A new report by Democratic lawmakers on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology warns about a “dangerously diminished” federal science workforce.

President Biden has nominated former Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) to serve as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a position that requires Senate confirmation.

A coalition of more than 200 scientific and academic stakeholder groups have asked President Biden to champion the Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act (H.R.869, S.289) and support full funding for the initiatives the legislation would create.

AIBS has submitted a letter of support to lawmakers for the confirmation of Dr. Eric Lander to the position of Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The American Institute of Biological Sciences vehemently denounces the hate and violence that led to the deaths of the innocent during the March 16 shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, and the increasing violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

More than 90 stakeholder groups, including AIBS, have called on legislators to increase overall funding allocations for Appropriations Committees in Fiscal Year 2022, as well as the respective allocations for Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees, in order to significantly increase discretionary funding for crucial U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs.

AIBS published a study on research funding applicant perceptions of the effectiveness and appropriateness of peer review feedback. The results suggested that only 56–60% of applicants determined the feedback to be appropriate and less than 40% of applicants found the feedback to be very useful in improving future submissions. Some of these perceptions were dependent on race and gender, independent of funding success.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 220-211, along party lines, to approve the American Rescue Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) on March 10, 2021. The Senate had earlier passed the bill on a 50-49 vote, also along party lines. President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion measure into law on March 11.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) presents preliminary evidence indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted women in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields in a number of areas, including productivity, work-life boundary control, networking and community building, and mental well-being.

China approved its government’s 14th five-year plan during the annual session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. The plan describes China’s vision for social and economic development and sets a target of increasing government investment in research and development (R&D) by at least 7 percent annually over the next five years.