Category Archives: NSF

National Science Foundation

Assessing impact » Testing hypotheses…

Steven Hill (@stevenhill), Head of Research Policy at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, responds to a recent publication by Steven Hrotic and me here: Assessing impact » Testing hypotheses…. Here is the original publication, which is available open … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, CSID Publications, Field Philosophy, Metrics, NIH, NOAA, NSF, Peer Review, Public Philosophizing, STEM Policy, Transdisciplinarity, US Science Agencies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New Peer Review Pilot at NSF: Applicants as Reviewers? | CHS Sponsored Programs

For this pilot project, instead of a traditional review panel, all principal investigators submitting proposals to the Sensors and Sensing Systems (SSS) will be required to review seven competing proposals! The program officer will then compile the final rankings and … Continue reading

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Nigel Warburton’s negative vision of what philosophy isn’t | jbrittholbrook

Does not resisting impact requirements mean you’re not a real philosopher? Nigel Warburton’s negative vision of what philosophy isn’t | jbrittholbrook.  

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, CSID Publications, Future of the University, institutionalizing interdisciplinarity, Metrics, NSF, Philosophy & Politics, Public Philosophizing, Science and technology ramifications, STEM Policy, Transdisciplinarity | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Representative Lamar Smith Is Really Trying to Do at NSF – ScienceInsider

Essential reading: What Representative Lamar Smith Is Really Trying to Do at NSF – ScienceInsider. The real question is whether an ‘extra layer’ of accountability is necessary. Before adding more government red tape, it would be better to ask NSF … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, NSF, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment

Not Safe for Funding: The N.S.F. and the Economics of Science : The New Yorker

Aside from the inherent interest of all things having to do with NSF merit review … what, that’s not just us CSID folks, is it? … anyway, there’s also some really interesting stuff about what motivates scientists in this article. … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Future of the University, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, Transformative Research, US Science Agencies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Holdren Attacks House Bill, Defends NSF’s Grant Selection Process – ScienceInsider

Holdren Attacks House Bill, Defends NSF’s Grant Selection Process – ScienceInsider.

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Future of the University, Metrics, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Leave a comment

Subcommittee Reviews NSF’s FY 2014 Budget Request | Democrats -Committee on Science, Space and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives

Links on NSF Merit Review hearing: Subcommittee Reviews NSF’s FY 2014 Budget Request | Democrats -Committee on Science, Space and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives. http://science.house.gov/press-release/subcommittee-reviews-nsf-budget-explores-ways-improve-grant-approval-process http://science.house.gov/hearing/research-subcommittee-hearing-overview-national-science-foundation-budget-fiscal-year-2014 http://science.edgeboss.net/wmedia/science/sst2013/RS041713.wvx        

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NSF Peer Review Under Scrutiny by House Science Panel – ScienceInsider

John Holdren to Science House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: “I think it’s a dangerous thing for Congress, or anybody else, to be trying to specify in detail what types of fundamental research NSF should be funding.” NSF Peer … Continue reading

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Broader Impacts of the Fact that NASA Suspends All Education and Public Outreach Update – NASA Watch

Effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review. In terms of scope, this includes all public engagement and outreach events, programs, activities, and products developed and implemented by Headquarters, Mission Directorates, and Centers across … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Economics & STEM Research, Metrics, NASA, NSF, Public Pedagogy, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Institutions starting to walk the Broader Impacts walk

CSID’s own Robert Frodeman is slated to keynote an upcoming Broader Impacts Infrastructure Summit. This summit marks the first of its kind for its focus on institutional infrastructure, primarily at universities and colleges, to support faculty and staff in coordinating, … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, Conferences Upcoming, NSF, STEM Policy | 1 Comment

Is NSF’s ‘Product’ Category a Finished Product? – Science Careers

Science Careers weighs in on NSF’s recent changes to the Grant Proposal Guide: Is NSF’s ‘Product’ Category a Finished Product? – Science Careers – Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers. Interesting take on what counts as a ‘product’ … Continue reading

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Don’t Underestimate NSF’s New Grant-Submission Rules – Manage Your Career – The Chronicle of Higher Education

I left a comment* about one point I take issue with; but this is a good article, with lots of good advice. Don’t Underestimate NSF’s New Grant-Submission Rules – Manage Your Career – The Chronicle of Higher Education. * Just … Continue reading

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Value all Research Products « Research Remix

Heather Piwowar (aka @ResearchRemix) has just published a pre-print version of her recently published Nature article on NSF’s new bio-sketch requirements. First draft of just-published Value all Research Products « Research Remix. This version is as interesting from the meta-standpoint … Continue reading

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Mozilla and the National Science Foundation launch open innovation challenge | The Mozilla Blog

Wow! Interesting: Mozilla and the National Science Foundation launch open innovation challenge | The Mozilla Blog.

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Attack on science, or a wakeup call? FY 2013 NSF Political Science Research Funding Eliminated by House

FY 2013 NSF Political Science Research Funding Eliminated by House. How should political scientists respond to such an apparent attack from Congress? Let me present two options: (a) the typical appeal to the fact that these grants all went through … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Times Higher Education – Inside Higher Ed: Playing Politics With Poli Sci

Why are politicians targeting polictical science funding at NSF? “These studies might satisfy the curiosities of a few academics, but I seriously doubt society will benefit from them.” via Times Higher Education – Inside Higher Ed: Playing Politics With Poli … Continue reading

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Good Transformations — Science Progress

Bob Frodeman, Kelli Barr, and I combined forces to present this first take on the recent Workshop on Transformative Research we ran at National Science Foundation headquarters in Arlington, VA. This was a good workshop involving some really good — … Continue reading

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Resistance to impact criteria can lead to a tightening of the accountability noose. | Impact of Social Sciences

Bob Frodeman and I venture virtually across the pond for a visit to the folks at the LSE Impact of Social Sciences Impact Blog — one of my favorites. Resistance to impact criteria can lead to a tightening of the … Continue reading

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NSF: Oceans Acidifying Faster Today Than in Past 300 Million Years

The oceans may be acidifying faster today than they did in the last 300 million years, according to scientists publishing a paper this week in the journal Science. “What we’re doing today really stands out in the geologic record,” says lead … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Degrowth Economics, Environmental policy, NSF, Sustainability, Risk Management, & Long-Term Security | Leave a comment

Legislator Berates NSF for Rising Gas Prices – ScienceInsider

Thanks to @Ananyo on Twitter for pointing out Jeffrey Mervis’s report on last week’s hearing on NSF’s 2013 budget request: Legislator Berates NSF for Rising Gas Prices – ScienceInsider. Mervis draws our attention to a question from Representative Andy Harris … Continue reading

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Now available via open access: Peer review and the ex ante assessment of societal impacts

Our latest publication coming out of the Comparative Assessment of Peer Review project is now available for free! Please take a look and give us some feedback. Peer review and the ex ante assessment of societal impacts.

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NSB report on merit review “lacks teeth” with regard to enforcing Broader Impacts Criterion

At least according to a quote from Luis Echegoyen included here: Clarifying Review Criteria | January 16, 2012 Issue – Vol. 90 Issue 3 | Chemical & Engineering News.

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Scientists Ought to Take an Entrepreneurial Attitude toward Broader Impacts

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled. This is the definition of entrepreneurship the article linked below discusses as the best ever. I agree that it’s excellent as definitions go. Let me suggest that adopting … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment

NSF “clarifies” Broader Impacts « Gas station without pumps

After reading the report (the body, not the hundreds of pages of appendices), I’m at least as confused as I was before about what the h*** NSF expects for Broader Impacts. (Gas station without pumps, hereafter GSWOP) What is revealed … Continue reading

Posted in Accountability, Broader Impacts, NSF, Peer Review, STEM Policy, US Science Agencies | 1 Comment

NSF Tweaks Its Merit Review Rules – ScienceInsider

Jeffrey Mervis on NSB’s decision and report on NSF’s merit review criteria. Still digesting the report, which is quite substantial. But it looks as if NSB and the Task Force on Merit Review did a bang-up job. Highlights include: Retaining … Continue reading

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