Last week, word spread that the White House would be nominating James ‘Jim’ O’Neill to serve as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) at a time of ongoing change within the agency. Amidst this leadership uncertainty, NSF continues to move forward with reorganization, including adjustments to the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU). Additionally, following late changes in last year’s solicitation, applications for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) have been “returned without review” to students in clearly eligible fields.
New Director
Prior to the announcement, O’Neill had been serving as the interim director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His new appointment came as a footnote to the recent announcement that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), would take over as acting director of the CDC (see FABBS article here).
Before his time at the CDC, O’Neill served briefly as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He has no scientific background and came to Washington after spending years in Silicon Valley as an investor for numerous hedge funds and venture capital firms. With no prior experience managing a research portfolio as large and diverse as NSF’s, members of the scientific community are concerned O’Neill might focus his attention narrowly on artificial intelligence (AI) and technology priorities at the expense of the full spectrum of scientific disciplines.
The appointment requires Senate confirmation in front of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where O’Neill’s suitability for the position will likely face scrutiny. FABBS notes that O’Neill previously came before the committee last May when being considered for his HHS position.
Reorganization
NSF continues to restructure its directorates in an effort to “increase efficiency and effectiveness.” EDU, previously comprising four divisions, has been realigned into two clusters: (1) STEM Workforce and Talent Development, and (2) STEM Education Research and Innovation. EDU will be led by Directorate Head Sylvia M. Butterfield and Assistant Director James L. Moore III. All NSF Directorates will now have two leads to ensure that career employees are supervised by other career employees, rather than rotators (see previous FABBS article about NSF reorganization here).
GRFP Applications Returned
Dozens of GRFP proposals have been returned without review to graduate students, including some who had received honourable mentions last round. The emails state that “Applicants must select research in eligible STEM or STEM Education fields” highlighted in the solicitation. However, many students whose proposals were returned were in life sciences—squarely listed as an eligible field. FABBS is working with NSF colleagues to better understand the decision and to communicate its negative impact on graduate students.
