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Workshop on Responsible
Conduct of Research in Psychological Science—April 13–14,
2004
The American Psychological Association (APA) and the DHHS Office
of Research Integrity (ORI) present a workshop entitled, Responsible
Conduct of Research in Psychological Science at the Marriott Wardman
Park Hotel in Washington, DC, April 13–14, 2004.
OVERVIEW: The workshop agenda includes one and a half days of plenary
and breakout sessions focusing on three topics: (1) Data-sharing,
(2) Mentoring, and (3) Conflicts of Interest. The workshop will
afford participants an opportunity to explore ethical and responsible
conduct of research (RCR) issues that arise in faculty-student relationships,
the impact of investigator and institutional conflicts of interest
on research, methodological and human participant protection issues
in data archiving, and the impact of regulations and policies such
as the HIPAA privacy rule and the NIH data-sharing policy on behavioral
research.
REGISTRATION FEES: The registration fee, which includes breakfast,
lunch, and refreshments, is $75.00. Registration is limited and
prepayment is required to confirm registration. For more information,
see APA-ORI
Workshop Registration.
STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS/REGISTRATION FEE WAIVER: In an effort to
introduce students to responsible conduct in research early in their
training, ten travel awards will be granted to five graduate and
five undergraduate students currently enrolled in a college/university
outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area and actively involved
in research.
Ten registration fee waivers will also be granted to five graduate
and five undergraduate students enrolled in colleges/universities
located within the Washington, DC metro area.
The application deadline for the student travel awards
and registration fee waivers is April 1, 2004. However,
awards are limited and acceptance is on a rolling basis, i.e., applications
will be reviewed and decisions made upon receipt. Thus, applicants
are encouraged to apply as early as possible
MORE INFORMATION: Visit the website at http://www.apa.org/science/ori_workshop.html.
Questions about the workshop can be directed to
Office of Research Integrity or by
calling (202) 336-6000.
Modest Research Funding
Increases in Current Fiscal Year - Proposal “disappointing”
for Fiscal Year 2005
On January 23, 2004, Congress finally approved the Fiscal Year
(FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill containing funds for the Department
of Health and Human Services, National Science Foundation (NSF),
and other federal agencies. In this bill, Congress has provided
a record-setting $127 billion for federal research and development.
However, 93 percent of the 2004 increase goes to just three agencies:
the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), and National Institutes of Health (NIH), with DOD accounting
for 80 percent of the increase.
The omnibus bill includes an across-the-board cut of 0.59 percent
for all agencies, even those whose budgets were signed into law
in 2003. The one exception is DoD, whose appropriation, enacted
in the fall, includes an 18.1 percent increase for its Science and
Technology (S&T) budget, for a total of $12.1 billion. The DHS
budget gets a 56 percent boost to $1.04 billion.
Other research agencies do not fare as well. The omnibus bill adds
$847 million to NIH for a total of $27.1 billion, a modest 3 percent
increase after five years of 15 percent increases. Congress provides
a five percent increase for NSF, with a total budget of $5.6 billion,
$4.1 billion of which is allocated for research and related activities.
The Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) receives a 2.5 percent
increase, bringing its research budget to $820 million. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spending will hold steady
at $15.4 billion, while R&D funding within NASA actually declines
0.4 percent to $11.0 billion. The omnibus-spending bill provides
a $2.9 billion increase for the Department of Education, up four
percent from FY03.
Just as we began to absorb those numbers, the Bush Administration
released its Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05) budget proposal on February
2, 2004. Highlights of the research agency budget requests appear
below.
National Science Foundation: The NSF’s FY
2005 budget request is $5.75 billion, a three percent increase,
or approximately $167 million over this year’s newly-enacted
appropriation for NSF.
Funding is included for five top "priority areas" including
the behavioral research priority area, “Human and Social Dynamics.”
In addition, the budget includes a new $5 million Innovation Fund
to enable NSF to respond quickly to rapidly emerging activities
at the frontiers of learning and discovery, and continued funding
for the Science of Learning centers.
Department of Defense: The DoD budget includes
a request for the Science and Technology account (basic and applied
research) of $10.55 billion. This is 12.7 percent less than the
Fiscal Year 2004 funding level, but an increase over the President’s
request of last year. The budget request for specific behavioral
science programs was not available at press time.
National Institutes of Health: The administration’s
budget requests a disappointingly modest 2.6 percent increase for
NIH, bringing its funding to $28.8 billion. NIH would fund 258 added
research project grants with its increase, but growth in numbers
would mean cuts in funding for all research projects. NIH would
cut back on the annual "cost-of-living" increases on non-competing
continuation grants and limit cost increases on new and successfully
re-competed projects to one percent, thereby creating more grants
funded at lower levels.
The NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research would receive $237 million
if the President's proposal is enacted, an increase of $109 million
over FY 2004. Within that amount, the Office of the Director would
receive $60 million, an increase of $25 million, to disburse through
the NIH Director's Discretionary Fund. The remaining $177 million
would come from NIH institutes and centers, each of which would
contribute 0.63 percent of its budget request.
Research training would receive an increase of $15 million, or
two percent, for a total of $764 million. The proposal includes
funding for 17,791 research trainees, up 225 from FY 2004.
APA is advocating a ten percent increase in NIH funding, to $30.6
billion.
Bioterrorism: Government-wide, funding for terrorism
countermeasures is an area of budget increase, but not in all cases.
Two bioterrorism preparedness programs are cut: the Health Resources
and Services Administration’s hospital preparedness program
loses $39 million, a cut of 7.5 percent; and the Center for Disease
Control’s State and Local preparedness program loses $105
million, or 11 percent. The latter amount is redirected into a new
biosurveillance initiative that stresses new technologies at the
expense of trained personnel who are needed to provide the response
when early warnings of disease or attack occur.
Department of Homeland Security: DHS receives
a 10.5 percent increase in the President’s budget. The 2005
Budget requests just over one billion dollars for research and development.
Within DHS, the Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T)
serves as a centralized R&D arm that consolidates piecemeal
R&D efforts into one agency. Its focus is to harness revolutionary
technology, which can be used by law enforcement and emergency response
personnel in carrying out their mission to protect the Nation. S&T
works to solicit proposals and seeks to engage the established U.S.
R&D community in the fight against terrorism.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration:
The 2005 NASA budget provides $9.4 billion for federal science and
technology programs, a 1.3 percent increase over the 2004 level.
The 2005 Budget supports the President’s new initiative of
sustained solar system exploration involving both humans and robots.
This initiative encompasses programs of lunar exploration; further
robotic exploration of the solar system; focused exploration of
Mars to accelerate the search for water and life and to prepare
for future human exploration; and robotic space exploration; and
refocused Space Station research on activities that support space-exploration
goals.
Institute of Education Sciences (IES): The 2005
Budget provides a total of $449.6 million for the broad activities
of the institute, including $91.4 million for statistics, and $94.8
million for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The
President’s budget includes a $20 million increase in funding
for research, development, and dissemination ($185 million in 2005),
which supports research programs on cognition and student learning
and other research to advance understanding of how students learn
and identify effective approaches and interventions to improve education.
The Administration has also provided $78 million for research and
innovation in special education research in 2005, which was previously
funded through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services
Department of Veterans Affairs: The VA’s
research account would take a 6.1 percent cut in the President’s
budget request for 2005, from $820 million in 2004 to $770 million.
Release of the President’s budget is only the first step
in the yearly process through which federal programs are funded.
First, a budget must be approved by the U.S. House and Senate. Next,
each of 14 appropriations, or spending, bills, encompassing different
combinations of federal agency spending requests, must be approved
by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President. Watch PSA
and the Science Policy Insider News (SPIN), our electronic newsletter
about science policy issues, for the latest news on science funding
and regulation from the APA Science Policy staff.
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