But while there was no real dissent from Culberson's view that federal spending on science is crucial and should be protected and even expanded, lawmakers and the hearing's lone witness, President Ralph J. Cicerone of the National Academy of Sciences, acknowledged that there would not be a limitless supply of money available for science programs, and that difficult choices about priorities would have to be made.

And Cicerone and some lawmakers agreed that federal agencies and universities needed, as they managed the sudden, massive infusion of money from the economic stimulus package, to learn lessons from the doubling of the budget of the National Institutes of Health that the government provided a decade ago, to avoid repeating problems that emerged in the wake of that effort.

 

 

Michèle Lamont decided to explore excellence by studying one of the primary mechanisms used by higher education to -- in theory -- reward excellence: scholarly peer review. Applying sociological and other disciplinary approaches to her study, Lamont won the right to observe peer review panels that are normally closed to all outsiders. And she was able to interview peer review panelists before and after their meetings, examine notes of reviewers before and after decision-making meetings, and gain access to information on the outcomes of these decisions.

The result is How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment (Harvard University Press), which aims to expose what goes on behind the closed doors where funds are allocated and careers can be made.

 

College funding bill passed with anti-P2P provisions intact

  This article discusses the context of the Higher Education Act passed by the senate and house that includes new provisions requiring universities to execute a traffic filtering system that would prevent students’ peer-to-peer file sharing and also to give students access to more commercial downloading services. The amendment requires universities to inform students about file sharing issue, but also to make sure that all the universities have plans to reduce illegal file sharing.  The article discusses not only the amendment, but also the positions taken by the involved parties. It claims that the RIAA and MPAA had been pressuring congress but that the passing of this bill may not slow down their drive. The article concludes saying that many institutions worry about this bill is that it will only expand to allowing the government to penalize schools for a number of things including not policing their students file sharing.

    This article provides information that prevents the possibility for universities to remain legally neutral in the peer-to-peer battle. Although the bill makes universities involvement necessary, universities’ actions regarding file sharing among students should be at the discretion of universities if at all.  The article is important for my topic because it presents the worry of universities in response to the new bill. It also provides information contextualizing the RIAA’s actions and the motivation for creating and passing the bill which is important for my topic. The article's points questioning how far the RIAA wil push this and the worry this causes universities relates to my topic that this is a legitamite concern for universities.

National Center for Research Resources strategic plan links and information.

Federal funding of academic science and engineering (S&E) R&D failed to outpace inflation for the second year in a row, according to FY 2007 data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges.

Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration (EUREKA) (R01)

The EUREKA program funds exceptionally innovative research that, if successful, will have an unusually high impact.

 

 

A statistical model is proposed for the analysis of peer-review ratings of R01 grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health. Innovations of this model include parameters that reflect differences in reviewer scoring patterns, a mechanism to account for the transfer of information from an application's preliminary ratings and group discussion to final ratings provided by all panel members and posterior estimates of the uncertainty associated with proposal ratings. Application of this model to recent R01 rating data suggests that statistical adjustments to panel rating data would lead to a 25% change in the pool of funded proposals. Viewed more broadly, the methodology proposed in this article provides a general framework for the analysis of data collected interactively from expert panels through the use of the Delphi method and related procedures.

The NIH recognizes the importance of keeping the American people informed about how their tax dollars are spent to support medical research. In 2009, the NIH will unveil the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) system. RCDC will provide consistent and transparent information to the public about NIH research. With this new computer-based tool, the public will see NIH's research activities broken down into nearly 240 categories each fiscal year. The categories cover research areas, diseases, and conditions. The new system will produce a complete list of all NIH-funded projects related to each category.

Principal investigators on federal research grants spend about 42 percent of their time dealing with administrative work related to their project rather than on science, according to a new report released by the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP). The findings of the "faculty burden survey" derive from responses by more than 6,000 university faculty. The FDP notes that "the 'creep' toward increasing administrative burden decreases the productivity of our nation's talented academic researchers and lessens the impact of the federal dollars invested in research." The burden, in part, consists of progress report submissions, personnel hiring, project revenue management, institutional review board protocols and training, and numerous other requirements. No single burden stands out as the greatest problem, the report notes. The FDP, which grew out of a project begun in 1986, is a cooperative initiative between ten federal agencies and 98 institutions that collectively receive more than $15 billion in federal funds, with a goal to streamline procedures for administration of research grants and contracts. The report has been circulated to the federal Office of Management and Budget and other agencies.

The Citizens Housing and Planning Council of New York announces:

The William R. Ginsberg Fellowships

Established in 2007, the William R. Ginsberg Fellowships are designed to
encourage public service and civic engagement for two key groups of
talented professionals: senior practitioners and policy makers, and recent
college graduates or graduate students.

The Fellowships provide support for original research and the opportunity
to explore new ideas and practices. Areas of research and empirical study
should be designed to improve the quality of life in NYC's neighborhoods
by focusing on housing, the urban environment and open space, education,
transportation, land use and zoning, or community development.

William R. Ginsberg was a pioneering environmental lawyer, NYC Parks
Commissioner, teacher, mentor, and tireless advocate on behalf of NYC's
civic life, the built environment, and the preservation of open space. He
served on the board of CHPC for more than four decades.

The Fellowship is supported by a generous gift from William R. Ginsberg
and his family.

Promoting a Prosperous and Livable City Since 1937 70th Anniversary 1937-2007

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT CHPC at info@chpcny.org or download applications
at www.chpcny.org

This site is currently the homepage for all research at Penn.