November 4, 2002

• Congressional Hearing on Scientific Research Post-9/11 Held
• Valerie Taylor to Lead Texas A&M CS Department
• NSF Names CISE Officer New CIO
• ICANN Eliminates Publicly Elected Directors
• RAND/PCAST Report on Federal R&D Investment in Science and Technology Now Available
• NSF Reports on CS and CE Doctorates Awarded in 2001
• American Association of University Women Releases Report on Distance Learning
• Starting Salaries Declined for the 2002 Graduates
• Department of Energy Offers Graduate Fellowship in Computational Science
• ISCB Seeks Nominations for Annual Awards
• Supercomputing 2002 Conference to Offer "Student Days"

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Congressional Hearing on Scientific Research Post-9/11 Held

Last month, the House Science Committee held a hearing on how to balance the need for greater security with the need for open scientific communication in the post September 11th era. Since the September 11th attacks, Congress, the executive branch, and the scientific and technical communities have begun discussions on how to prevent scientific research results and information from becoming national security risks. The hearing focused on the treatment of "sensitive information" and of foreign faculty and students. Witnesses testifying included Presidential Science Advisor and Director of OSTP, John Marburger, as well as members of the scientific community.

Links to the hearing charter, Chairman Sherwood Boehlert's opening statement, and witness testimony can be found at:
http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/full02/index.htm

Valerie Taylor to Lead Texas A&M CS Department

Dr. Valerie Taylor, professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Northwestern University will join the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University as Department Head in January 2003. 

Taylor, co-chair of the CRA/ACM/IEEE_CS Coalition to Diversify Computing (http://www.npaci.edu/Outreach/CDC/) was the recipient of Computing Research Association's 2002 Nico Harbermann Award for her outstanding contribution to aiding members of underrepresented groups within the computing research community (http://www.cra.org/Activities/awards/habermann/home.html). 

Dr. Taylor received her B.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1985 and 1986, respectively. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991.

More information is available on the TAMU website: http://www.cs.tamu.edu/news/items?id=65

NSF Names CISE Officer New CIO

The National Science Foundation has appointed George O. Strawn, acting assistant director of CISE, as its chief information officer (CIO). Strawn will be responsible for the design, development and maintenance of the National Science Foundation's IT resources.

During his tenure at NSF, Dr. Strawn has served as co-chair of both the Federal Networking Council and the interagency Large Scale Networking Working Group, co-chair of the Coordinating Committee on Intercontinental Research Networks and U.S. Representative on the G-7 task force for the Global Interconnection of Broadband Networks. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Iowa State University in 1969.

Dr. Strawn will be located in Room 305 and may be reached at (703)292-8100 or at gstrawn@nsf.gov.

ICANN Eliminates Publicly Elected Directors

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has authority over Internet domain names such as ".com" and ".org," voted to change the way their leadership is selected by ending direct elections to its board of directors -- a move critics say is aimed at getting rid of dissenting board members  and could make ICANN indifferent to ordinary users and hurt innovation.  Under the new system, the board is to be picked by a nominating committee and a trio of affiliated organizations representing groups of address holders.  The changes were part of an organizational overhaul meant to improve the efficiency of the nonprofit board and take effect at the ICANN conference in Amsterdam in December.

The complete LA Times article can be read at:  http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-icann1nov01,0,1328569.story.

RAND/PCAST Report on Federal R&D Investment in Science and Technology Now Available

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Panel on Federal Investment in Science and Technology and its National Benefits was tasked with reviewing the federal government's research and development (R&D) portfolio and making recommendations on areas where programs should be expanded, curtailed, or maintained.  RAND’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, together with AAAS, prepared the resulting report.  

The panel's recommendations, outlined in the report titled, "Federal Investment in Science and Technology and its National Benefits" and are now available for viewing on the RAND website. The report looks at both historical and current trends in federally funded R&D and forms the basis for the recommendations PCAST made to the President regarding the importance of supporting increased funding for the physical sciences in the FY 04 budget.

To download the report see: http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1639.0/

NSF Reports on CS and CE Doctorates Awarded in 2001

A recent report from the National Science Foundation tracks the number of Science and Engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded in 2001. Among its results:

• The number of doctorates awarded in 2001 in the Computer Sciences decreased nearly 4 percent from the previous year, to 826. This number also represents a 17 percent drop compared to 1995's total of 997.
• The number of Computer Engineering doctorates awarded in 2001 increased 6 percent, to 183. This reverses several years of decline in the number of CE doctorates awarded since their number peaked at 227 in 1997.
• While women received 36.5 percent of S&E doctorates in 2001, they received only 18 percent of Computer Engineering doctorates and 19 percent of Computer Sciences doctorates.
• Among U.S. citizens who received doctorates in the Computer Sciences and who had definite post graduation plans, 41 percent planned to enter academic employment. Among non-US. citizens, only 18 percent of permanent visa holders and 17 percent of those with temporary visas planned to enter academic employment.

The complete report, National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics, Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2001, NSF 03-300, Susan T. Hill, Project Officer (Arlington, VA 2002), is available online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf03300/start.htm.

American Association of University Women Releases Report on Distance Learning

A new report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation has found that women over the age of 25 make up 60 percent of distance—or online—learners.  Working mothers, in particular, are furthering their education online and adding a difficult "third shift" to their responsibilities, according to the study, The Third Shift: Women Learning Online, by Cheris Kramarae, AAUW Scholar-in-Residence.  

For more information about the report, see  http://www.aauw.org/2000/3rdshift.html or send an email to foundation@aauw.org.

Starting Salaries Declined for the 2002 Graduates

The Fall 2002 Salary Survey, published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), shows that starting salaries fell as demand for 2002 college graduates waned. In general, graduates in the business, engineering, and education fields fared best, while liberal arts grads fared worst. Among the findings:

• The average salary offer to computer engineering graduates dropped 4.7 percent between 2001 and 2002, lowering their average to $51,135. 
• Starting salary offers for computer science graduates declined 5.8 percent for an average of $49,413. Offers varied according to specialty, however: those with jobs in software design and development received an average offer of $53,524.
• Information sciences graduates saw their average offer drop 8.5 percent to $41,375.

In a separate survey, NACE found that employers expect to cut college hiring 3.6 percent for the 2002-03 academic year, meaning the college Class of 2003 could face even stiffer competition for jobs than their 2002 counterparts.

The NACE Press Release for the report is available at http://www.naceweb.org/press/display.asp?year=2002&prid=164

Department of Energy Offers Graduate Fellowship in Computational Science

The Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF), a program funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Defense Programs and Office of Science is now accepting applications for its 2003-2004 fellowship year.  The program aims 0to identify and provide support to accomplished computational science graduate students throughout the U.S.  

The fellowship includes an annual stipend of $28,000, all tuition and fees and up to $2,500 for a computer workstation.  The program of study supported must include coursework in computer science, mathematics and another scientific or engineering discipline. 

For more information on the CSGF, see:  http://www.krellinst.org/csgf/.  To download the 2003-2004 application forms, see http://www.krellinst.org/csgf/download_appl/

ISCB Seeks Nominations for Annual Awards

The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB), a scholarly society whose emphasis is on the role of computing and informatics in advancing molecular biology, is now seeking nominations for the following annual awards:

The First Annual ISCB Accomplishment Award, recognizes senior members of the computational biology community who have made major contributions through research, education, and/or service.

The Third Annual Overton Prize is awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of computational biology by a scientist in the early to mid phase of his or her career.

Recipients of both awards will be invited to present keynote talks at an ISCB Conference in July 3, 2003. Nominations, including a biography, an assessment of their key contributions, and 2 or 3 key citations to admin@iscb.org by Friday, November 15, 2002. 

Supercomputing 2002 Conference to Offer "Student Days"

SC2002, the annual high performance networking and computing conference, will offer two days of programs dedicated to undergraduate and graduate students -- Wednesday, Nov. 20 and Thursday, Nov. 21-- at its 15th annual conference being held November 16-22 in Baltimore, MD. 

The SC2002 Education program will offer students a first-hand opportunity to hear about high performance computing and opportunities within the field. The students will meet with educators, researchers, administrators, and potential employers.

The organizational committee is still accepting applications to participate in SC2002 Student Days. Participating students will have their noontime meals covered and the two-day registration fee waived. Travel expenses and lodging are the student's responsibility. Space is available for the student events on a first-come, first-served basis; a waiting list will be established. 

Interested students are encouraged to apply at the Education page on the SC2002 website: http://www.sc-conference.org/sc2002/education