Update on Research Funding via Federal Agencies May 18, 2022
Research Development's Strategic Intelligence team monitors the federal budget and funding landscape and produces this memo on a bi-weekly basis to share information that may impact ASU research.
Science Policy Legislation
Eshoo & Moore Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bring Electronics Manufacturing to America and Strengthen Supply Chains
On 5/6/22, Reps. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Blake Moore (R-UT) announced bipartisan legislation to bolster domestic printed circuit board (PCB) production and strengthen supply chain security. The Supporting American Printed Circuit Boards Act will complement semiconductor incentives by encouraging domestic PCB manufacturing and R&D to reduce supply chain disruptions, address national security concerns related to foreign PCB production, and further enhance America’s economic leadership.
Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs: An Overview and Issues for Congress
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11925
Congress is considering the establishment of a new regional technology and innovation hub program in U.S. competition legislation. The House and Senate are reconciling H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act of 2022, as agreed to by the House on February 4, 2022, with the version as agreed to by the Senate on March 28, 2022. The Senate substituted the text of H.R. 4521 with S. 1260, the United States Competitiveness and Innovation Act. Both bills would establish a competitive award program to plan for or implement regional consortia in an effort to advance innovation and technology-based economic development. This Insight provides a brief overview of regional innovation and technology-based economic development; describes key features of the proposed program—including differences in the House and Senate bills; and highlights potential considerations for Congress.
New funding effort will deploy a corps of scientist ‘scouts’ to spot innovative ideas
Launched on 5/11/22, the Hypothesis Fund is a nonprofit that has an intriguing approach to funding climate change and health studies. Instead of inviting scientists to submit proposals, the fund will find recipients through 17 scouts—scientists, chosen for their curiosity, creativity, diversity, and interest in the work of others. Each will get 12 months to award a total of $300,000 to fellow researchers with promising early-stage ideas. The objective, fund officials say, is to quickly seed projects that conventional peer-review panels would spurn because they are too risky and lack preliminary data.
COMPETES Negotiations Move Behind Closed Doors
https://www.aip.org/fyi/fyi-this-week/week-may-16-2022
Congress held a kickoff meeting on 5/12/22 for the conference committee that will aim to craft a compromise between the House’s America COMPETES Act of 2022 and the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Ninety of the 107 committee members appeared at the meeting to stake out priorities for the negotiations, which are expected to last for months, taking place mainly behind closed doors. Members from both parties endorsed the semiconductor-sector funding included in both bills, but disagreements remain over whether Congress should also create an investment tax credit specific to the sector. With the midterm elections fast approaching, negotiators may ultimately omit many of the more contentious proposals in the interest of reaching agreement more quickly.
U.S. R&D and Innovation in a Global Context: 2022 Data Update
The U.S. position remains strong, but public investments are stagnant: the U.S. is now 6th in total R&D intensity, but 13th in government R&D, 10th in basic science intensity, and only 17th in researchers as a share of the workforce.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Duke’s Klotman is under consideration as the next NIH head
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/05/04/klotman-nih-director-candidate/
Mary Klotman, a Duke University scientist and senior leader, is a strong contender to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health, according to three people with knowledge of the selection.
Congress Strengthens NIH’s Ability to Address Harassment in NIH-funded Activities
The recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2022 includes “Section 239,” which is a milestone in our efforts to ensure safe working conditions for people engaged in NIH-supported research. The law requires NIH grant recipients to notify NIH when their senior key personnel are removed from their position or are otherwise disciplined due to concerns about harassment, bullying, retaliation, or hostile working conditions. This is a major step in the continued effort to change the culture of harassment in biomedical science.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Odds improve for winning NSF grants, but drop in applications troubles some observers
A new report from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on its merit review system documents how falling demand has boosted success rates at the $8.5 billion research agency. Released late last month, the analysis shows the annual number of applications submitted to NSF has dropped by 17% over the past decade, falling from 51,562 in 2011 to 42,723 in 2020. Success rates jumped from 22% to 28% during the same period, even though the number of grants awarded increased by 8%. The rate rose even faster—from 19% to 28%—for the agency’s standard research grants.
NSF Grants Conference
https://nsfpolicyoutreach.com/22-grants-conference/
The Spring 2022 NSF Virtual Grants Conference from June 6-10, 2022 on Zoom is designed to give new faculty, researchers, and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF program officers will be providing up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answering attendee questions. Registration is open and free. If you have logistical questions about this virtual conference, contact grants_conference@nsf.gov.
New Leadership of the National Science Board
NSB elects University of Utah Presidential Professor of Computational Science Dan Reed as chair and re-elects University of the District of Columbia Vice President for Research Victor McCrary as vice chair.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
DARPA Forward - DARPA Launches Event Series to Connect with Talented Innovators Nationwide
From August to December 2022, six regional events held at leading research and development universities nationwide will connect Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency leaders with new communities of talent and partnerships. The ultimate goal: to energize regional and national innovation ecosystems, fuel breakthroughs in national security, and help deliver the U.S. technological advantage. Virtual attendance = $25
Department of Defense (DoD)
Organizational Improvements to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
The current three Directors of Defense Research and Engineering will be re-designated as Deputy Chief Technology Officers...The Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Research & Technology (DDR&E(R&T)) will be re-designated the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Science & Technology (DCTO(S&T)). This office will focus on foundational research and development to include basic research, innovation workforce issues, technology protection, laboratory infrastructure, and small business programs.
Department of Energy (DoE)
DOE Office of Science Budget: FY22 Outcomes and FY23 Request
https://www.aip.org/fyi/2022/doe-office-science-budget-fy22-outcomes-and-fy23-request
The office’s supporters in Congress, particularly on the House Science Committee, have expressed dismay the administration is not seeking more funding for it. On April 27, the committee held a hearing to spotlight these concerns. In their view, embodied in bipartisan provisions in the America COMPETES Act of 2022, the office’s budget should be over $9 billion in fiscal year 2023 and grow to more than $11 billion by fiscal year 2026.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Senate shoots down effort to nix NASA funding for second lunar lander
A recent U.S. Senate vote keeps alive plans by Kent, Washington-based rocket maker Blue Origin and Colorado's Lockheed Martin Space to build a lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program returning U.S. astronauts to the moon. The Senate, by a vote of 78-17, preserved $10 billion in funding for NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS), overcoming an objection by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, that it was a handout to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, one of the world's wealthiest people. The House and Senate must still negotiate the final version of the bill that will fund the second human lander.
The future of Mars science missions
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4383/1
No Mars missions were among the finalists for the flagship missions studied by the decadal survey, unlike the previous decadal survey that backed a Mars rover sample-caching mission called MAX-C that became the Mars 2020 mission, whose Perseverance rover is collecting samples for later return to Earth. While the decadal survey endorsed the continuation of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, the report, and NASA’s actions, left many questions about the long-term future of NASA’s overall Mars exploration efforts.
The $93-billion plan to put astronauts back on the Moon
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01253-6
NASA aims to kick off the Artemis era later this year, with the first launch of its mega-rocket, called the Space Launch System (SLS). To support the Artemis programme, NASA has contracted companies to send a series of robotic landers to the Moon, which will carry NASA-funded instruments to explore its surface and enhance the science that could come from astronaut missions. The programme’s size and ambition pose huge challenges. Each Artemis launch is estimated to cost more than US$4 billion, or one-sixth of NASA’s entire budget. The whole programme, encompassing all the Artemis-related work across all of NASA’s divisions starting in fiscal year 2012, is estimated to cost $93 billion to the end of fiscal year 2025. There are also technical questions, such as whether the spacecraft that is to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface — which will be built by the US company SpaceX — will be ready in time.
ISS partnership feeling some effects of sanctions on Russia
https://spacenews.com/iss-partnership-feeling-some-effects-of-sanctions-on-russia/
While operations of the International Space Station continue without “serious interruptions,” sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine are starting to have an effect on some activities, NASA’s safety advisers said. The partnership is feeling the effects of economic sanctions on Russia. Examples include limited travel options as airlines cut or suspend service to Moscow. Credit cards are difficult or impossible to use as banks halt operations in Russia. There has also been a “voluntary departure” of some NASA personnel and their families from Russia, forcing NASA “to manage the workforce more tightly and more aggressively than they have in the past.”
Britain, U.S. sign commercial spaceflight collaboration deal
Britain and the US have agreed to collaborate on future commercial spaceflight missions, boosting opportunities for firms from both countries to operate from spaceports in either, the British government said on 5/13/22. Britain said the partnership, signed by transport minister Grant Shapps and his U.S. counterpart Pete Buttigieg in Washington, would make spaceflight easier and cheaper. The partnership will see the two countries collaborate on the licensing of commercial space launches, and provide benefits including critical defence security and better weather forecasts, to enabling television services and more efficient transport, Britain said.
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
First Round of Proposals for Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Shows Strong Interest
On 5/10/22, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the first round of funding through the new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities received over 450 proposals ranging from $5 million to $100 million each. The applications received came from over 350 groups, including nonprofit, for-profit and government entities; farmer cooperatives; conservation, energy and environmental groups; state, tribal and local governments; universities (including minority serving institutions); small businesses and large corporations. The deadline for the second round of funding is on Friday, June 10, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.