News & Notices

On February 8th, NIH published a request for input into the development of the Scientifc Strategic Plan for a proposed new Institute.

NIH proposes to create a new Institute, with the working name of the National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Disorders,” through inclusion in the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2014.  A planning committee that includes scientific representatives from the potentially affected Institutes and Centers is developing a Scientific Strategic Plan for the proposed Institute with the primary goal of identifying new scientific opportunities that are not currently supported in the existing NIH research portfolios and public health initiatives on substance use, abuse, and addiction-related disorders.

This proposal flows from a recommendation by the Scientific Management Review Board in September 2010 that included a recommendation that all addiction-related research throughout the NIH be consolidated under this new Institute and that the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism be dissolved and that their non-addiction research portfolios be redistributed as appropriate to other Institutes and Centers.

This RFI is soliciting input on the scientific opportunities and public health needs that should be included in the Scientific Strategic Plan. They are not currently seeking input on the recommendation to create the new institute itself. Comments may be submitted here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfi_files/nih_nisuad/add.cfm through May 11, 2012.

NIH plans to host a series of public outreach meetings on the draft Strategic Plan in the Fall 2012. Watch here for more information.

On Dec 16th, Rep. Darrell Issa introduced legislation (H.R. 3699) that would end the experiment in public access that has been ongoing at the NIH since implementing PL 110-161 (<a href="” target=”_blank”>Jan 11, 2008 NIH Guide notice). Essentially, the NIH policy in place requires that publications flowing from research funded by the NIH be publicly available within 12 months of their publication date.

Rep Michael Doyle and Sen John Cornyn each submitted bills on Feb 9, 2012 (H.R. 4004 and S. 2096 respectively) that would expand the existing law applicable to NIH to other Federal agencies and reduce the time to public posting to six months.

Similar opposing bills on public access policy have been submitted previously and so far, have come to naught. In response to the introduction of H.R. 3699, Michael Eisen wrote an op ed in the New York Times and a call to boycott the scientific publisher Elsevier was initiated. The Association of American Publishers endorsed HR. 3699, while a number of university presses (members of the AAP) have publicly distanced themselves from the legislation as has the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Nature Publishing Group.

The President’s budget request to Congress for FY 2013 will be released shortly and the formal discussions will ensue. The White House released a fact sheet on the budget in advance of the full budget release next week. >

Included in the fact sheet is this proposal:

Level funding for biomedical research at NIH ($30.7 billion); and to get more out of the money, proposes new grant management policies to increase the number of new research grants by 7 percent.

Wondering what new grant management policies refers to? It is reasonable to speculate on at least some of what’s included in the thinking behind this statement. Reducing the salary cap for HHS awards is a step in this direction. NIH’s recent notice to flatline future awards is another. There might be changes flowing from the Research Business Models Working Group’s A21 Task Force that could potentially help “get more out of the money.” I’m sure we’ll be hearing more on this front over the coming weeks and months as the budget gets negotiated between the White House and Congress.

The US National Science Foundation as announced that they will broadcast their FY 2013 budget request briefing to Congress. The briefing will consist of an overview of NSF’s FY 2013 budget requests and how they align with the current administration’s initiatives. This is the first time that NSF will be webcasting such a briefing.

Following the briefing, the NSF’s assistant directors and office heads will provide briefings pertaining to their specific programs, although no mention has been made as to whether these will be made publicly viewable over a webcast as the director’s briefing will be.

The briefing will take place at 3:30 PM EST on February 13th, 2012. It can be viewed publicly here and will require a browser that can support Adobe Flash Player.

The Association of Research Libraries posted their Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries to assist libraries in handling a variety of common scenarios in which copyrighted material is put to use.

The code is a product of dozens of interviews with research and academic librarians on the topic of dealing with the potential conflicts between copyright law and their internal practices. This is an often potentially dangerous area for librarians since their goals can often be seen as at odds with strict copyright protection laws.

The ARL feels that by setting out a standardize code of practice they will have the opportunity to influence current and future policy on the topic, and can help create an accepted standard of practice amongst a broad base. The code, which can be viewed from here, deals with topics such as digitizing content, providing materials for exhibitions or staff and student use, as well as making content available on the web.

This announcement comes in the midst of the ongoing debate regarding H.R. 3699, titled ‘Research Works Act’, which is a controversial proposed law that would limit the dissemination of research output material that is covered under publishers’ copyright. There have been numerous reactions to the proposed law’s intent, with well structured arguments both for and against the bill.

On Feb 7th, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that in FY 2012, $50 million in current research support will be re-directed to focus on Alzheimer’s disease and that the President’s FY2013 budget request will include an additional $80 million for NIH targeted at Alzheimer’s research.

This increase in research funding is part of the President’s National Alzheimer’s Disease Plan, established in response to the 2011 National Alzheimer’s Project Act. The combined FY12 and requested FY13 $130 million in Alzheimer’s research represents a 25% increase in federal support over current levels.

On February 6th, 2012, the Wellcome Trust announced that it will be accepting applications for its new funding scheme focused on orphan and neglected diseases, the Pathfinder Awards. The overarching goal of the new funding program is to support academic-industry partnerships in the area of orphan and neglected diseases.

These awards are intended to support early-stage applied research and development projects that would otherwise be considered ineligible for the vast majority of the sponsor’s other translational funding schemes.

While there is no widely agreed upon definition for orphan diseases, sometimes referred to as rare diseases, it is generally inclusive of diseases, often genetically caused, that affect less than 0.1% of the population. Neglected diseases may also be rare or orphan diseases, but are also generally characterized as tropical diseases that disproportionately affect low-income populations.

The sponsor will provide up to £ 100,000 for projects up to a maximum of 18 months. Applications for the most immediate round will be accepted through April 2, 2012. The sponsor intends on having four rolling deadlines for every twelve month period.

The sponsor’s aim is to initiate projects that point to promising new products and procedures that can be funded by opportunities focused on more established research goals. The Wellcome Trust is a large sponsor in the biotechnology and health sciences field that is based in the United Kingdom and funds numerous research and related projects around the world.

I wrote recently about the efforts – especially within the US Federal government – to encourage teleworking. There are a few federal agencies that have excelled at establishing teleworking as an option for large numbers of their staff including the Agriculture Department, Patent and Trademark Office and General Services Administration, both of which have documented significant savings in office space costs as a result. Other agencies have struggled with defining positions eligible for teleworking or with sufficiently encouraging employees to explore the option as noted by Representativess Gerald Connolly and John Sarbanes in a letter to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

 Implementing and expanding teleworking is good business, good for the environment, and good for employees – its saves money for employers and employees alike, establishes procedures for business continuity in the face of potential problems, and enhances employee productivity and morale. It does require effective management, and it isn’t appropriate for every position. The Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework, is sponsoring the second annual Telework Week – March 5-9, 2012. The Telework Exchange offers a variety of resources to assist managers and employees demonstrate the value and understand the intricacies of teleworking.

Most of you are familiar with the concept that research findings are publicized via an industry vetted journal. The standard scheme is to publish in the most prestigious journal possible, perhaps determined by its impact factor, and that by virtue of an article’s venue, the article itself accumulates prestige and relevancy in its field. This tried and true method will be around for a long time to come; it relies on some of the fundamental tenets of scientific publication. Concepts like citation counts and peer-review are valuable for good reasons.

However, there are also numerous other stages for scientists to display their findings, and new types of findings. It is often difficult, if not impossible, to measure the full impact of a scientifically supported argument that is posted on a blog or a creative computer algorithm by traditional methods. A relatively new concept, altmetrics, is attempting to provide an additional piece to the puzzle. Using modern technologies and public APIs, it is an attempt to measure the near-term impact of a particular finding. And it is important to note that it is focused on the research output itself, not the mechanism of its delivery.

This is essentially a new area, with little to no industry standards around it to constrain its measurements. Its intention is not to supplant traditional publication and citation metrics, but rather make an attempt to classify and measure relatively new and essentially unmonitored methods of publication. While traditional methods can often take years to begin measuring the impact of a particular output, altmetrics is intended to begin forming a picture of that within weeks or months.

Seeing that this concept is still in its infancy, I would suggest that it would be a fruitful venture to treat this as an informal, long-term RFI. If discussed via social media, altmetrics may begin taking note automatically. There is also a request for papers posted here.

I wrote recently about hoteling, the concept of having fewer desks than staff reflecting the reality that not all staff are in the office all the time and being space efficient. Most research administration offices are not filled with consultants who spend their days traveling, so hoteling may seem largely irrelevant in our field. However, telework opens up the possibility for many staff, including roles common in research administration, to not be in the office every day. The key benefits of telework include attracting and retaining qualified workers and helping employees perform at their best. However, telework programs – whether for one person or a large staff – require careful planning and commitment from all involved.

The US Government provides some good (and free!) resources for managers, program coordinators and staff to recognize the benefits of teleworking and to design and manage telework programs. These resources are available at telework.gov. For example, an online learning program for managers covers the essentials of telework, and the skills and processes involved. This course is available in SCORM format for download and inclusion in local learning management system if desired. The focus of this program, however, is on the US federal government telework program, which is mandated by Telework Enhancement Act of 2010.