Congress Passes FY 2017 Budget; NIH Receives $2 Billion Increase
Seven months overdue, we finally have a spending bill for FY 2017. The bipartisan bill approved by Congress this week includes a $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a small increase of $8.7 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF), and an additional $39 million for the Department of Energy Office of Science. At NSF, the increase is allocated to Major Research Equipment and the Office of Inspector General. Funding for research and related activities at NSF is the same as in FY 2016. Within the Office of Science, advanced computing gets the biggest bump with an extra $10 million, and the US contribution to ITER, the international fusion reactor under construction in France, takes a hit with a $65 million decrease compared to FY 2016.
The Society put out a statement applauding Congress for its support of science, in particular NIH, when the spending bill was released.
BPS members whose Representative and Senators voted in favor of the bill have received a call to action to write or tweet and thank them for their support.
March for Science Follow-Up: Six Weeks of Action
Building on the momentum of the March for Science, the Biophysical Society launched a campaign of Six Weeks of Action. Thus far, BPS members have been encouraged to write to Congress and ask them to pass the FY 2017 spending bill, and to post a photo on social media with the hashtag #thisiswhatascientistlookslike. The Week Three Action item is to update Wikipedia in your area of expertise. The purpose of this campaign is to encourage BPS members to engage with elected leaders as well as the public. Wikipedia is a main source of information for the public, making it is a great place to share your knowledge!
NIH Announces Plan to Limit Grant Funding per PI
In an effort to more equitably divide the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) extramural research funds and to maximize research output, NIH has announced plans to limit funding per PI to the equivalent of no more than 3 R01 grants this week. To calculate funding levels, NIH is developing a new tool, the Grant Support Index (GSI). The NIH Director’s Office will also be collecting input from the scientific community over the summer on this plan. The change will affect only 6% of NIH investigators, but is estimated to free up funds to make an additional 1,400 awards per year. The Society’s Public Affairs Committee will be following developments with the GSI closely and will alert members when the opportunity to weigh in arises.
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