Congress Struggling to Finish Appropriations Legislation

With their target adjournment date of October 6th well behind them, members of Congress continued to work on 11 of 13 annual appropriations bills still not ready for the President's signature. Included in the 11 not yet law are two bills that contain the bulk of federal funding for IT research.

Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees marked up their respective Defense appropriations bills with varying levels of support for DARPA's IT research budget. The Senate version includes funding for DARPA IT R&D at the President's requested level. The House appropriators, however, cut $60 million from the DARPA IT line for other DARPA-related defense spending. The differences will be worked out in conference as soon as both houses approve their versions. Neither bill has been reported to the floor of either body, as the leadership on both sides works to determine the size and extent of any additional funding required for homeland defense needs.

Work on the VA-HUD-Independent Agencies appropriations bill, which contains funding for the National Science Foundation, has progressed further. The House has approved a version increasing the NSF appropriation by 9.3 percent over FY 2001. The Senate approved version contains a smaller 5.7 percent increase. The bill is currently in conference, but discussion among the principals involved seems to indicate the final NSF increase will be closer to the House number than the Senate.

Now more than a month into the new fiscal year, Congress must pass a series of "continuing resolutions" to keep federal agencies open and funded (at their FY 2001 levels). The current continuing resolution is set to expire November 16th, but it appears likely that Congress will not have the remaining appropriations bills finished by that deadline. Rumors abound that Congress will be in session until at least Thanksgiving -- but quite possibly closer to Christmas.

To track the status of all 13 appropriations bills: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/appover.html

NSF Early Release Data on AY1999/2000 Doctorates

The National Science Foundation has posted the Early Release Tables for their survey of Science and Engineering (S&E) doctorate awards in AY99/00. The tables show trends in doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and post-graduation plans of recipients. Among the highlights:

• Among all S&E fields, 3.3% of the doctorates were awarded in the "Computer Sciences" field of study.
  
  
• 56% of Computer Sciences doctorates were awarded to U.S. citizens or those with permanent visas. Among these, 81% of the recipients were male.
  
  
• Among the 44% of Computer Sciences doctorates that were awarded to non-U.S. citizens with temporary visas, 86% of the recipients were male.
  
  
• The post-graduation plans of Computer Sciences doctorates with definite plans who were staying in the U.S were:
  

  	Total	Men	Women
  Postdoc Study	9%	8%	6%
  Academic Employment	33%	37%	44%
  Industry Employment	51%	46%	34%
  Other	7%	9%	16%

The Early Release Tables can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/srs02401/start.htm

Current and Recent Doctoral Students Rate Programs

The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students has released the results of their National Doctoral Program Survey. The survey was an online assessment of educational practices of doctoral programs in the U.S. and Canada, and was based upon best practices in doctoral education, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, and the Association of American Universities, among others. The results include both discipline-level results disaggregated by a variety of participant characteristics as well as program-level reports for 1,300 programs. The table below summarizes the overall grades given to a few of the programs surveyed.

The survey results can be found at http://survey.nagps.org/

National Science Board Recommends Initiatives for Prioritizing Federal R&D

The National Science Board has released the final version of its report, Federal Research Resources: A Process for Setting Priorities. The goal of the study was to provide a framework for improving the quality, content, and accessibility of science and engineering expert advice, data, and analyses to inform decisions on priorities in the White House and Congress for Federal investments across fields of research.

The report argues that "the current system for priority-setting in the Federal research budget lacks a coherent, scientifically based process for systematic review and evaluation of the broad Federal investment portfolio for effectiveness in achieving national goals. Moreover, available data and analyses are often ill suited for informing budget allocation decisions that affect U.S. research infrastructure." The report's basic recommendations, only abbreviated here, are:

1. The Federal government, including the White House, Federal departments and agencies, and the Congress should cooperate in developing and supporting a more productive process for allocating and coordinating Federal research funding.
   
   
2. A process should be implemented that identifies priority needs and opportunities for research--encompassing all major areas of science and engineering--to inform Federal budget decisions.
   
   
3. An Executive branch process for ongoing evaluation of outcomes of the Federal portfolio for research in light of Federal goals for S&T should be implemented on a five-year cycle.
   
   
4. Congress should develop appropriate mechanisms to provide it with independent expert S&T review, evaluation, and advice.
   
   
5. A strategy for addressing data needs should be developed.
   
   
6. Input to Federal allocation decisions should include comparisons of U.S. research resources and performance with those of other countries.
   
   
7. The Federal government should invest in the research necessary to build deep understanding and the intellectual infrastructure to analyze substantive effects on the economy and quality of life of Federal support for science and technology.

The report is available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsb01156

Department of Energy To Serve as Pilot for R&D Assessment

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) aims to develop objective investment criteria for federal R&D projects, which can be used to assess the performance of research programs. The Department of Energy (DOE), which will spend more that $7.7 billion (more than 40%) of its 2001 budget on a broad range of research activities, will pilot this initiative.

In "The President's Management Agenda," the Bush Administration argues that the federal R&D process is plagued by vague goals, a lack of information on the level of return on investment, and the unnecessary funding of federal R&D projects that supplant, compete with, or unnecessarily benefit those of private corporations. As a result, OMB is developing performance criteria that will be used to guide funding for some programs in the DOE's 2003 budget. The following year, the criteria will be applied to the budgets of other R&D programs.

According to the report, "the Administration expects that these investment criteria will better focus the government’s research programs on performance. The effectiveness of the U.S. government’s R&D investment will be measurably improved over a period ending three years from initial benchmarking. Applied research programs will be better focused on achieving well-defined practical outcomes. Basic research programs will better target improving the quality and relevance of their research. These investment criteria will promote our nation’s leadership in important science and technology areas."

The relevant section of the report (pages 43-45) can be found at  http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2002/pdf/mgmt.pdf

CRA Best Practices Memo: Commercialization Oversight for Computer Research Departments

The Computing Research Association has issued a Best Practices Memo to address issues relating to the commercialization of academic computer research.

According to the Memo, the relentless pressure to innovate in the information technology (IT) industry has drawn university researchers and graduate students into entrepreneurial situations to an increasing degree. The trend affects the academic enterprise in diverse ways, both favorable and unfavorable. The risks and rewards are outlined, and the concept of a Commercialization Oversight Committee is described as a mechanism that can facilitate the best outcomes when interests conflict. The role of the CO Committee is not to enforce regulations, but to facilitate high standards in order to preserve collegiality. Although there are many ways to do this, the CO activity will likely fulfill four basic functions:

1. Serving as a focal point for commercialization information.
2. Vigilance on behalf of the student-faculty relationship.
3. Vigilance on behalf of the faculty-faculty relationship.
4. Periodic review of commercialization activity.

The Memo can be found at http://www.cra.org/reports/commercialization.html

NSF Advisory Committee's Recommendations for Improving Number of Underrepresented Minorities in Science

The Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering's biennial report to Congress points out that while science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) enrollments and degrees are declining, the employment of engineers and computer scientists is growing. It argues that one answer to this is for the U.S. to increase the participation of traditionally underrepresented minorities in SMET fields. The report makes a series of recommendations to NSF to help bring this about. To help improve the role of underrepresented minorities in higher education, the Committee argues that NSF should:

1. increase funding for intervention programs for women, minorities, and students with disabilities at the undergraduate and graduate levels;
   
   
2. increase funding to build the institutional infrastructure to support underrepresented groups, including both the policy and procedural framework for relevant programs and technological advances that would broaden access for those with disabilities;
   
   
3. continue programs to enhance collaborations between major research institutions and institutions serving minorities. CEOSE recommends that NSF establish clear lines of responsibility and define effective accountability mechanisms for each program from K-12 through graduate education in the "diversity continuum" (i.e., USI, LSAMP, GK-12, AGEP, ADVANCE, AGEP, GK-12, L S A M P, USI);
   
   
4. evaluate each program in this portfolio periodically against the criteria under which it was established and that any program not meeting the stated objectives in a reasonably projected time frame be overhauled or eliminated; and
   
   
5. assess the impact of discontinuing the Minority Graduate Fellowship Program and pursue new strategies to provide support to minorities at the graduate level.

The report is available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?ceose2000rpt

CSTB Report on a Research Agenda for Networked, Embedded Computing Systems

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) has released a report, Embedded, Everywhere: A Research Agenda for Networked Systems of embedded Computers. The report explores the potential of networked systems of embedded computers and the research challenges arising from embedding computation and communications technology into a multitude of arenas. It describes the many ways in which these emerging networks operate under unique constraints not present in more traditional distributed systems such as the Internet. A comprehensive, systems-oriented research agenda is presented along with recommendations to major federal funding agencies.

A copy of the report is available at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/cpsma/cstb.nsf/web/pub_embedded?OpenDocument. A summary of the report is also available in the November issue of Computing Research News, http://www.cra.org/CRN/issues/0105.pdf

David Hennage Named Executive Director of IEEE-CS

On November 1, 2001, Dr. David Hennage was named Executive Director of the IEEE Computer Society. Hennage has extensive experience as a manager and leader of associations and other not-for-profit organizations in the engineering, scientific, and health care fields. Most recently, he served as executive director and CEO of the American Nurses Association and the American Nurses Foundation.

Dr. Hennage has a BS in physics from Tufts University, and an MS and PhD in molecular biophysics from Yale University. In addition, He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the IEEE, the IEEE Computer Society, the American Physical Society, the American Society of Association Executives, and the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives.

Hennage has held senior administrative posts, including the position of chief financial officer, for the Museum of Science and Industry, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and SEI Information Technology. Earlier, he was executive director of the Gary Community Mental Health Center, associate director of the Medical Center of Gary, assistant adjunct professor at Indiana University, and director of the alternative education program at West Side High School, all in Gary, Indiana.

http://www.computer.org/computer/connection/october01/exec_dir.pdf

DOE Fellowships for Computer Science, Computational Science

The deadlines for two Department of Energy Fellowships programs are approaching.

The DOE High-Performance Computer Science Fellowships are awarded for one-year renewable terms, up to four years, from September 1 through August 31 in support of full-time doctoral study and thesis research in the United States. Study and research under the fellowship is to be conducted in computer science with an emphasis on high-performance computing. The deadline for applications is February 11, 2002.

The DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowships are awarded for one-year renewable terms from September 1 through August 31 in support of full-time doctoral study and thesis research in the United States. Study and research under the fellowship is to be conducted in an applied science or engineering discipline with applications in high-performance computing. The deadline for applications is January 16, 2002.

For more information and application materials, visit the Krell Institute at http://www.krellinst.org/work/workhome.html