This week: the science workforce, spreading federal funds and scrutiny of foreign NIH applicants
In depth: An effort to make the voices of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States heard in government was announced by US president Joe Biden on 3 September.
Full story: Biden brings Historically Black Colleges closer to White House
Also this week from Research Professional News
White House pandemic plan demands efforts akin to moonshot—Broad-spectrum jabs among goals of Apollo-scale plan
Here is the rest of the US news this week…
Congress members want federal funds for neglected institutions
A bipartisan group of 34 senators and 26 representatives has asked congressional leaders to make sure more funding goes to institutions and states that usually miss out on federal R&D money. They want the National Science Foundation to allocate 20 per cent of its annual funding to a programme designed to spread R&D funding around the country, and build capacity in 25 underperforming states and three US territories.
NIH genome institute told to scrutinise foreign applicants better
The health department’s independent watchdog has told the National Human Genome Research Institute to brush up its pre-award scrutiny of foreign applicants, saying current procedures are “inadequate”. The inspectors said the institute may have missed risks when making past awards. In its response, the National Institutes of Health, which runs the institute, said some of the issues had been addressed and it would guide staff to patch other gaps.
About a quarter of US workers in Stem jobs in 2019
Just under a quarter of US workers are in jobs that require “significant” knowledge of science, technology, engineering or mathematics, a National Science Foundation study has found. Despite the importance of such expertise, a little over half of such workers do not have a bachelor’s degree. They mainly work in health, construction, or installation, maintenance and repair roles. Unemployment among those with Stem skills was about half the average, at 2 per cent.