Happy Back to School time k-12 teachers, staff, students, and parents and a Happy “Um actually, universities tend to start their terms in late September” those who celebrate.
This week’s news update includes updates on NSF budgeting, a bunch of new proposed polices affecting higher education, AI guidance from the Office of Research Integrity, and more.
The second part of my attempt get my head around the last couple of years in science and higher education develops is now live. Head on over to read me losing my mind in the footnotes.
Federal Research Policy
Nature reported on Thursday that the NSF will issue approximately 30% fewer new research grants this year compared to last. According to the reporting, the funding is being re-allocated to the White House’s Grand Research Challenges.
As reported in Science, the Department of Justice has ordered that several NSF programs intended to broaden participation in science must be terminated and several others need to be tweaked to be in compliance with the agency’s ruling.
The NIH has posted a summary of the feedback it received about its proposal to limit the number of grants a researcher can be principal investigator on simultaneously.
John Gaitanis is the new director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Higher Education
The Department of Defense/War has directed 30 academic institutions to initiate immediate and comprehensive reviews of their academic, financial and research collaborations with foreign entities of concern.
The press release does not include the institutions, but they have been reported elsewhere.
Stanford University is not on the list but, according to reporting in Bloomberg, the DOJ is gearing up to scrutinize the university’s foreign funding policies.
The Department of Education posted a proposed rule to the Federal Register which, among other things, would allow the agency to “provide competitive preference to [grant] applicants who propose to charge lower indirect costs than their negotiated rate.”
The Department of Justice has announced that it has begun an investigation into The College of William and Mary to determine whether the school’s scholarships and student benefits include racial criteria that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
As reported by The Hill and others, a new whistleblower complaint has accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of having “predetermined” outcomes in its investigations of Ivy League schools.
The Department of Education put out a notice of proposed rule making this week, moving forward its efforts to reshape the accreditation process for institutions of higher education.
The proposed changes are aligned with the Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education Executive Order, including an emphasis on “academic freedom” and “intellectual diversity.”
This notice comes as the Department of Education appears to be moving to strip the American Bar Association of its accreditation authority.
Other News
The Office of Research Integrity has published new guidance on the use of generative AI technologies.
In general the guidance is to disclose if and how generative AI tools were used during the research process and the preparation of manuscripts and grants.
Whether or not a particular use of AI is considered misconduct comes down to the accepted practices within the relevant research community. Doing a House of Leaves on your manuscript is apparently fine ok.
The question of if AI use is considered plagiarism is left a bit open because of some epistemic issues. ORI’s definition of plagiarism involves misattribution of existing work. Does AI fit the bill? Yes. No. You decide.
After intense political scrutiny, the National Academy of Sciences announced last week that it has withdrawn a chapter on climate chance from its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, which provides background on scientific issues for judges and others in the legal profession.
The Department of Health and Human Services has published a request for feedback on the categories used in federal vaccine recommendations and the role of shared clinical decision-making. Stat has additional reporting.