Yesterday, February 25, NIST announced a new competition for grants for the construction of new or expanded scientific research buildings at institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations. NIST has $50 million available for the cost-sharing grants and anticipates funding 3 to 5 projects with grants of $10 to $15 million each. The grants will fund new or expanded facilities for scientific research in fields related to measurement science, oceanography, atmospheric research or telecommunications, the research fields of the Commerce Department’s three science agencies: NIST, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Interested organizations must provide NIST with a Letter of Intent (submitted on form NIST-1102) outlining the proposed project by 3 p.m. Eastern time, Monday, March 29, 2010.
Month: February 2010
This Week on Capitol Hill, Feb 22-26
Last week Congress was in recess for Presidents’ Day District Work Period. Business was also impeded the week before due to the blizzard that hit Washington DC. This week brings Congress back to face jobs creation and health care legislation.
MONDAY
The Senate laid the way for a vote of the jobs creation bill, which will probably take place before the end of the week.
TUESDAY AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
The House will consider the jobs creation bill, a draft bill on repealing antitrust exemption for health insurers, and HR 2701, Intelligence authorization
Hearings continue in both chambers on the fiscal 2011 budget and appropriations.
Source: CQ Today Online News
Arden Bement Leaving NSF
Courtest of the National Science Foundation
February 4, 2010
ARLINGTON, VA – Arden L. Bement, the director of the National Science Foundation, has been named to lead Purdue University’s new Global Policy Research Institute (GPRI) in West Lafayette, Ind. Bement will begin his new post as the director of GPRI–which will draw on seven different science and research disciplines at Purdue–on June 1 this year.
Bement was appointed to his six-year term as director by President George W. Bush in November 2004. He served as acting director for 10 months prior to this. Under Bement, NSF has seen its budget move onto a doubling path, created a series of new science and engineering initiatives around innovation themes, increased its role in the international scientific policy arena and increased its commitment to core basic research areas. NSF is widely recognized as a key driver of science and innovation advances in the U.S. Continue reading “Arden Bement Leaving NSF”
Jobs Agenda Replaces Jobs Bill in Senate
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), reflecting the reality imposed by the loss of a fillibuster-proof majority, has articulated that he intends to move several small jobs measures through the chamber — as opposed to one large bill — in order to attract some Republican support for non-controversial items. Senator Reid indicated a desire to first move legislation designed to create a tax credit for new jobs, other tax provisions in aid of small businesses, as well as extending federal highway and transportation programs in order to create more infrastructure projects. Senator Reid made no mention of the increased funding for Federal Work Study or an education jobs fund for governors to allocate within their states or an extension of the inrease in Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) that aids state budgets -as proposed in the House passed Jobs for Main Street bill. According to the Majority Leader, the House jobs bill will like be broken up into a pieces comprising a broad agenda in the Senate.
FY11 NOAA Below the Surface
Courtesy of the NOAA Research Staff
To Friends and Partners of NOAA Research:
The President has released the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget request for federal agencies. For FY 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requests a total appropriation of $5,554,458,000, an increase of $806,105,000 over the FY 2010 enacted level.
NOAA requests a total of $464,860,000 for the Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, an increase of $15,715,000 over the FY 2010 enacted budget. OAR’s FY 2011 request seeks funding to: (1) sustain critical research activities in support of NOAA climate, weather, and ocean missions; (2) initiate new activities that address currently unmet gaps in the NOAA service missions; and (3) meet the information needs of our Nation’s environmental decision-makers. Continue reading “FY11 NOAA Below the Surface”