FABBS reports on items of interest to many communities – scientists, policymakers, and the public. In our news, you will see updates on science funding and policy, articles that translate research for policy, and descriptions of the research contributions of scientists at all stages of their research careers.
House Committee Examines Barriers to Entry into the Federal STEM Workforce
On Wednesday, March 17, The House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “Brain Drain: Rebuilding the Federal Scientific Workforce”.
The committee heard from witnesses, including current and former government officials and non-profit science and workforce advocates, about the state of the federal STEM workforce and current challenges to recruitment and retention. Members of Congress and witnesses agreed that inconsistent budgets
read moreFederal R&D Investment as a Tool for Global Competition
Federal policy discussions about global competition increasingly include the importance of basic research. China’s continued emergence as an economic and military power in the world has generated bipartisan interest in revitalizing the United States’ federal research and development investments as a tool to ensure American global competitiveness in the years ahead. Two recent meetings brought experts together to discuss opportunities for such a policy response.
Task Force on American
read moreBridging the Socio-Economic Divide in the Era of Covid
We’ve been told for eons that to get ahead you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Not really, according to new research in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Data show, and 83 percent of Americans agree, that higher education is essential and “one of the most robust routes out of poverty,” Wendy R. Williams and Harmony A Reppond write in “More Than Just Hard Work: Educational Policies to Facilitate Economic Mobility.”
Yet in the world of
read moreAmerican Rescue Plan Heads to the President’s Desk
COVID Relief
On Wednesday, March 10, the House passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, to incorporate amendments added by the Senate last week. The bill now heads to the White House for President Biden’s signature, successfully meeting the March 14 deadline, when expanded unemployment benefits will run dry.
Of note for FABBS members, the bill includes $600 million for the National Science Foundation to fund new and existing research to respond to COVID-19, and $100 million for
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