tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/national-science-foundation-17654/articlesNational Science Foundation – The Conversation2024-03-13T12:42:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2255382024-03-13T12:42:01Z2024-03-13T12:42:01ZCongress’ failure so far to deliver on promise of tens of billions in new research spending threatens America’s long-term economic competitiveness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581408/original/file-20240312-20-9x0dhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=97%2C59%2C4895%2C3270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Science is again on the chopping block on Capitol Hill.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ScienceMarch/0403cab20ac24aeb8c568b5adadde36f/photo?Query=national%20science%20foundation&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=277&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=13&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal spending on fundamental scientific research is pivotal to America’s long-term economic competitiveness and growth. But less than two years after <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/">agreeing the U.S. needed to invest</a> tens of billions of dollars more in basic research than it had been, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/09/biden-touted-science-funding-but-congress-hollowed-out-his-promise-00146065#:%7E:text=The%20law%20authorized%20NSF%20to,according%20to%20the%20CHIPS%20Act.">Congress is already seriously scaling back</a> its plans. </p>
<p>A package of funding bills recently passed by Congress and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1237131404/senate-passes-spending-package-hours-ahead-of-shutdown-deadline">signed by President Joe Biden</a> on March 9, 2024, cuts the current fiscal year budget for the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a>, America’s premier basic science research agency, <a href="https://www.aibs.org/news/2024/240311-fy24-science-funding">by over 8%</a> relative to last year. That puts the NSF’s current allocation <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/09/biden-touted-science-funding-but-congress-hollowed-out-his-promise-00146065#:%7E:text=The%20law%20authorized%20NSF%20to,according%20to%20the%20CHIPS%20Act.">US$6.6 billion below</a> targets Congress set in 2022.</p>
<p>And the president’s budget blueprint for the next fiscal year, released on March 11, doesn’t look much better. Even assuming his request for the NSF is fully funded, it would still, based on my calculations, leave the agency a total of $15 billion behind the plan Congress laid out to help the U.S. keep up with countries such as China that are <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/china-to-mobilize-nation-as-it-fights-us-for-tech-supremacy-1">rapidly increasing their science budgets</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://public.websites.umich.edu/%7Ejdos/">I am a sociologist</a> who studies how <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26387">research universities contribute to the public good</a>. I’m also the executive director of the <a href="https://iris.isr.umich.edu/">Institute for Research on Innovation and Science</a>, a national university consortium whose members share data that helps us understand, explain and work to amplify those benefits. </p>
<p>Our data shows how underfunding basic research, especially in high-priority areas, poses a real threat to the United States’ role as a leader in critical technology areas, forestalls innovation and makes it harder to recruit the skilled workers that high-tech companies need to succeed.</p>
<h2>A promised investment</h2>
<p>Less than two years ago, in August 2022, university researchers like me had reason to celebrate. </p>
<p>Congress had just <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/">passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act</a>. The science part of the law promised <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02086-z">one of the biggest federal investments</a> in the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> in its 74-year history.</p>
<p>The CHIPS act authorized US$81 billion for the agency, promised to double its budget by 2027 and directed it to “address societal, national, and geostrategic challenges for the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ167/PLAW-117publ167.pdf">benefit of all Americans</a>” by investing in research.</p>
<p>But there was one very big snag. The money still has to be appropriated by Congress every year. Lawmakers <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/public-finance/how-cure-government-budget-dysfunction">haven’t been good at doing that</a> recently. As lawmakers struggle to keep the lights on, fundamental research is quickly becoming a casualty of political dysfunction. </p>
<p><iframe id="6k1Rl" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6k1Rl/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Research’s critical impact</h2>
<p>That’s bad because fundamental research matters in more ways than you might expect. </p>
<p>For instance, the basic discoveries that made the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/">COVID-19 vaccine possible</a> stretch back to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02483-w">early 1960s</a>. Such research investments contribute to the health, wealth and well-being of society, <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/tip/updates/nsf-pilot-assess-impact-strategic-investments-regional-jobs">support jobs and regional economies</a> and are vital to the U.S. economy and national security.</p>
<p>Lagging research investment will hurt U.S. leadership in critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced communications, clean energy and biotechnology. Less support means less new research work gets done, fewer new researchers are trained and important new discoveries are made elsewhere. </p>
<p>But disrupting federal research funding also directly <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-feels-the-pain-of-science-research-budget-cuts-75119">affects people’s jobs, lives and the economy</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/proximity-and-economic-activity-an-analysis-of-vendor-business-tr">Businesses nationwide thrive</a> by selling the goods and services – everything from pipettes and biological specimens to notebooks and plane tickets – that are necessary for research. Those vendors include high-tech startups, manufacturers, contractors and even Main Street businesses like your local hardware store. They employ your neighbors and friends and contribute to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-federal-budget-funds-scientific-research-its-the-economy-that-benefits-80651">economic health of your hometown</a> and the nation. </p>
<p>Nearly a third of the $10 billion in federal research funds that 26 of the universities in our consortium used in 2022 directly <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/spending_report/15114/53a139385e/5293dc024f/ne">supported U.S. employers</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>A Detroit welding shop that sells gases many labs use in experiments funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and Department of Energy. </p></li>
<li><p>A Dallas-based <a href="https://www.beckgroup.com/projects/texas-university-systems-national-center-innovation-advanced-development-manufacturing/">construction company</a> that is building an advanced vaccine and drug development facility paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services.</p></li>
<li><p>More than a dozen Utah businesses, including surveyors, engineers and construction and trucking companies, working on a <a href="https://utahforge.com/">Department of Energy project</a> to develop breakthroughs in geothermal energy.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>When Congress shortchanges basic research, it also damages businesses like these and people you might not usually associate with academic science and engineering. Construction and manufacturing companies earn more than $2 billion each year from <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/new-vendor-report/15115/24ae1564e6/3be59f6032/ne">federally funded research</a> done by our consortium’s members.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=380%2C171%2C7799%2C4831&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lag or cut in federal research funding would harm U.S. competitiveness in critical advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-in-a-stem-class-at-the-lab-developing-a-royalty-free-image/1348130740?phrase=research%20lab%20ai">Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Jobs and innovation</h2>
<p>Disrupting or decreasing research funding also slows the flow of STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – talent from universities to American businesses. Highly trained people are essential to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aac5949">corporate innovation</a> and to U.S. leadership in key fields, such as AI, where companies depend on hiring to secure <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-industry-of-ideas-measuring-how-artificial-intelligence-changes-labor-markets/">research expertise</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, federal research grants paid wages for about 122,500 people at universities that shared data with my institute. More than half of them were students or trainees. <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/employee-report/15110/e656278fea/1c4bfff4a0">Our data shows</a> that they go on to many types of jobs but are particularly important for leading tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Intel.</p>
<p>That same data lets me estimate that over 300,000 people who worked at U.S. universities in 2022 were paid by federal research funds. Threats to federal research investments put academic jobs at risk. They also hurt private sector innovation because even the most successful companies need to hire people with expert research skills. Most people learn those skills by working on university research projects, and most of those projects are federally funded.</p>
<h2>High stakes</h2>
<p>If Congress doesn’t move to fund fundamental science research to meet CHIPS and Science Act targets – and make up for the $11.6 billion it’s already behind schedule – the long-term consequences for American competitiveness could be serious.</p>
<p>Over time, companies would see fewer skilled job candidates, and academic and corporate researchers would produce fewer discoveries. Fewer high-tech startups would mean slower economic growth. America would become less competitive in the age of AI. This would turn one of the fears that led lawmakers to pass the CHIPS and Science Act into a reality.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to fulfill their promise to invest more in the research that supports jobs across the economy and in American innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. So far, that promise is looking pretty fragile.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/congress-is-failing-to-deliver-on-its-promise-of-billions-more-in-research-spending-threatening-americas-long-term-economic-competitiveness-215866">article originally published</a> on Jan. 16, 2024.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Owen-Smith receives research support from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Wellcome Leap. </span></em></p>A deal that avoided a shutdown also slashed spending for the National Science Foundation, putting it billions below a congressional target intended to supercharge American science research.Jason Owen-Smith, Professor of Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158662024-01-16T13:41:32Z2024-01-16T13:41:32ZCongress is failing to deliver on its promise of billions more in research spending, threatening America’s long-term economic competitiveness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569192/original/file-20240114-27-122rn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=107%2C116%2C5883%2C3871&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Federal funding was essential to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakMalaysia/581dec54b4fa47c1a85266ebf75aadff/photo?Query=covid%20mrna%20vaccine&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=248&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true">AP Photo/Vincent Thian</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/government-shutdown-debate-fuels-house-republican-civil-war-1859677">battle to keep the government open</a> may feel just like the crisis of the day. But these fights pose immediate and long-term risks for the U.S. </p>
<p>The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars every year to support fundamental scientific research that is mostly conducted at universities. For instance, the basic discoveries that made the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/">COVID-19 vaccine possible</a> stretch back to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02483-w">early 1960s</a>. Such research investments contribute to the health, wealth and well-being of society, <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/tip/updates/nsf-pilot-assess-impact-strategic-investments-regional-jobs">support jobs and regional economies</a> and are vital to the U.S. economy and national security.</p>
<p>If Congress can’t reach an agreement, then a temporary government shutdown <a href="https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/01/new-turmoil-over-possible-government-shutdown/393314/">could happen on Jan. 19, 2024</a>. If lawmakers miss a second Feb. 2 deadline, then <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/what-fiscal-responsibility-act-means-rd-funding">automatic budget cuts</a> will hit future research hard. </p>
<p>Even if lawmakers <a href="https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/the-week-of-january-8-2024">avoid a shutdown</a> and pass a budget, America’s future competitiveness could suffer because federal research investments are on track to be <a href="https://fas.org/publication/fy24-chips-short-7-billion/">billions of dollars below</a> targets Congress set for themselves less than two years ago.</p>
<p><a href="https://public.websites.umich.edu/%7Ejdos/">I am a sociologist</a> who studies how <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26387">research universities contribute to the public good</a>. I’m also the executive director of the <a href="https://iris.isr.umich.edu/">Institute for Research on Innovation and Science</a>, a national university consortium whose members share data that help us understand, explain and work to amplify those benefits. </p>
<p>Our data shows how endangering basic research harms communities across the U.S. and can limit innovative companies’ access to the skilled employees they need to succeed. </p>
<h2>A promised investment</h2>
<p>Less than two years ago, in August 2022, university researchers like me had reason to celebrate. </p>
<p>Congress had just <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/">passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act</a>. The “science” part of the law promised <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02086-z">one of the biggest federal investments</a> in the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> – America’s premier basic science research agency – in its 74-year history.</p>
<p>The CHIPS act authorized US$81 billion for the agency, promised to double its budget by 2027 and directed it to “address societal, national, and geostrategic challenges for the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ167/PLAW-117publ167.pdf">benefit of all Americans</a>” by investing in research.</p>
<p>But there was one very big snag. The money still has to be appropriated by Congress every year. Lawmakers haven’t been good at doing that recently. The government is again poised to shut down. As lawmakers struggle to keep the lights on, fundamental research is likely to be a casualty of political dysfunction. The budget proposals released so far <a href="https://fas.org/publication/fy24-chips-short-7-billion/">fall $5 billion to $7.5 billion short</a> of what the CHIPS act called for in fiscal year 2024. Deal or no deal, science is on the chopping block in Washington. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=380%2C171%2C7799%2C4831&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lag or cut in federal research funding would harm U.S. competitiveness in critical advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-in-a-stem-class-at-the-lab-developing-a-royalty-free-image/1348130740?phrase=research%20lab%20ai">Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Research’s critical impact</h2>
<p>That’s bad because fundamental research matters in more ways than you might expect. </p>
<p>Lagging research investment will hurt U.S. leadership in critical technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced communications, clean energy and biotechnology. Less support means less new research work gets done, fewer new researchers are trained and important new discoveries are made elsewhere. </p>
<p>But disrupting federal research funding also directly <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-feels-the-pain-of-science-research-budget-cuts-75119">affects people’s jobs, lives and the economy</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/proximity-and-economic-activity-an-analysis-of-vendor-business-tr">Businesses nationwide thrive</a> by selling the goods and services – everything from pipettes and biological specimens to notebooks and plane tickets – that are necessary for research. Those vendors include high-tech startups, manufacturers, contractors and even Main Street businesses like your local hardware store. They employ your neighbors and friends and contribute to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-federal-budget-funds-scientific-research-its-the-economy-that-benefits-80651">economic health of your hometown and the nation</a>. </p>
<p>Nearly a third of the $10 billion in federal research funds that 26 of the universities in our consortium used in 2022 directly <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/spending_report/15114/53a139385e/5293dc024f/ne">supported U.S. employers</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>A Detroit welding shop that sells gasses many labs use in experiments funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and Department of Energy. </li>
<li>A Dallas-based <a href="https://www.beckgroup.com/projects/texas-university-systems-national-center-innovation-advanced-development-manufacturing/">construction company</a> that is building an advanced vaccine and drug development facility paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services.</li>
<li>More than a dozen Utah businesses, including surveyors, engineers and construction and trucking companies, working on a <a href="https://utahforge.com/">Department of Energy project</a> to develop breakthroughs in geothermal energy.</li>
</ul>
<p>When Congress’ problems endanger basic research, they also damage businesses like these and people you might not usually associate with academic science and engineering. Construction and manufacturing companies earn more than $2 billion each year from <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/new-vendor-report/15115/24ae1564e6/3be59f6032/ne">federally funded research</a> done by our consortium’s members.</p>
<h2>Jobs and innovation</h2>
<p>Disrupting or decreasing research funding also slows the flow of STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – talent from universities to American businesses. Highly trained people are essential to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aac5949">corporate innovation</a> and to U.S. leadership in key fields, like AI, where companies depend on hiring to secure <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-industry-of-ideas-measuring-how-artificial-intelligence-changes-labor-markets/">research expertise</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, federal research grants paid wages for about 122,500 people at universities that shared data with my institute. More than half of them were students or trainees. <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/employee-report/15110/e656278fea/1c4bfff4a0">Our data shows</a> that they go on to many types of jobs, but are particularly important for leading tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Intel.</p>
<p>More comprehensive numbers don’t exist, but that same data lets me estimate that over 300,000 people who worked at U.S. universities in 2022 were paid by federal research funds. Threats to federal research investments put academic jobs at risk. They also hurt private-sector innovation because even the most successful companies need to hire people with expert research skills. Most people learn those skills by working on university research projects, and most of those projects are federally funded.</p>
<h2>High stakes</h2>
<p>The last shutdown was the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/politics/last-federal-government-shutdown-longest-dg/index.html">longest in 40 years</a>, but even short delays in research funding have <a href="https://weiyangtham.com/files/tcps_funding-delays.pdf">big negative effects</a> on the scientific workforce and lead expert researchers to look outside the U.S. for jobs. Temporary cuts to research funding hurt too because they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac046">reduce high-tech entrepreneurship and decrease publication</a> of new findings. </p>
<p>Lasting stagnation or shrinking investments would have even more pronounced effects. Over time, companies would see fewer skilled job candidates, academic and corporate researchers would produce fewer discoveries, and fewer high-tech startups would mean slower economic growth. America would become less competitive in the age of AI. This would make one of the fears that led lawmakers to pass the CHIPS and Science Act into a reality.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to fulfill their promise to invest more in the research that supports jobs across the economy and American innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Whether the current budget deal succeeds or fails, basic research is on the table and the stakes are high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Owen-Smith's research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Wellcome Leap. He is executive director of the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS).</span></em></p>The latest government showdown over the budget risks not only a shutdown but jobs, regional economies and America’s competitiveness in AI and other advanced fields.Jason Owen-Smith, Professor of Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101122023-09-11T12:34:07Z2023-09-11T12:34:07ZQuantum information science is rarely taught in high school – here’s why that matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546510/original/file-20230905-18949-mvp0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C143%2C7304%2C4759&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many students attend high schools that don't offer physics. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/high-school-student-with-molecular-structure-on-a-royalty-free-image/528436312?phrase=quantum+information+science+student&adppopup=true">BraunS/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first time I heard about quantum information science, I was at a teacher development workshop in Canada in 2008. </p>
<p>I already knew that quantum science was the <a href="https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/topics/quantum-science-explained">study of the smallest objects in nature</a>. I also knew that information science was the study of computers and the internet. What I didn’t know was that <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf00101/nsf00101.htm">quantum information science</a> – sometimes called QIS – was a new field of science and technology, combining physical science, math, computer science and engineering. </p>
<p>Until then, I didn’t realize how <a href="https://q12education.org/">QIS</a> was key to so many everyday items, like cellphones, satellites, MRI machines, lasers, cybersecurity and solar technology. I was a physics teacher and didn’t know this, so I knew other teachers didn’t either. And if they didn’t know about it, that meant K-12 students were definitely not learning it. </p>
<p>I vowed to do a better job of teaching these concepts in my own classroom and to the teachers I mentor. But I quickly discovered significant barriers. </p>
<p>Those barriers include:</p>
<p>• <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020117">Lack of materials</a> about quantum information science that high school students can understand.</p>
<p>• Limited funding and opportunities for teacher professional development focusing on quantum information science.</p>
<p>• Lack of state or federal <a href="https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2023/05/why-k-12-schools-must-invest-teaching-quantum-computing-today">quantum information science standards</a> for schools to follow.</p>
<p>With the help of colleagues, I organized <a href="https://quantumforall.org/">Quantum for All</a> in 2020 to help give high school teachers support in teaching quantum information science. The project received <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2048691&HistoricalAwards=false">nearly US$1 million in funding</a> from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the grant is to help students become <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2058-9565/abfa64">quantum smart</a> by teaching K-12 <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-computing-is-the-future-and-schools-need-to-catch-up/">educators</a> how to teach QIS.</p>
<h2>Quantum jobs are everywhere</h2>
<p>From a societal perspective, there are many <a href="https://spie.org/news/photonics-focus/mayjune-2023/teaching-about-quantum-science?SSO=1">reasons to invest</a> in quantum education at the high school level.</p>
<p>The quantum information technology market is poised to be worth <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/insights/industry/public-sector/future-of-quantum-technology-public-sector.html">$44 billion by 2028</a>. Yet one study <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/quantum-computing-funding-remains-strong-but-talent-gap-raises-concern">estimates a major talent shortage in the industry</a> – with the number of open jobs outnumbering the number of qualified applicants by about 3 to 1.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.020117">Not having fundamental knowledge in the field</a> may keep students from pursuing these highly paid jobs. <a href="https://thequantuminsider.com/2022/04/20/top-quantum-computing-jobs-for-workers-in-emerging-quantum-fields">Annual salaries can start</a> at about $100,000 for quantum engineers, developers and scientists. Quantum physicists can earn up to $170,000.</p>
<p>While there is a need for quantum science talent in many industries, one of the most critical is in national security.</p>
<h2>National security</h2>
<p>Historically, huge scientific and technological advancements have been made in the United States when politicians invest in efforts they deem critical to national security – think of the <a href="https://www.aii.org/how-the-space-race-built-todays-technology/">space race</a>, where the <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-apollo#:%7E:text=The%20United%20States%20spent%20%2425.8,for%20inflation%20to%202020%20dollars">U.S. spent US$257 billion over 13 years</a>, or the <a href="https://ethos.lps.library.cmu.edu/article/id/22/">atomic bomb that cost about $30 billion to $50 billion over four years</a>, both in today’s dollars.</p>
<p>In 2016, the U.S. government recognized the importance of quantum information science in maintaining the country’s strategic edge when China launched <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/china-quantum-satellite-1.3349383">the world’s first quantum satellite</a>, showcasing its emerging space and technology program. U.S. military leaders also worried that China was on the verge of creating <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-space-satellite/china-launches-hack-proof-communications-satellite-idUSKCN10R07J">“hack proof” communications tools</a> far more sophisticated than American designs. This raises questions about which nation will dominate from space in times of crisis.</p>
<p>The Center for New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, <a href="https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/quantum-hegemony">warned that China’s focus on quantum science</a> as part of its research efforts could help that country <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/30/tech/quantum-computing-china/index.html">surpass the U.S.</a> as an economic and military superpower.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6227/text">National Quantum Initiative Act</a> was signed into law “to accelerate quantum research and development” and “develop a quantum information science and technology workforce pipeline.” However, the initiative lacked details on how this workforce would be developed.</p>
<h2>Quantum science education</h2>
<p>With a new national focus on quantum information science, the <a href="https://q12education.org/">National Quantum Network</a> was launched in 2020 to help support and coordinate the K-12 education efforts, expand available learning tools and create opportunities for students to envision their role in a quantum workforce. </p>
<p>The most logical venue for exposure to quantum information science would be a high school physics course. However, <a href="https://www.aip.org/statistics/reports/high-school-physics-overview-19">as many as 16%</a> to <a href="https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/2-in-5-high-schools-dont-offer-physics-analysis-finds/2016/08#:%7E:text=Nationally%2C%20about%2039%20percent%20of,likely%20to%20offer%20the%20subject">39% of high school students</a> do not attend high schools where physics is offered each year. </p>
<p>Traditional professional development focuses on teaching the teacher, rather than helping the teacher prepare to teach. That’s why I and other researchers are studying the effectiveness of a different professional development model. Components of the model include having the content taught <a href="https://library.iated.org/view/LOPEZ2023QUA">by fellow science teachers</a>.</p>
<p>Our model educates teachers one week and then allows them to teach students at a camp the following week while the information and techniques are still fresh. Research has shown that this approach is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X18302063">more effective</a> than doing summer workshops that don’t allow teachers to try out what they learned until much later.</p>
<p>This model also allows teachers to <a href="https://library.iated.org/view/MATSLER2023QUA">gain confidence</a> as they practice teaching techniques with fellow science teachers, <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report">making it more likely</a> they will implement this knowledge in their own lessons.
The lessons being developed by the project can be embedded into existing STEM curricula – science, technology, engineering and math – or taught as stand-alone topics.</p>
<p>Examples of quantum information science lessons that have been developed include levitation, where students are shown the basics of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXHczjOg06w">superconductors</a> and <a href="https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/quantum-levitation/">quantum levitation</a>. These concepts are already being used in applications such as <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-maglev-works">Maglev trains</a>, which use magnets to quietly float above the tracks instead of using wheels. There are many <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/eeseniordesignhandbook/2015/maglev-magnetic-levitating-trains/">benefits to this type of travel</a>, including energy efficiency, fewer derailments, less maintenance and less impact on the environment. </p>
<p>Other lessons involve understanding cryptography and cybersecurity. <a href="https://www.csoonline.com/article/650341/nist-publishes-draft-post-quantum-cryptography-standards-calls-for-industry-feedback.html">Cryptography</a> is the technique of coding information – or encryption – so it can only be read by the intended receiver, whereas cybersecurity is the process or procedures taken to keep information secure in devices and networks.</p>
<p>As districts and educators begin to implement quantum information science concepts, my colleagues and I are collecting feedback from teachers on the effectiveness of their lessons and student engagement. This feedback will be used to inform how to add quantum information into more lessons.</p>
<p>If this new model of teacher education works, it could be expanded nationwide.</p>
<p>This type of professional development may be expensive due to the time teachers need to learn the content and increase their teaching confidence. But failing to prepare students for the jobs of the future could be even more costly if the U.S. yields its place in quantum technology, allowing countries like China to assert their supremacy in the field.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210112/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen J Matsler receives funding from National Science Foundation as linked to and mentioned in the article.
Employed by University of Texas Arlington</span></em></p>A former physics teacher says America could lose its technological edge if it doesn’t do a better job of teaching quantum information science – starting in high school.Karen J. Matsler, Assistant Professor in Practice for UTeach Arlington Program, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1882732022-10-06T12:16:22Z2022-10-06T12:16:22ZI was a presidential science adviser – here are the many challenges Arati Prabhakar faces as she takes over President Biden’s science policy office<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487895/original/file-20221003-24-x27gp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=76%2C0%2C4954%2C3039&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.S. science policy can support anything from basic research to late-stage applications. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-picture-of-microscope-in-the-laboratory-royalty-free-image/1220985719?phrase=laboratory%20scientist&adppopup=true">Anchalee Phanmaha/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/directors-office/">Arati Prabhakar has been sworn in</a> as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and assistant to the president for science and technology after <a href="https://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2022/09/23/dr-arati-prabhakar-confirmed-to-top-white-house-science-job-451055/">being confirmed by the U.S. Senate</a>, two months following her <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01688-x">nomination by President Joe Biden</a>. As the director of OSTP and assistant to the president, she now serves as the confidential science adviser to the president and is also accountable to Congress. Prabhakar is both the first woman and first person of color to hold this role. </p>
<p>I had the pleasure of getting to know Prabhakar during the Clinton administration when she was the director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology and I was director of the National Science Foundation. In 1998, President Bill Clinton selected me to be his <a href="https://www.aip.org/fyi/1998/jack-gibbons-retires-neal-lane-ostp-rita-colwell-nsf">director of OSTP and assistant to the president for science and technology</a>, a position I held until the end of the administration in 2001. </p>
<p>These positions at the National Science Foundation and Office of Science Technology and Policy gave me different perspectives on how the federal government carries out its multiple complicated roles supporting science and technology, as well as a sense of some of the challenges Prabhakar faces. By focusing on cooperation among federal agencies and the White House offices in addressing the president’s goals, she can help ensure that the U.S. science and technology enterprise rises to the many difficulties the country faces today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white-haired man in a suit and sunglasses sits at a desk surrounded by people, with a document standing on the desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487897/original/file-20221003-26-r8nx3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law in August 2022, providing funding for semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research in the U.S. to compete with China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Biden/b3a77680ee134f049241a7582be319d0/photo?Query=biden%20science%20chips&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=82&currentItemNo=1">AP/Evan Vucci</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Eyes on innovation</h2>
<p>Born in India, Prabhakar immigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s, obtained a doctorate in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology and has had a distinguished career in both government and industry. She has held leadership positions in several technology and venture capital companies. Her most recent federal appointment was as <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2022/06/21/biden-picks-former-darpa-director-prabhakar-as-next-science-adviser/">director of the Defense Advanced Project Agency</a>, or DARPA, under Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Today, the U.S. faces a number of existential challenges ranging from climate change to future pandemics, to <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-us-tensions-how-global-trade-began-splitting-into-two-blocs-188380">competition from China</a>, to social inequality – all of which will require harnessing the power of science, technology and innovation. In <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/1F2858BD-9A09-4ED1-8738-62533BF502D3">Prabhakar’s Senate testimony</a>, she described how the OSTP is the only place in the federal government that focuses on the overall health and global standing of U.S. science and technology capability. The full spectrum of exploration, discovery and implementation fall under her purview – from very basic, fundamental research to putting technological innovations into the market. </p>
<p>Biden shares this <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/a-letter-to-dr-eric-s-lander-the-presidents-science-advisor-and-nominee-as-director-of-the-office-of-science-and-technology-policy/">belief in the vital role of science and innovation</a>, as does Congress. The recently passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act promotes general research and development and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-semiconductor-an-electrical-engineer-explains-how-these-critical-electronic-components-work-and-how-they-are-made-188337">semiconductor manufacturing capability</a>, specifically as a response to the rapid rise of Chinese science, technology and innovation.</p>
<h2>Collaboration is critical</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white-haired woman smiles in a formal portrait with an American flag in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487898/original/file-20221003-1006-2yavhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arati Prabhakar has held leadership positions in DARPA, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and a number of private companies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dr._Arati_Prabhakar_by_Sun_L._Vega,_2015.jpg#/media/File:Dr._Arati_Prabhakar_by_Sun_L._Vega,_2015.jpg">DARPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>No single U.S. executive department or agency alone can accomplish the president’s goals. The U.S. system is enormously complicated; a multitude of agencies support research and development, as well as applications of science and technology. For example, many departments and agencies were instrumental in developing and launching the internet, which many people might take for granted today. </p>
<p>Science agencies interact with dozens of White House offices. OSTP must work well with all these agencies and offices of the White House, a place where effectiveness depends on establishing a balance between assertiveness and cooperation with other players.</p>
<p>A big challenge for Prabhakar – and an issue on the minds of many leaders in science and technology – will be assisting and coordinating the efforts of many research agencies to achieve national goals while protecting and strengthening their traditional roles in supporting basic <a href="https://sciencetechaction.org/">research in science and engineering</a>. This will require earning the trust and respect of the heads of the various agencies and her colleagues in the White House and making sure her voice is heard in order to achieve the goals laid out by the president and Congress.</p>
<h2>Balancing basic research with applications</h2>
<p>I very much agree with Prabhakar that the U.S. could benefit greatly from investments in both fundamental research as well as in technology development, but trade-offs will inevitably be made within that broad scope of federal responsibilities.</p>
<p>There is growing concern within the research community that, given the recent focus of Congress and the Biden administration on <a href="https://theconversation.com/arpa-h-high-risk-high-reward-health-research-is-the-mandate-of-new-billion-dollar-us-agency-190732">innovation and the translation of scientific discoveries</a> into real-world applications, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50">fundamental research is likely to lose support</a>. Many worry this could <a href="https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2020/09/26/us_science_funding_is_increasingly_biased_against_basic_science.html#!">harm the United States’ long-standing supremacy in science</a>.</p>
<p>Prabhakar has devoted her career to creating solutions from the scientific advances that come from basic research done in universities, national laboratories and in industry. She is well aware that sound judgment, teamwork and a degree of assertiveness will be needed to advance the president’s research, development and innovation initiatives while ensuring policymakers do not neglect fundamental research.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People in business attire sit around a long conference table with microphones placed above them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487903/original/file-20221003-22-kzosjm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prabhakar is now a member of Biden’s Cabinet and will play a central role in facilitating fruitful relationships between the many players in science and technology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Biden/5ab98f471e754a3c9065cc3d251cff64/photo?Query=Biden%20Cabinet%20meeting&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=227&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to be effective</h2>
<p>With so many players involved, cooperation is key.</p>
<p>As OSTP director, Prabhakar has the task of facilitating effective cooperation among the many federal scientific, health and regulatory agencies. Cooperation among federal agencies and companies, particularly in areas of new technologies, is critically important for accelerating the pace of translation of discoveries to applications, but that has consistently been hard to manage.</p>
<p>The OSTP director can also play an important role in facilitating the relationships between industry and government, and there are currently both a commitment and substantial funding from both sides to support this goal. The CHIPS and Science Act calls for the government to invest US$10 billion to create 20 new “<a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11925">regional technology and innovation hubs</a>” in locations that are not currently centers of technology. I believe Prabhakar’s experience in DARPA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the private sector will allow her to deftly promote cooperation.</p>
<p>Another particularly important challenge every OSTP director faces is in helping <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/">prepare the annual budget</a> request. The budget consists of thousands of lines disbursing funding for executive departments and agencies. While the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/">Office of Management and Budget</a> plays the lead role in this process, the director of OSTP is expected to work with the director of the OMB and many other White House advisers to ensure that the president’s priorities in science and technology are addressed. </p>
<p>Since the president’s initiatives will involve many federal agencies, pulling together all the necessary information for the budget is going to be particularly challenging and will require considerable cooperation between agencies. It is critical that Prabhakar develop a close working relationship with the OMB to make sure the agencies get what they need.</p>
<p>The U.S. is facing huge challenges – from pandemics to climate change to competition with China – that all require massive national efforts in science and technology. Arati Prabhakar has devoted her career to advancing U.S. innovation and competitiveness in science and technology. I believe she will do an excellent job in her new role. A final attribute she brings to the table is the fact that, as an immigrant, she sets an example for the thousands of <a href="https://www.nber.org/digest/nov16/immigrants-play-key-role-stem-fields">women and men coming to the U.S. to study science, engineering and technology</a>. It is vitally important that the U.S. continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neal Lane receives funding from federal agencies for decades before joining the Clinton Administration in 1993. He also has served on advisory and study committees for federal agencies and such organizations as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy. He worked with the new science advisor Arati Prabhakar when she was NIST director and Lane was NSF director</span></em></p>The director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy plays a critical role in achieving the president’s science goals. Facilitating cooperation among the dozens of research agencies is key.Neal Lane, Emeritus Professor of Science and Technology Policy and Physics and Astronomy, Rice UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1517342020-12-11T05:40:18Z2020-12-11T05:40:18ZArecibo telescope’s fall is indicative of global divide around funding science infrastructure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374283/original/file-20201210-24-1ust91j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5351%2C3532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Once featured in movies, TV shows and video games, the Arecibo Observatory was the pride of Puerto Rico.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-aerial-view-shows-the-damage-at-the-arecibo-news-photo/1229890426">RICARDO ARDUENGO / Contributor / AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A mere two weeks after the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-radio-telescrope-to-close-b63df9ec84a876ab1c2e665f20e402e4">National Science Foundation declared it would close the Arecibo single-dish radio telescope</a> – once the largest in the world – the observatory took a dramatic dying breath and collapsed on Dec. 1, 2020.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Eenw0p14ZrM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Arecibo Observatory Collapse in Puerto Rico.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While drone footage captured the moment in excruciating detail, in truth, the disintegration of the telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico began far before this cinematic end. </p>
<p>It is tempting to blame the demise of Arecibo on the physical damage it sustained earlier in 2020, when an auxiliary metal cable snapped – perhaps a delayed consequence of <a href="https://weather.com/safety/hurricane/news/2020-07-30-tropical-storm-isaias-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-haiti-impacts">Tropical Storm Isaias</a> or the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-0-magnitude-earthquake-hits-southern-puerto-rico-amid-ongoing-tremors-2020-01-25/">earthquakes that shook Puerto Rico</a>. But Arecibo’s downfall was, in reality, caused by years of financial struggles. </p>
<p>As someone who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GGLRwIwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">studies technology and infrastructure development</a>, I see what happened at Arecibo as a classic example of the tension between facility maintenance and scientific progress.</p>
<h2>From prominence to ruin</h2>
<p>Completed in 1963, Arecibo collected <a href="https://www.naic.edu/ao/legacy-discoveries">data that led to one Nobel Prize</a> and <a href="http://www.naic.edu/ao/blog/arecibo-observatory-contributes-exploration-black-holes-started-year%E2%80%99s-nobel-prize-winners">played a critical role in a second</a>. In 1992, it was the first observatory to spot planets outside Earth’s solar system. In the past decades, it also played a large role in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, including <a href="https://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/arecibo-message">broadcasting the first terrestrial message to outer space</a>. </p>
<p>But for all its achievements, U.S. commitment to Arecibo began to falter in 2006. The National Science Foundation, which supported Arecibo, implemented a 15% budget cut that year across its Division of Astronomical Sciences. <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2006/061106/full/061106-4.html">Arecibo was among the first facilities on the chopping block</a>, despite its continued productivity. </p>
<p>The previous year, the NSF had announced it was preparing to reallocate funds between existing facilities <a href="http://www.naic.edu/%7Eastro/NSFSR/Senior%20Review%20Memo%201.pdf">in order to initiate “new activities.”</a> These initiatives included the funding and development of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile, starting in 2003. </p>
<p>The decision to cut Arecibo’s funding was met with <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/astronomers-are-at-odds-over-recommendation-to-scale-down-funds-for-arecibo-telescope/">resistance from the scientific community</a> and beyond, including the then-governor of Puerto Rico, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who wrote to the NSF <a href="http://www.naic.edu/%7Eastro/Letter_From_Governor.pdf">requesting reconsideration</a>.</p>
<p>But in 2007 Arecibo’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/science/space/20scop.html">budget was slashed from US$10.5 to $8 million</a>. With a second major cut scheduled for four years later, the closure of the facility seemed imminent. Instead, the NSF tasked a new consortium to take over the management of Arecibo in 2011, changing it from a federally funded institution to one that <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/05/new-consortium-run-arecibo-observatory">could seek funds from other sources</a>. </p>
<p>Optimism about this development soon gave way to pessimism. NSF continued to support Arecibo, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-faces-retirement">with NASA pitching in a third of costs</a>. However, the balancing act of a flat NSF budget and the promise of other new observatory projects <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-faces-retirement">once again threatened the observatory</a>. In 2015, Robert Kerr, then facilities director of Arecibo, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2015.18745">quit – allegedly over funding clashes</a>. In 2018, the <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/iconic-arecibo-radio-telescope-saved-university-consortium">University of Central Florida took over management of Arecibo</a> and helped it recover from damages sustained by Hurricane Maria.</p>
<p>But the end was coming. On November 19, 2020, the NSF finally announced the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/science/arecibo-observatory.html">official end of operations at the telescope</a>. </p>
<h2>Pride of place</h2>
<p>A community of astronomers and locals are <a href="https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20201201/news/312019967">actively mourning the ruins of Arecibo</a>. Beyond its scientific success, Arecibo signified more.</p>
<p>#WhatAreciboMeansToMe, a hashtag on Twitter, has collected hundreds of stories from locals and tourists, astronomers and enthusiasts alike. Puerto Rican voices are loud here, many recounting childhood memories of hiking up the trail to the Ángel Ramos Visitors’ Center. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1333768301382668290"}"></div></p>
<p>The Arecibo Observatory <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/11/historic-radio-telescope-in-puerto-rico-to-be-demolished/">occupied a space of pride for Puerto Rican scientists</a> and the local community. In many ways, it was a symbol of the island. Through this lens, to watch the Arecibo Observatory be allowed to collapse and become rubble is painful for many, especially when contrasted with defunct observatories in the continental United States, where <a href="https://astronomy.williams.edu/hopkins-observatory/other-observatories/">a number are preserved as historical sites</a>.</p>
<p>In Latin America, infrastructure projects are often tied to ideas about economic development – <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/13/the-ideology-of-development/">a potential answer to solve a country’s ills</a>. In this context, to watch a prized facility literally crumble, as the United States retracted its financial involvement, seems like nothing less than abandonment.</p>
<p>It is interesting to note that controversy has often followed the construction of large astronomy facilities. From the Maunakea Observatories being <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2015/06/12/understanding-the-thirty-meter-telescope-controversy/?sh=6948f9ee62af">built on land sacred to native Hawaiians</a> to labor disputes in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/alma-observatory-halts-work-amid-labour-dispute-1.13612">building of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array</a> in Chile, to the seizing of lands and racial tensions <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-south-africa-opposition-flares-against-giant-ska-radio-telescope/">surrounding the Square Kilometer Array</a> in the Karoo region of South Africa, a pattern emerges of Northern scientific institutions investing in regions with long colonial histories – and stirring up local concern and discontent. </p>
<p>In the case of Arecibo, these disputes flared at the end rather than at the beginning. But a similar lack of interest in how scientific research facilities fit the place they inhabit is clear. In my view, it is time to begin discussions beyond the scientific importance of research facilities. Planners must address their full life cycles and their impact on local communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raquel Velho does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The collapse of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was a result of financial neglect – and was a long time coming.Raquel Velho, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1301042020-06-16T11:53:17Z2020-06-16T11:53:17ZMeteorites from Mars contain clues about the red planet’s geology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340422/original/file-20200608-176575-1vaxiqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C1011%2C568&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist's rendition of NASA's 2020 Mars rover collecting rocks with its robotic arm.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/images/?t=240">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the pandemic, NASA is on track to launch its Mars rover, Perseverance, this July from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its central mission will be to search for evidence of previous life on Mars. </p>
<p>An exciting component of the rover will be a specialized drill that will collect rock and soil samples to be cached on the surface of Mars. If all goes according to plan, the cache will be retrieved by a future mission in 2031 and, for the first time, material from Mars will be brought back to Earth for analysis.</p>
<p>As someone who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=J5sY5JcAAAAJ">studies Martian geology</a>, I’m definitely looking forward to 2031 but am grateful I don’t have to wait 11 years to study rocks from Mars. Martian rock samples are already here on Earth in the form of meteorites.</p>
<h2>How rocks from Mars end up on Earth</h2>
<p>All Martian meteorites were formed millions of years ago, when asteroids and other space rocks collided into the surface of Mars with enough force to eject pieces of its crust into orbit. Sometimes these rock fragments, floating in outer space, enter Earth’s atmosphere, where gravity pulls them in.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340423/original/file-20200608-176585-1ytg5id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nicknamed ‘Black Beauty,’ this Martian meteorite was found in the Sahara Desert in 2011. It is believed to be the second oldest yet discovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/716969main_black_beauty_full.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meteorites land everywhere on Earth, but are <a href="https://caslabs.case.edu/ansmet/faqs/">easiest to find in hot or cold deserts</a>, where the lack of vegetation and other rocks help them to stand out. Martian meteorites are rare: Only 261 pieces have been found on Earth, compared to the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php">63,758 non-Martian meteorites currently cataloged</a>, most originating from the asteroid belt. </p>
<p>Martian meteorites have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10503123.1">recovered all over the world</a>, including Antarctica, northwest Africa, Chile, the United States, India, Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania, Brazil and Oman. Currently, scientists like me can obtain Martian meteorites for study in two ways: either from private dealers or from the Antarctic Search for Meteorites collection. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339558/original/file-20200603-130903-17z8a91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recovery of a meteorite in Antarctica by members of the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) expedition. A meteorite is picked up with sterile tongs and put into a clean Teflon bag.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Meteorite_Recovery_Antarctica_%28retouched%29.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The ANSMET program is funded by both NASA and the National Science Foundation. Antarctica is a great place to spot meteorites due to the omnipresence of ice. Even better, meteorites tend to get trapped in moving ice floes which accumulate at the base of mountain ranges, <a href="https://caslabs.case.edu/ansmet/faqs/">where they often resurface</a>. </p>
<p>Every year since 1976, ANSMET has sent a team of eight volunteer planetary scientists and mountaineers to Antarctica in December and January to hunt for meteorites. The crew combs promising areas by lining up snowmobiles 100 feet apart and slowly creeping through the snow and ice looking for specimens in their path. </p>
<p>Scientists can also buy meteorites from trusted private dealers. Martian meteorites are expensive, however, usually running around US$1,000 a gram on average. The majority of Martian meteorites are found by nomads in the Saharan desert, mainly in Morocco. Locals have been trained to find meteorites by looking for the presence of a fusion crust on a rock, which is formed when the exterior of the meteor melts upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere. I’ve bought 15 samples from dealers who are well known in the meteorite community.</p>
<h2>Determining if a meteorite is from Mars</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340383/original/file-20200608-176550-1ociucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A thin section of a Martian meteorite under a microscope equipped with a polarizer to help distinguish the different minerals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arya Udry</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Initially, scientists analyzed the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.221.4611.651">gas pockets within the minerals of meteorites</a> and compared them to the known atmosphere on Mars, which was established by <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/viking-1-2/">NASA’s Viking rovers in 1976</a>. When the gases match perfectly, scientists could conclude the meteorites came from Mars.</p>
<p>Starting in the 1990s, however, scientists like me began using cheaper and easier techniques to determine Martian provenance, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1999.tb01371.x">oxygen isotopic compositions</a>, which are like atomic barcodes that are unique for each planet.</p>
<p>All told, the 261 known meteorites from Mars <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10503123.1">collectively weigh around 440 pounds</a>. Scientists study them using the same instruments and techniques we use to study Earth samples. My colleagues and I are interested in determining how and when these rocks were formed and how they are linked to each other. </p>
<h2>Mysterious Mars</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, my colleagues and I do not know where on the Martian surface the meteorites come from, but many are working to figure that out. We have been able to determine the different ages of the rocks themselves. We still do not know for sure if the core of Mars is liquid or not, but the meteorites inform us about how and when volcanoes were formed on the planet. </p>
<p>NASA’s Perseverance rover will be exploring an area called the Jezero crater. Igneous rocks, created by volcanic activity, are likely to be present, so it will be really interesting to study the history of the crater, which formed around 4 billion years ago. The Jezero crater also contains two large deltas, where we expect to find sediments that were once transported and deposited by rivers that existed long ago.</p>
<p>For scientists who study Martian geology, having diverse samples from a known field location will greatly boost our understanding of Mars’ core, the history of its climate and the potential life that once may have existed there.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re too busy to read everything. We get it. That’s why we’ve got a weekly newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybusy">Sign up for good Sunday reading.</a> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130104/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arya Udry receives funding from NASA. </span></em></p>Martian meteorites allow scientists here on Earth to decode that planet’s geology, more than a decade before the first missions are scheduled to bring rocks back home from Mars.Arya Udry, Assistant Professor of Igneous Petrology, Planetary Science, University of Nevada, Las VegasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1086622019-01-31T11:42:48Z2019-01-31T11:42:48ZText analysis of thousands of grant abstracts shows that writing style matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251967/original/file-20181224-103676-124q2d5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What to write to get that next grant?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-researcher-writing-notes-desk-chemical-182139482?src=7hTrQPxqkya5edO4Bmjtlg-1-4">Stokkete/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Is there a financial relationship to what or how people communicate? </p>
<p>Placing a value on words can feel crude or highfalutin – unless you’re in academia, where words are often tied to money. More publications can lead to a promotion, and receiving grant aid can fund new research.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/h7iJIG2rDxaakpGq2An9/full">paper published on Jan. 30</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-GBU6qkAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> evaluated the financial value of words based on a sample of funded National Science Foundation grant abstracts. The data indicated that what researchers say and how we say it can foretell the amount of funding we are awarded. They also show that the writing funders idealize may not always match up with what they actually prefer.</p>
<h2>The worth of words</h2>
<p>Prior research shows a relationship between language patterns and the funding of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2010.536844">personal online loans</a>. Loan applications that had more complex writing – such as those with more words in the description – were more likely to receive full funding. Loan writers also received money if their text contained high levels of verbal confidence such as words that convey certainty (“definitely,” “always,” “clearly”).</p>
<p>To assess complexity and confidence indicators in the NSF sample, I ran over 7.4 million words through an automated <a href="http://liwc.wpengine.com/">text analysis program</a>. The grants covered all <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/about/research_areas.jsp">NSF directorates</a>, U.S. locations and nearly nine years of funding from 2010 to 2018.</p>
<p>Consistent with the online loans data, grant abstracts with more words and more markers of verbal confidence received more award money.</p>
<p>In fact, each additional word in the grant abstract is associated with a US$372 increase. The ideal word count across NSF directorates is 681 words. After this threshold, additional words associated with a decrease in award funding.</p>
<p><iframe id="WxyjB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WxyjB/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Two other results were telling about the NSF data. First, using fewer common words was associated with receiving more award funding, which is inconsistent with the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/policies/nsf_plain_language.jsp">NSF’s call and commitment to plain writing</a>.</p>
<p>Second, the amount of award funding was related to the writing style of the grant. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115844">Prior evidence</a> suggests that we can infer social and psychological traits about people, such as intelligence, from small <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-01308-012">“junk” words</a> called function words. High rates of articles and prepositions, for example, indicate complex thinking, while high rates of storytelling words such as pronouns indicate simpler thinking. </p>
<p>NSF grant abstracts with a simpler style – that is, grant abstracts that were written as a story with many pronouns – tend to receive more money. A personal touch may simplify the science and can make it relatable.</p>
<h2>Changing words to receive more change?</h2>
<p>The data include only funded grants, and the relationships may not indicate a direct cause and effect. Therefore, such patterns are not a recipe for a marginal proposal to receive funding nor a “how-to” guide to outfund the competition.</p>
<p>Instead, the results demonstrate that real-world language data have rich psychological value. Just counting words can provide new insights into institutional processes such as grant funding allocation.</p>
<p>Most grant writers believe, and are <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9891/nsf9891.htm">even told</a> by funders, that a competitive proposal starts with a great idea. This study suggests that another part of <a href="http://www.hfsp.org/funding/art-grantsmanship">grantsmanship</a> may be the proposal’s word patterns and writing style. Since most funded grants will contribute knowledge to science, one way to potentially enhance a funded proposal with more award money is to consider how the science is communicated in the writing phase.</p>
<p>Poet <a href="https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/george-herbert">George Herbert</a> suggested, “Good words are worth much, and cost little.” The NSF data offer a different perspective: More complex and confident stories tend to cost the NSF a lot. For researchers looking to support their work with more money, word patterns may be an inexpensive place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Markowitz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Grant abstracts with more words, more complex language and more storytelling tend to earn more money – even if that’s not exactly what funders say they’d want.David Markowitz, Assistant Professor of Social Media Data Analytics, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1096902019-01-11T19:34:39Z2019-01-11T19:34:39ZScience gets shut down right along with the federal government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253422/original/file-20190111-43517-zg0b43.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ongoing wildlife studies are one kind of federally funded research that's sidelined during a shutdown.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/5414216420">USFWS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the U.S. government shuts down, much of the science that it supports is not spared. And there is no magic light switch that can be flipped to reverse the impact. </p>
<p>For instance, large-scale instruments like NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/index.html">Stratoscopheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy</a> – the “flying telescope” – have to stop operations. Eventually bringing such instrumentation back up to speed requires over a week. If the shutdown lingers, contingency funds provided to maintain large-scale instruments supported by agencies including NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation will run out and operations will cease, adding to the list of closed facilities.</p>
<p>When I headed NSF’s Division of Chemistry from March 2016 to July 2018, I experienced firsthand two shutdowns like the one <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/us-government-shutdown-2018-48781">the country is weathering now</a>. The 1,800 NSF staff would be sent home, without access to email and without even the option to work voluntarily, until eventually an end to the shutdown was negotiated. As we were unsure how long the shutdowns would run, a lot of time was spent developing contingency plans – and coordinating with many hundreds of researchers about them. Concerns about what will happen to researchers’ day-to-day projects are compounded by apprehension about interruptions to long-term funding.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1077914576941928448"}"></div></p>
<h2>What’s not happening?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/us/government-shutdown-science.html">Many federal agencies perform science</a>. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health are less affected by the shutdown this time since they already have their budgets for fiscal year 2019. But agencies including <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">the NSF</a>, the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/shutdown">Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Parks Service</a>, the <a href="https://www.usgs.gov">U.S. Geological Survey</a>, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov">Environmental Protection Agency</a>, the <a href="https://www.commerce.gov/news/blog/2018/12/shutdown-due-lapse-congressional-appropriations">National Institute of Standards and Technology and NOAA</a> have had to stop most work.</p>
<p>In some sensitive areas involving plants, animals, earth or space phenomena that are cyclical or seasonal, scientists may <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/with-the-government-shutdown-american-scientific-progress-is-disrupted">miss critical windows for research</a>. If something happens only once a year and the moment is now – such as the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01016-2">pollination window for some drought-resistant plants</a> – a researcher will miss out and must wait another year. Other data sets have long records of measurements that are taken daily or at other defined times. Now they’ll have holes in their data because federal workers can’t do their jobs during a shutdown.</p>
<p>Databases go dark. Many scientists and engineers across the country – indeed, across the globe – rely on the information in these databases, such as those offered by NIST, which is part of the Department of Commerce. When data can’t be accessed, projects are delayed. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/09/683732055/government-shutdown-causes-slowdown-in-scientific-research">Vital scientific meetings</a> such as that of the American Meteorological Society and the American Astronomical Society which are heavily reliant upon the expertise of federal scientists have been affected by the shutdown, too. Federal scientists from the closed agencies cannot travel to conferences to learn about the most recent work in the fields, nor share their own findings. </p>
<p>And of course, federal scientists serve as journal editors, reviewers and collaborators on research projects. Their inability to work has an impact across the scientific community in moving science and technology forward for our nation.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, the government shutdown will delay, cancel or compress implementation timelines of initiatives to help drive development of new science and tech in the United States. This affects both U.S. research progress and the American STEM workforce. Missed (or delayed) opportunity costs are high, as some planned investments are in areas with fierce global competition and significant investments by other countries – think next-generation computers and communication – which are critical to the country’s national security.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253454/original/file-20190111-43538-zrti9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists are always hoping for a bigger piece of the federal budget.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Budget/63a30f47c9d0491a9e6d8c171e05130b/2/0">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Budget worries compound the shutdown’s effects</h2>
<p>The shutdown is not some long vacation. The amount of work that must be done at federal agencies isn’t reduced. In fact, while the employees are away, the work continues to build up.</p>
<p>For some divisions at the NSF, where I worked, the early part of the year is the peak period in terms of workload. Scientists submit around <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/funding/aboutfunding.jsp">40,000 research proposals annually</a>, hoping to secure funding for their projects. The longer the shutdown, the more intense the workload will be once the government reopens, since decisions about the support of research still need to occur during the current fiscal year. Decisions – and projects – will be delayed.</p>
<p>It is important to note that the government shutdown is exacerbating the effect of <a href="https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/s3fs-public/NSF%253B.jpg">mostly flat budgets</a> (with the exception of the 2009 stimulus) that many federally funded scientific agencies have been dealing with for more than a decade.</p>
<p>Prior to the shutdown, contingencies were made to ensure that some of the scientific facilities have spending authority for at least a month or so of operations. But, if the shutdown continues, furloughs of facility staff may become necessary if the limits of obligated funding are reached.</p>
<p>And, with all of these negatives, for all of the agencies that are shut down, the biggest question is what will happen to their budgets. Here we are, four months into the fiscal year, and agencies do not know what will happen to them for what remains of FY 2019. It is difficult to plan, it is difficult to continue to function and it affects STEM workforce morale, retention and ability to attract quality personnel into vitally important scientific roles.</p>
<p>Now that we’re facing the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/09/us/politics/longest-government-shutdown.html">longest government shutdown to date</a>, national security, health and the economy continue to be jeopardized by STEM research that’s been slowed or stopped.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela K. Wilson receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, the Petroleum Research Fund, and Reata Pharmaceuticals.</span></em></p>Setting aside personal hardships for workers who don’t see a paycheck during the shutdown, the research enterprise itself loses out, too. And unlike back pay, this lost time can never be made up.Angela K. Wilson, Professor of Physical, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639832016-08-19T02:12:47Z2016-08-19T02:12:47ZShould writing for the public count toward tenure?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134683/original/image-20160818-12284-12nzrwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why scholars need to talk about their research with the lay public.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/experts/lee-badgett/lee-badgett/">AIDSVaccine</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many pressing issues have been calling for attention these days – <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html">the unprecedented increase in mortality rates</a> among white Americans, the <a href="http://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter movement</a> and the upending of the Republican Party. </p>
<p>At the root of many of these issues are complex sociological reasons. For example, there is good reason to believe that the rising mortality among white Americans is related to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/opinion/why-are-white-death-rates-rising.html?_r=0">declining economic fortunes</a> of white working-class men over the past four decades. </p>
<p>But how is the general public to understand these issues? And how are they to know how best to respond to such concerns?</p>
<p>Surely, hundreds, if not thousands, of articles and university press books could provide insights. The problem is this bounty of expert knowledge can hardly be accessed by the general public, politicians or practitioners.</p>
<p>I am the director of the <a href="https://www.umass.edu/pep/">Public Engagement Project</a> at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I lead a peer mentoring group that provides training to scholars on how to be public intellectuals, work with practitioners and policymakers, and influence social change. </p>
<p>But the challenge is that such public engagement does not count within the academy. Faculty evaluations rarely consider articles written for the popular media.</p>
<p>Now, in a move of far-reaching significance, the American Sociological Association aims to start a conversation among university scholars and administrators about how to include “public communication” in the assessment of a scholar’s contributions. </p>
<p>On August 20 – the first day of its annual meeting in Seattle that will draw 6,000 sociologists from around the country – the ASA plans to release a seminal report, titled <a href="http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/tf_report_what_counts_evaluating_public_communication_in_tenure_and_promotion_final_august_2016.pdf">“What Counts? Evaluating Public Communication in Tenure and Promotion.”</a> </p>
<p>I see this report as critical. When we include public communication – not just peer-reviewed scholarly communication – in evaluating faculty, we encourage them to share their knowledge with the members of society who could most benefit from it.</p>
<h2>The problem</h2>
<p>It was late in my Ph.D. training at the University of California Berkeley that it dawned on me how the knowledge produced in my discipline was not getting out of the proverbial ivory tower. </p>
<p>During a heated argument about the American economy, my brother took issue with my assertion that for many Americans real wages had stagnated since the late 1970s. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134675/original/image-20160818-12303-6rz0te.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is academic knowledge stuck inside the ivory tower?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cushinglibrary/4032791258/in/photolist-79n7kL-79hQwT-axCaWs-4pQGFy-79mQCq-6QLy3A-pdwNdb-79meCh-6z9XMd-79meSJ-79nfiq-79ho12-79meRE-79hYWP-79nfnu-axCaR1-79ifpV-oXojuH-79meTS-oXosJQ-79ifrD-bnb9Ax-79i8sg-79mZbd-79meMQ-79n7iL-8pLQNK-79meBf-79nsiS-79nfjj-pTLTuA-qxHVfG-79meEG-6xyNy8-8KX1EC-79hYU2-79meTd-79ioyH-axCaPC-8w13FU-6ixgvR-79iJ18-h8ZTkY-79nfmh-96hnw8-9Ga8Dx-9GaFip-egq2av-8ig9un-8ig8QZ">Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The year was 2000 – before the 2008 recession, before Occupy Wall Street, before Bernie Sanders. The changes in the economy and the social policies that had for decades been driving the stagnation at the bottom of the income distribution and growth at the top were <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5877.html">well-established</a> within sociology. </p>
<p>But it was not so well-known outside of the discipline. The reaction of my well-educated, well-read and normally agreeable brother attested to that.</p>
<p>It was at that moment that I realized that the fruits of my profession – all those painstakingly researched facts and carefully considered analyses – were not reaching even reasonably well-informed people. </p>
<p>Since cofounding the Public Engagement Project in 2007, I have seen this problem over and over again. Crucial research-based information on, for instance, housing discrimination, health impacts of chemicals in our everyday environment or the causes and consequences of health inequities, remains largely unknown to the outside public and politicians. This is information that could inform and have an impact on policy.</p>
<p>So, how did we end up in this situation?</p>
<p>There are many forces at play. An important one is that research universities only reward peer-reviewed research. They do not teach scholars – or count the time it takes – to communicate with anyone else.</p>
<h2>Where are the academics?</h2>
<p>This disconnect between research – often publicly funded – and the society that stands to benefit from it has not gone unnoticed. </p>
<p>For example, in 2014, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called on faculty to make their voices heard. In his column <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-professors-we-need-you.html?_r=0">“Professors, We Need You!”</a>, Kristoff wrote,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Some of the smartest thinkers on problems at home and around the world are university professors, but most of them just don’t matter in today’s great debates.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134667/original/image-20160818-12295-1kz0yhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where are the academics?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smullis/5675785267/in/photolist-9DxTdF-9K2C9s-rpwSC9-fbwv49-6wSC6Z-c3S3xq-eqVTd4-6wWNgu-fxgy7B-qEqPQY-nnienN-4ffJSL-s3ZEz8-uzJvY-c3S2Dj-fxvL19-2xfWVx-snhxJB-48pxQ-9DM219-5LniRB-bXoqfz-eLxdYi-ejjB5j-cP7Cks-cP7xN7-eLxdHZ-7GUVCj-8bLvzt-c4sLUN-a7b9jn-nFJtug-eLJBzj-eLJCeb-9P6MBW-npt86v-eLJCdh-eUi1LH-obfyne-nscEJz-ofvBBz-fbyWhJ-eUuodo-bFe1XY-54Hgmk-nLtecZ-o2CG8z-7ZABrV-nJFNua-qsuGSN">Steve Mullis</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scholars such as <a href="http://stevenpinker.com/why-academics-stink-writing">Steven Pinker</a> and <a href="http://www.megankatenelson.com/is-there-a-future-for-creative-academic-writing-in-academia/">Jill Lepore</a> have argued that faculty must learn to seize, rather than shy away from, the power of story and idiom. Such creative tools need not diminish heft, as professors often fear. Instead, they can help communicate complexity.</p>
<p>In fact, many initiatives inside and outside the academy are now seeking to address the absence of professors in public dialogue and debate.</p>
<p>The National Science Foundation requires grantees to spell out the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf022/bicexamples.pdf">“broader impacts”</a> of projects. And private foundations are supporting new channels of communication between academics and decision-makers. <a href="http://www.centerforcommunicatingscience.org/">Other initiatives</a>, <a href="https://contemporaryfamilies.org/">all over the country</a>, are aiming to shore up the public communication capacities of scholars, including this very publication, The Conversation.</p>
<p>A challenge though has been our disciplinary training which emphasizes “methodological and theoretical” contributions. That makes it hard for us to explain the broad significance of our work to noninitiates.</p>
<p>Academics can become mired in academic jargon, or just fall silent.</p>
<p>But like any new skill, mastering writing for the public requires community, commitment, courage, and a lot of practice. </p>
<p>The Public Engagement Project at the University of Massachusetts offers an example of crucial peer support. A group of seven to nine faculty, drawn from across the disciplines, engage each year in peer mentoring of colleagues during a semester-long Public Engagement Project Faculty Fellowship. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>The process of learning a new language can be humbling. But the benefits are tangible.</p>
<p>For example, one Fellow, who prepared a policy memo to share with lawmakers, was asked to provide scientific advice to her national senator. Her public outreach also resulted in her appointment to the U.S. EPA’s Science Advisory Board. </p>
<p>In another example, a general interest <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-eating-too-much-arsenic-we-need-better-tests-to-know-40732">article</a> written by a chemistry professor reached more readers than the scholar had in all the preceding decades of work. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134684/original/image-20160818-12281-1sh0d9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The benefits of taking work to a lay audience are significant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/poptech/4826930613/in/photolist-8mxhiB-8mC143-a5BhGt-8mwgqR-8mzf8w-8mwutg-8myAUB-hTFssS-8mBJV1-8mBHDJ-8mADBo-cWcvgy-8myRb6-8mx95c-fcjW9o-8mAz83-8mzrXs-8mwp4X-8myssT-8myTwn-8mycZi-8mA6id-8mzdr3-8myEZ2-8mxx3z-8mxrav-8mzJUu-8mxExM-8mx82B-cc6Y3N-8mzcN9-cE8eYG-8my6je-8mBZkC-b61xdH-8mzH9W-8mxZvP-8mzAvf-8mybWK-8mC5td-8mA933-hTEVKF-8mzMQ1-8mC2HG-8mywGz-8mARoj-8mwWt4-8mAm1w-8mzmJQ-8mzwVS">PopTech</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my own work on adolescent sexuality, culture and families, I have found that my <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24schalet.html">articles</a> for general audiences resulted in much greater visibility for my academic publications.</p>
<p>Furthermore, as a result of writing for practitioners and lay readers, new ideas emerged for future research projects, and other opportunities came up for public engagement. </p>
<p>What was most rewarding was that I found a way to reach parents with information that could improve their relationships with their teenage children. </p>
<p>A significant benefit that I have seen in my work with the Public Engagement Project Fellows is that it helps scholars clarify their thinking. In a recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-academics-should-write-for-the-public-50874">article</a>, researchers Jonathan Wai and David Miller report similarly: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“not only did the process [of writing for the public] improve the quality of our writing, but it also brought more clarity to the way we were thinking about scientific problems.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In her book, <a href="http://nyupress.org/books/9781479861392/">“The Public Professor: How to Use Your Research to Change the World,”</a>, economist and <a href="https://www.umass.edu/pep/steering-committee">publicly engaged scholar</a> Lee Badgett details numerous stories of academics who are able to “speak truth to power” through public communication. </p>
<h2>But does it count?</h2>
<p>We know faculty public engagement matters for society. From my experience, I also also know that it matters for individual faculty. They report a greater sense of purpose, fulfillment, a better mastery of their topic area and new chances for future funding. </p>
<p>But does the public engagement work they do – the hours they spent crafting an op-ed or a policy brief, and cultivating relationships with policymakers, practitioners or the news office – matter in the eyes of those tasked with assessing their productivity and their value?</p>
<p>The answer all too often is no.</p>
<p>That is where, the American Sociological Association’s August 20 report, “What Counts?,” comes in. The report draws attention to the place where the rubber meets the road in any academic’s career – namely, the process of being granted tenure. The report proposes that universities consider how to include the work of faculty who engage in public communication in tenure and promotion cases and in overall faculty assessment.</p>
<p>Tenure is the make-or-break of academic life – a process through which a faculty member either gets promoted or loses a job. What counts in this process are publications in peer-reviewed journals or university press books. </p>
<p>Public communication is seen, at best, as a nice, but unnecessary bonus. </p>
<h2>Research matters</h2>
<p>“What Counts” does not tell individual sociologists, members of tenure and promotion committees, or administrators that faculty should engage in public communication. </p>
<p>What it does is recognize that many faculty do already engage in public communications, and that such work has much to contribute to the world and the discipline.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134674/original/image-20160818-12309-1yodhfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whose voice counts is important as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/richardsummers/4106004896/in/photolist-eykgLV-6vvcho-aqYRuD-6vvgmf-5R86X3-6WAq6H-eykgCv-f8nL4u-5APCnP-6vr8pk-ezchiS-sohETV-5ANWz6-6vr7nX-fGPt2P-5mTr8q-6vvhhE-6vr17a-6vr1cF-eykhXH-5qgxb7-ewYqb1-7rf7xg-7fQmcS-eShRDq-ezcgFQ-earxnC-eyosYA-6vr2sT-ez9bQc-ezcfSh-8aLCVR-5mPdhv-4aLVBN-5ATTFL-ez95nB-6vvh4J-eykgLn-6ws4hB-6vr8ji-6vr2dt-ez93hT-ewYqfb-ez9bWt-8ZxFCf-6vvfc9-5mTn9h-6vu1iS-eyoqHN-ez94yp">Banalities</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It urges leaders in the discipline to start a conversation about counting this work in tenure and promotion. It outlines three criteria for evaluation: The first criterion is the content of the writing. The second is quality and rigor. And the third is public impact.</p>
<p>Finally, the ASA report notes that women and minority scholars are less likely to gain access to high-status news outlets and more likely to be attacked when they take public positions on contentious issues. </p>
<p>So, “What Counts?” also asks the question of “Who Counts?”</p>
<p>For when we return to such pressing issues, like the rise of Donald Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement, what stands out is the question of whose voice counts and who feels not heard. This question pertains not only to people in the streets and at the rallies, but also to experts.</p>
<p>Research matters. It can help us understand and act in the world – in a more informed way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Schalet is a member of the American Sociological Association Subcommittee on the Evaluation of Social Media and Public Communication in Sociology, which wrote the report, “What Counts? Evaluating Public Communication in Tenure and Promotion." She has received funding from The Ford Foundation.</span></em></p>The American Sociological Association is starting a conversation to include “public communication” – work often largely ignored – in the assessment of a scholar’s contributions. Why does it matter?Amy Schalet, Associate Professor of Sociology, Director of the Public Engagement Project, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/414222015-06-08T10:16:56Z2015-06-08T10:16:56ZClosing the computer science gender gap: how one woman is making a difference in many lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83895/original/image-20150604-2959-ek9mgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maria Klawe: Changing the dynamics of a male-dominated field.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shuwu/521134573/in/photolist-N3X9R-dgsxPC-gmrD9f-tsEv2S-sw7BHr-sBuBBr-tt2aAV-dgsxQT-dgsyzr-dgsAbA-dgsBvi-dgsy4U-dgsBDo-N3PY1-N3WKt-N3P6C-N3Xj6-N3Muu-N3Qhy-N3XvP-N3Wgi-N3Y68-N3N2j-guN32v-guMskb-dgsyLo-dgszXC-dgszhk-dgszAT-dgsA3R-dgsD4N-dgsB9i-dgszqd-dgsATy-dgsAxU-dgsC5A-dgsAXg-dgswNK-dgsCqL-dgszby-dgsy1D-dgswyZ-dgsxdZ-o4ecGV-onsEAB-o4dacZ-o4dmVD-oiF2vL-okv7Lw-okF2tA">Shu Wu</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’ve been passionate about increasing women’s participation in computer science for more than 25 years. While the number of undergraduate women pursuing some STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields like biology and chemistry has steadily <a href="http://nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/start.cfm">increased</a> over the past couple of decades, women’s participation in computer science (CS) has actually been <a href="http://nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/digest/theme2.cfm#compsci">declining</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, within the last 20 years the percentage of undergraduate women who received CS degrees plummeted by almost 40%. According to the <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/">National Science Foundation</a>, in 1995, 29% of bachelor’s degrees in CS were awarded to women; by 2012, the most recent year for which NSF data is available, only <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/tables/pdf/tab5-1.pdf">18%</a> of CS undergraduates were women. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://cra.org/">Computing Research Association (CRA)</a> reports even lower numbers. CRA’s annual <a href="http://cra.org/resources/taulbee/">Taulbee Survey</a> of over 100 major computer science departments in North America found that by the mid-2000s, the percentage of women graduating with CS bachelor’s degrees averaged <a href="http://archive.cra.org/statistics/survey/0506.pdf">14%.</a> </p>
<p>For me this issue is both personal and global.</p>
<h2>Working to remove barriers</h2>
<p>I’m a mathematician and a computer scientist. Back when I was getting my PhD in math, there were very few women in my field. Despite receiving discouragement because of my gender, I worked hard. </p>
<p>And I excelled. I went on to take up leadership roles in many places – at IBM, University of British Columbia, Princeton and now at Harvey Mudd. I’ve been the first woman in nearly all these positions.</p>
<p>I know the struggles that can hinder women when they are working in a <a href="http://nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/digest/theme5.cfm#women">predominantly male field</a>. I also know firsthand how computer science and technology make for a great career, offering a <a href="http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Science_%28BS_%2F_BSc%29,_Computer_Science_%28CS%29/Salary">good income</a>, work-life balance and opportunities to travel. They also offer a chance to make significant contributions to the world, by working on important societal problems. </p>
<p>I want young women to have these opportunities. </p>
<p>I’ve been working on this issue for decades. When I came to Harvey Mudd College in 2006, the CS department was averaging only about 10% women majors. The faculty had decided to make significant changes to attract more women. </p>
<p>They redesigned their introductory computer science courses to focus less on straight programming and more on creative problem-solving. They included topics to show the breadth of the field and the ways in which it could benefit society.</p>
<p>In order to reduce the intimidation factor for women and other students with no prior coding experience, they split the course into two sections, black and gold (Harvey Mudd’s colors), with black for those who had prior programming experience and gold for those with no prior experience. </p>
<p>This worked wonders to create a supportive atmosphere. </p>
<h2>Making the field exciting for women</h2>
<p>Instead of traditional homework, which can be isolating, the faculty assigned team-based projects so that students coded together. And most importantly, they made the courses fun. The intro CS courses went from being the least-liked course in our core curriculum to being the most popular.</p>
<p>After the courses were introduced in 2007, we saw an immediate and steady increase in the percentage of female students majoring in CS. Within four years, we went from averaging around 10% women majors to averaging 40%. We have continued to average 40% since 2011. </p>
<p>In addition, faculty created early summer research opportunities designed for students who had completed only one or two CS courses, and encouraged their first-year female students to participate. A <a href="http://www.bhef.com/sites/g/files/g829556/f/201305/report_2013_FinalInterventionsResearch.pdf">number of studies</a> have shown that research experiences for undergraduate students increase retention and confidence in STEM fields, factors that are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879378/">particularly important for women and minorities</a>. </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd’s female students who participated in early CS research projects indeed reported greatly increased interest in the discipline and a boost in confidence. They realized they could do the work of a computer scientist and that they enjoyed it as well. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83891/original/image-20150604-2927-1shj1ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even today, there aren’t enough women entering the field of computer science.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harvey Mudd College</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also send large contingents of women students each year to the <a href="http://gracehopper.org/">Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing,</a> the largest conference for women working in technology fields. At this event, students get to see role models and are excited about the many amazing technology career paths they can pursue. </p>
<p>Other institutions are starting to take up our approaches.</p>
<p>For instance, the <a href="https://www.hmc.edu/about-hmc/2014/09/24/harvey-mudd-launches-initiative-increase-diversity-computer-science/">Building Recruiting And Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) initiative</a> that we launched with the <a href="http://anitaborg.org/">Anita Borg Institute</a> is working to build computer science diversity at 15 academic institutions. We are about to offer our intro computer science course as a <a href="https://www.edx.org/school/harveymuddx">free MOOC on edX</a>, so that professors and students can access the course materials.</p>
<h2>There’s still work to be done</h2>
<p>However, many barriers and challenges remain. </p>
<p><a href="http://nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/start.cfm">The National Science Foundation’s most recent (2012) report</a> shows that computer science has the lowest proportion of women receiving bachelor degrees of all the STEM fields. The percentage dipped to a mere <a href="http://cra.org/uploads/documents/resources/taulbee/0809.pdf">11%</a> from 2007-2009 and gradually returned to <a href="http://cra.org//uploads/documents/resources/crndocs/2014-Taulbee-Survey.pdf">14%</a> by 2013-2014. </p>
<p>Computer science should be a required part of secondary education, but a lot of schools don’t have computer science teachers. Most young people who go to college today have <a href="http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/cs-statistics">not had much exposure to computer science</a>. </p>
<p>We also have to combat the cultural belief that some people are simply born with math, science or computer talent and others are simply “not good at it.” There’s <a href="http://www.ibparticipation.org/pdf/Designing_for_Success.pdf">lots of research</a> that shows that persistence and hard work play a much larger role in success in any area of science and engineering than “native ability.” Another serious challenge is posed by the media portrayal of careers in technology, which builds certain stereotypes.</p>
<p>I want people to think about how we can change our images of who we consider to be competent in technology. At the moment, the image of the computer scientist is limited to a white or Asian male. </p>
<p>One thing we know for sure is that you get better solutions if you have more diverse teams working on them. We need the female perspective to get the best solutions to very pressing problems. </p>
<h2>Need for diversity</h2>
<p>We also need more African Americans, Latinos/Latinas, poets, football players and artists involved in creating technology. Right now there is unfilled demand for computer science grads and not just in the tech industry.</p>
<p>I want computer science and technology to be a world that embraces everyone who has passion, ability and interest, whether they look like the dominant group or not. </p>
<p>Today, computer science touches all industries. Its products are embedded in our daily lives. Addressing the significant problems of the world – from climate change to health care to poverty – will involve technology. </p>
<p>I think the world will be an incredibly exciting place and we will see amazing technological developments when we create a much more diverse tech community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41422/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Klawe serves on the boards of Microsoft Corporation and Broadcom Corporation, as well as the nonprofits Math for America and EdReports. Klawe is a past president of the Association of Computing Machinery in New York, past chair of the board of trustees of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology in Palo Alto, and a past trustee of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics in Los Angeles. She has held leadership positions with the American Mathematical Society, the Computing Research Association, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Canadian Mathematical Society.She is a trustee for the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley. Until recently, she was a member of the Stanford Engineering Advisory Council and the Advisory Council for the Computer Science Teachers Association. She was elected as a fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery in 1996 and as a founding fellow of the Canadian Information Processing Society in 2006.
Harvey Mudd College receives funding from many organizations, including The Ahmanson Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation, The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Edison International, The Hearst Foundations, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Honeywell, Intel Corporation, The Fletcher Jones Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The National Institute of Standards & Technology, The National Institutes of Health, The National Science Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, and The John Stauffer Charitable Trust.
</span></em></p>The number of women receiving undergraduate degrees in computer science has plummeted by 40% in the last 20 years. How can this be changed? Ask Maria Klawe.Maria Klawe, President, Harvey Mudd CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.