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.
NSF Releases Two Important Comment Opportunities, NSB and SBE Advisory Committee Meet
December 16, 2020
NSF RFIs
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released a Dear Colleague Letter on Interdisciplinary Frontiers of Understanding the Brain. The Request for Information (RFI) invites responses to the two prompts below. Responses to this RFI will inform future NSF investments that address the opportunities identified. Responses are due on March 31, 2021.
Describe the interdisciplinary frontier to be explored. Describe the perspectives and interactions
read morePresident Trump Appoints Eight Members to NBES
December 15, 2020
After years of inaction, and one month before his term expires, Donald Trump appointed eight members to the National Board of Education Sciences. NBES provides guidance to the director of the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The appointees appear to have no experience in education research.
NBES, a 15-member presidentially appointed board, has been without a quorum since the end of the Obama administration,
read moreNIH Taking Steps to Build a Better System for BESH Registration and Reporting
December 15, 2020
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the unit at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that oversees the ClinicalTrials.gov database, hosted a webinar on December 7th to update the research community. NLM staff have conducted an analysis of the challenges of registration and results reporting of Basic Experimental Studies with Humans (BESH) in ClinicalTrials.gov.
William Riley, Director of NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), opened
read moreDriving Decisions Towards Truthfulness and Conscience
November 12, 2020
David Rand, PhD
If someone knocked on your door and tried to sell you solar panels, how likely might you be to buy them?
What if you learned the sales representative had those very same panels installed on his own house?
David Rand, associate professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, studies why people make choices, particularly those that benefit the greater good. Rand is a recipient of a 2020 Federation of Associations in
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