Sustainable Communities Initiative and high-speed rail were zeroed out, signaling trouble for other White House initiatives in upcoming appropriations bills. The minibus would also include a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the rest of the federal government through December 16, 2011.

The House is expected to pass the conference report on Thursday, November 17, with the Senate following suit on Friday, November 18. The President is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday before the current short-term CR expires. While the Senate had hoped to continue work on additional minibus bills, that effort has stalled and appropriators are now looking at packaging the remaining appropriations bills into one large omnibus bill.

Below is additional information on funding amounts and agency directives provided for NSF, USDA, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), included in the minibus agreement.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

NSF fares well in the conference agreement receiving a total budget of $7.033 billion, which is $173 million or 2.5 percent over FY 2011 and higher than both the House and Senate marks. Within this amount, Research and Related Activities (R&RA) would receive $5.719 billion, $155 million or 2.8 percent over FY 2011 and also higher than both the House and Senate marks. The report is supportive of NSF’s R&RA termination and reduction proposals, including the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, Research Initiation to Broaden Participation in Biology, and the Synchrotron Radiation Center, but does not accept the requested reduction to the radio astronomy program. The report approves of NSF prioritization of advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity, and calls for NSF to fully fund cybersecurity at the budget request level of $156.55 million. As in the House report, neuroscience is highlighted as a key area and the report encourages NSF to "establish a cognitive sciences and neurosciences crosscutting theme.”

The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account would receive $167.055 million, which is $50 million or 43 percent above the FY 2011 level and higher than both the House and Senate marks. As in the House bill, no funding levels are listed for specific projects, and the report instead directs NSF to prioritize projects nearing completion. The report includes language allowing transfer of funds from R&RA to MREFC, but this authority has been modified to allow $50 million to be transferred rather than the $100 million allowed by the Senate report. As in the House report, NSF is instructed to review its current portfolio of MREFC projects and their out-year funding profiles to make certain they are in line with appropriated funding for FY 2011 and FY 2012. Should adjustments be needed, the Committee directs NSF to report revised profiles to the Committee and to include the new funding profiles in the FY 2013 budget request. Also as in the House report, the Committee directs NSF to strengthen oversight of contingency funding and incentivize grantees to bring projects in under budget. The Committee directs NSF to report on its efforts to limit the use of contingency funding and ensure return of excess funds for large facility projects within 90 days of enactment.

The Education and Human Resources (EHR) account would be funded at $829 million, $32 million or 3.7 percent below the FY 2011 level and equal to the Senate-proposed level. As in the House report, the Conference Committee does not support the proposed reductions to the Robert Noyce Scholarship program and the Math and Science Partnership program, but does approve of all other proposed reductions and terminations in the EHR budget request. Like the Senate, the Committee would also provide an additional $20 million above the request level to expand the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarships for Service program. As in the House report, the Committee directs NSF to distribute the National Research Council’s report, Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and provide an evaluation plan within 12 months of enactment regarding the steps NSF and other Federal agencies should take to implement the plan. On the topic of broadening participation programs, after some discussion over the last several years regarding the creation of a separate Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) program, the Committee directs NSF to provide a report on how the needs of HSIs will be addressed in FY 2012 and any future plans to establish an HSI program in FY 2013. The Committee also supports the FY 2011 levels for the existing broadening participation programs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The conference agreement includes nearly $2.3 billion for research throughout USDA, a reduction of $51.1 million (2 percent) below the FY 2011 enacted level. The conferees recommend $1.095 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to support USDA’s intramural research programs, disagreeing with the President’s request to terminate extramural research through ARS. The conferees do concur with the Administration’s proposal to close 12 research laboratories at 10 locations and they request a report on the disposition of the facilities by January 20, 2012.

For the extramural research programs of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the final bill includes $705.6 million for research and education activities, an increase of $104.8 million (17 percent) above the House recommendation and $4.2 million below the Senate-passed level. The conferees express their strong support for USDA’s agricultural research, extension, and education activities through NIFA, but they note concerns about the focus of the research programs, especially projects through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). The conferees strongly encourage USDA to fund only the highest priority agricultural research authorized by Congress. The conferees approve $9 million for the Graduate Fellowship Grants, Institution Challenge Grants, and Multicultural Scholars Program.

Within NIFA, a total of $264.5 million is approved for competitive extramural agricultural research through AFRI, which is the same as the FY 2011 enacted level. For the formula or capacity-building programs, the final bill includes $236.3 million for the Hatch Act, the same as the FY 2011 level, and $32.9 million for McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry.

The conferees do not fund the Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities Endowment Fund proposed at $10 million by the President.

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

The conference agreement would provide OSTP with $4.5 million for FY 2012, which is $2.1 million or 32 percent below the FY 2011 level, $1.5 million above the House level, and $1.5 million below the Senate mark. The conferees support OSTP’s efforts to improve coordination of federal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education programs and to develop a government-wide STEM education strategic plan. The bill also directs OSTP to include in this strategic plan goals to improve distribution of STEM education research and best practices. The bill further encourages OSTP to establish an interagency working group through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to coordinate investments in neuroscience research. The report language specifically highlights the need to develop future clinical treatments for traumatic brain injuries and an improved understanding of cognition and learning, Alzheimer’s disease, and childhood development disorders. Also, in light of the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in May stating OSTP illegally engaged in bilateral activities with China, the bill restricts OSTP from engaging in any activities that would risk transferring sensitive technology and data and harm U.S. economic and national security interests. The bill does allow OSTP to carry out other activities with China, such as public health planning and disaster response.

The complete report is located here: 

http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/Committee%20Jurisdiction%20Reports/CR2112%201114s.pdf

The language for the report is located here:

http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/Committee%20Jurisdiction%20Reports/JointStates.pdf