Legislation News
House Science Committee Introduces Competitiveness Education and Research Bills
May 12 , 2006
Republican members of the House Science Committee today introduced three education and research bills aimed at responding to several recent reports on how to strengthen U.S. competitiveness, including the National Academies’ Rising Above the Gathering Storm. The Committee plans to mark up the bills before the Memorial Day recess.
The three bills introduced today are the Science and Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act,” the “Early Career Research Act,” and the “Research Competitiveness Act.”
According to a committee press release, the science and math education bill would:
Strengthen and expand the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program at NSF, created by legislation the Committee passed in 2002, which provides scholarships to students majoring in STEM fields who commit to teaching after graduation;
Strengthen and focus the Math and Science Partnership Program at NSF, also created by legislation the Committee passed in 2002, to fund teacher training to improve math and science instruction at the elementary and secondary levels;
Extend the authorization of and expand NSF’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP), also created by legislation the Committee passed in 2002, which provides grants to colleges and universities to increase the number of students majoring in STEM fields;
Ensure that funding for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program grows as NSF’s budget increases. IGERT supports graduate students in cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields;
Establish a program to fund Centers for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering at NSF to improve the quality of teaching and curricula in undergraduate classes in STEM fields;
Authorize education programs at the Department of Energy, and require DOE to inventory and evaluate its education programs.
Also, according to the press release:
The Early Career Research Act would ensure that NSF’s program to help fund young faculty increases as the NSF budget grows by setting aside 3.5 percent of the agency’s research funding for that purpose. Under the bill, NSF would provide grants of at least $80,000 for up to five years to help researchers establish a lab and pursue risky research in emerging fields. The legislation authorizes $25 million at DOE for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011 for a similar program to support research by new faculty.
The Research for Competitiveness Act would also fund early career researchers, but would encourage researchers to seek funds from industry. Under the program, NSF and DOE would offer $50,000 grants for up to five years, and make an additional $50,000 available provided the researcher raises one-to-one matching funds from private industry for the proposed research. A similar program was in place at NSF in the 1980s.
The press release on the bills is available on the House Science Committee Web site at: http://www.house.gov/science/press/109/109-259.htm
|
