Like the NSF, the DOD Office of Basic Research has released its own FAQs document in response to the OMB M-20-17 Memo that was issued to agencies on March 19.
Category: Grants
IBM Report: Reducing Administrative Burden in Federal Research Grants to Universities
The IBM Center for the Business of Government released a new report analyzing the regulatory and policy requirements surrounding federal research grants. The study focused on financial and programmatic requirements to comply with federal mandates. The report reveals that university researchers may spend up to 44% of their time complying with administrative requirements, rather than actually conducting research. According to IBM, the burden is due in part to auditors’ drastically different interpretations of federal mandates. Inconsistencies among auditors leads universities to favor extremely risk-averse administrative policies. As a conclusion, the report offers several possible solutions to streamline oversight.
The full report can be found here.
New NSF Director to be Nominated
Today, the President announced the intent to nominate Sethuraman Panchanathan of Arizona State University, to be the director of the National Science Foundation.
Currently, Panchanathan serves as the Executive Vice President and the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at ASU.
The NSF director serves a 6 year term. Current director, Dr. France A. Córdova, has served since March 2014.
NSF Releases JASON Report
The JASON Report was released yesterday, December 11th. The NSF has hired JASON, an independent science advisory group, to “enhance the agency’s understanding of the threats to basic research posed by foreign governments that have taken actions that violate the principles of scientific ethics and research integrity.” The report details numerous recommendations, including greater scrutiny over conflicts of interest, stricter disclosure rules, and better education for researchers on scientific ethics. The full report can be read here.
NSF and NASA Resumption of Operations
The National Science Foundation issued the following notice concerning the reopening of the government:
A Resumption of Operations at NSF page has been developed that includes Important Notice No. 145, Resumption of Operations at the National Science Foundation, dated January 28, 2019, as well as supplemental guidance that addresses grant and cooperative agreement-related policy and systems issues. This page will be of interest to your membership and we would appreciate your sharing this link as soon as possible. This page will continue to be updated as new information becomes available.
Policy-related questions regarding resumption of operations at NSF may be addressed to policy@nsf.gov.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine issued a message to the NASA workforce today.