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James P. Collins Assistant Director for Biological Sciences National Science Foundation

Biology as a Bridge to the Future: Science at the Frontier. James P. Collins Assistant Director for Biological Sciences National Science Foundation BESC & CoFARM Briefing March 14, 2006. Outline. Biology in the 21 st century Science policy shift: American Competitiveness Initiative

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James P. Collins Assistant Director for Biological Sciences National Science Foundation

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  1. Biology as a Bridge to the Future: Science at the Frontier James P. Collins Assistant Director for Biological Sciences National Science Foundation • BESC & CoFARM Briefing • March 14, 2006

  2. Outline • Biology in the 21st century • Science policy shift: American Competitiveness Initiative • Consequences of the policy shift: NSF benefits • Science at the frontier

  3. Biology is composed of four overarching theories • All living things are made from cells, the chemical factories of life:CELL BIOLOGY • All life is based on the same genetic code organized as DNA or RNA:GENETICS • All forms of life evolved by natural selection or genetic drift:EVOLUTION • All life is connected to form ecosystems:ECOLOGY

  4. 21st Century Biology “… the 21st century is going to see a cohesion of the sciences and disappearance of their borders.” - David Baltimore

  5. 21st Century Biology • Multidisciplinary • Multiscale • Multimodal • Multidimensional • Information-driven & IT driven • Education-oriented • Internationally engaged • New curricula

  6. Cross-Directorate Activities • Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) • BIO and SBE Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDIG) • Graduate Research Fellowships • Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) • Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Program (IGERT) • BIO and SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships • Research Opportunity Awards (ROA) • Faculty Early Career Development Awards (CAREER) • ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers • Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) • Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Program (EPSCoR) • Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER)

  7. Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences • Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences • Supports research to develop and advance scientific knowledge on human cognition, language, social behavior and culture, as well as research on the interactions between human societies and the physical environment. • Social and Economic Sciences • Seeks to enhance our understanding of human, social and organizational behavior by building social science infrastructure, by developing social disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects that advance knowledge in the social and economic sciences.

  8. Cross-Directorate Areas • Human and Social Dynamics • Fosters breakthroughs in understanding the dynamics of human action and development, as well as knowledge about organizational, cultural, and societal adaptation and change. • Agents of Change • Dynamics of Human Behavior • Decision Making, Risk and Uncertainty • Science and Society • Supports research that examines the relationships among science, engineering, technology and society. • Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology • History and Philosophy of Science, Engineering and Technology • Social Studies of Science, Engineering and Technology • Studies of Policy, Science, Engineering and Technology Cross-directorate research in these areas will increase as science and society converge…

  9. Technological Convergence and the Evolution of Life Sciences R&D • big biology • big rewards • big dilemmas • big shifts in science policy….

  10. Two drivers of science policy

  11. Released Feb. 23, 2006 Annual S&E snapshot The two drivers are at least partly responsible for ACI…

  12. American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) • GOALS • Increase Federal investment in critical research • Ensure that the United States continues to lead the world in opportunity and innovation • Provide American children with a strong foundation in math and science • FY 2007 FUNDING = + $910 million (9.3% above FY 2006) for: • National Science Foundation (NSF) • Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DoE SC) • Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) • ACI plans to double investments in innovation-enabling science and engineering research at NSF, DoE SC, and NIST over 10 years

  13. $19.49 billion $10.66 billion $9.75 billion Double the NSF budget over 10 years

  14. NSF benefits… • Independent agency • Established 1950 • To promote scientific progress • To advance national health, prosperity and welfare • To secure national defense

  15. Growth in NSF Budget FY 2000-2007(millions)

  16. NSF FY 2007 Budget Priorities • Advancing the Frontier • Broadening Participation in the Science and Engineering Enterprise • Providing World-Class Facilities and Infrastructure • Bolstering K-12 Education

  17. NSF Responsibilities Include Ensuring a Balanced Portfolio • Young Investigators • Underrepresented Groups • Institutional Types • Integration of Research and Education • International Collaborations

  18. Growth in BIO Budget FY 2000-2007(millions)

  19. NSF Support for Basic Research at Academic Institutions (non-medical) (*FY 2003 - latest available data in Science and Engineering Indicators, 2006)

  20. BIO FY 2007 Budget Priorities • Advancing the Frontier • Frontiers in Integrative Biological Research program (+$5.0 million) • Plant Genome Research Program (+$2.5 million) • Long-Term Ecological Research Program (+$1.2 million) • New Theoretical Biology program ($3.6 million) • New Biology and Society program ($0.5 million) • New Center for Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaii ($4.0 million) • New “Life in the Cold and Dark” program as part of the International Polar Year ($2.0 million)

  21. BIO FY 2007 Budget Priorities • Broadening Participation in the S&E Enterprise • Research Initiation Grants and Career Advancement Awards to Broaden Participation in the Biological Sciences (+ $4.0 million) • Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships • Mentoring in Biology programs • Research Assistantships for High School Students • Research Experiences for Undergraduates • Undergraduate Mentoring in Biology • Supplemental awards for minority students on all grants

  22. BIO FY 2007 Budget Priorities • Providing World-Class Facilities and Infrastructure • Increase support for research resources, including cyberinfrastructure (+$2.55 million) • National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) • R&RA funding (+$6.0 million) • Final Project Execution Plan • Baseline NEON Infrastructure Reviews • R&D on Sensors and Sensor Networks • MREFC Request ($12 million) • Assemble, deploy, network, and field-test NEON Fundamental Instrument Units (FIU)

  23. BIO FY 2007 Budget Priorities • Bolstering K-12 Education • Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program (+$550,000) • Schoolyard LTER • Research Assistantships for High School Students • Research Experiences for Teachers

  24. NSF is unique among federal agencies in supporting research not necessarily tied to resolving specific societal issues or restricted to falling within the purview of agency-specific missions. Primary sponsor of competitively awarded “basic research” in the U.S. What is NSF?

  25. U.S. President Science Advisor Office of Management and Budget Other boards, councils, etc. Office of Science and Technology Policy Science Advisor MajorDepartments Health and Human Services Commerce Agriculture Interior Homeland Security Defense Energy Independent Agencies National Aeronautic and Space Administration Environmental Protection Agency Nuclear Regulatory Commission Smithsonian Institution Other agencies

  26. National Science Board • Research Directorates • Biological Sciences • Computer & Info. Science & Eng. • Education & Human Resources • Engineering • Geosciences • Mathematical & Physical Sciences • Social, Behaviorial & Econ. Sciences • Offices • CyberInfrastructure • Integrative Activities • Polar Programs • International Science and Engineering National Science Foundation Director Deputy Director

  27. Directorate for Biological Sciences BIO Mission: To support the vitality of the biological sciences at U.S. colleges and universities….

  28. Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) Information and Automation Resources Unit (IAR) Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Division of Integrative Organismal Biology (IOB) Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) HumanResources Ecological Biology BehavioralSystems Biomolecular Systems Developmental Systems Ecosystem Science Research Resources Cellular Systems Population & Evolutionary Processes Genes and Genome Systems Environmental &Structural Systems Plant Genome Research Program Systematic Biology &Biodiversity Inventories Functional & Regulatory Systems Emerging Frontiers (EF) Effective September 2004

  29. How is BIO a distinctive model? 1) Working across "boundaries" (clusters, divisions, directorates, agencies). 2) One biology - ALL of biology within a single administrative unit with extensive cooperation and coordination. 3) Together, these allow us to focus on transformative research.

  30. From Genes…. To Cells… To Ecology… To Evolution… Eyeless Cave Fish

  31. How can we transform biological research in the early 21st century? Biology at the frontier: stimulating the development of research areas that the research community needs but has not yet imagined…

  32. Science at the frontier Textbook science or frontier science?

  33. Outline • Biology in the 21st century • Science policy shift: American Competitiveness Initiative • Consequences of the policy shift: NSF benefits • Science at the frontier

  34. Back-up Slides

  35. Examples of BIO Panels • Evolutionary Genetics • Evolutionary and Population Ecology • Behavioral Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology • Plant Biotic Interactions • Animal Sensation and Movement • Integrative Cellular Neuroscience • Epigenetics, Transcription, Chromatin • Post Transcriptional Mechanisms

  36. American Competitiveness Initiative President Bush's 2006 education agenda, the American Competitiveness Initiative, aims to strengthen innovation and education in the U.S. by improving mathematics and science education, foreign language studies, and high schools.

  37. American Competitiveness InitiativeGoals • 300 grants for schools to implement research-based math curricula and interventions • 10,000 more scientists, students, post-doctoral fellows, and technicians provided opportunities to contribute to the innovation enterprise • 100,000 highly qualified math and science teachers by 2015 • 700,000 advanced placement tests passed by low-income students • 800,000 workers getting the skills they need for jobs of the 21st century

  38. Meeting the Challenge: President Bush's 2006 Education Agenda • The American Competitiveness Initiative • commits $5.9 billion in FY 2007 • more than $136 billion over 10 years • increased investments in research & development • DOE, NIST, and NSF benefit…

  39. www.nsf.gov

  40. Academic R&D expenditures: 1990–2003 ..and there are other changes… SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  41. Academic R&D as share of total R&D,by country/economy: Most recent year …as the world gets flat… SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  42. Scientific and technical articles, by country/region: 1988–2003 SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  43. Share of U.S. articles among most-cited articles, total S&E: 1992–2003 SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  44. Composition of U.S. college-age cohort: 1990–2020 S&E workforce is changing… SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  45. U.S. S&E bachelor’s degrees earnedby women and minorities: 1990, 1995, and 2001 SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  46. S&E doctorates conferred by citizenship status and race/ethnicity: 1990–2003 SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  47. Composition of academic doctoral S&E workforce by race/ethnicity, sex, and citizenship at degree conferral: 1989–2003 SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

  48. Faculty and tenure-track status of academic S&E doctorate holders 4–7 years after receipt of doctorate: 1989–2003 A policy response… SOURCE: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006

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