Federal research funding bills set to advance (Endless Frontiers Act)

• Two key congressional committees this week endorsed the idea of a sizable spending increase for the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Separate pieces of legislation—one approved by a Senate panel, the other by a committee of the House of Representatives—would more than double NSF’s budget over 5 years. Read more in Science magazine.
• The Endless Frontier Act is headed to the Senate floor next week despite an unresolved feud over the roles the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy should play in the flagship R&D initiative the legislation proposes. Read more about what’s next on the American Institute of Physics website and in The Hill.
• The main goal of the Endless Frontier Act is to fund research, technology transfer and workforce development by providing $100 billion over five years to NSF (which the bill would rename as the National Science & Technology Foundation). The Endless Frontier Act requires all NSF and DOE programs funded under the bill to allocate 20 percent to grantees from NSF EPSCoR states, making this bill a huge opportunity for EPSCoR states such as South Carolina. Read the Endless Frontier Act (pdf).

 

New presidential executive order to bolster federal government’s cybersecurity

President Biden has signed a new executive order designed to strengthen the United States’ defenses by encouraging private companies to practice better cybersecurity or risk being locked out of federal contracts. The new order also requires all federal agencies to encrypt data, whether it is in storage or while it is being transmitted — two very different challenges. Read more in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

 

Reminder: SMART summer mentorship funding program applications due June 9

The Office of the Vice President for Research encourages faculty members who plan to mentor under-represented minority students this summer to apply for SMART funding. Through this program, UofSC faculty (all campuses, all disciplines) who mentor under-represented minority students during the summer receive a supplement of $1,000 per student, for up to two students. This support can be used toward summer salary for the mentor (faculty member, postdoctoral fellow or graduate student), research costs and/or salary for the under-represented minority undergraduate student. SMART applications for summer 2021 are due by Wednesday, June 9, 2021 Read more and get the application on the Office of the Vice President for Research website.

 

New issue of Caravel undergraduate research journal now available

The Office of the Vice President for Research has published a new issue of Caravel, UofSC’s undergraduate research journal. Caravel features writing and multimedia content by undergraduate student researchers throughout the UofSC System. The Spring 2021 issue of Caravel features a dozen scholarly articles on subjects ranging from chemistry to psychology. Check out the Spring 2021 issue and the archive to see how UofSC’s undergraduate researchers are taking their learning outside of the classroom.

 

20 May 2021