Make high-impact research a priority, White House says

On July 21, the White House directed science agencies to focus research investments on areas of major societal need. In a memo from its Office of Management and Budget, the White House laid out a plan that aims to maximize the return on federal investments in science for the 2012 federal budget.

NSF criticized at U.S. Senate hearing about innovation

Should National Science Foundation grants be tied to how well universities work with industry? During a June 22nd U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on innovation, Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, criticized the NSF’s approach to funding research.

What makes DARPA so special?

On Jan. 7 at a meeting of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, officials from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, known as DARPA, presented what they believed were the characteristics of this defense-oriented research agency that have allowed it to innovate and succeed over it’s decades-long history. Skeptical, PCAST members questioned DARPA officials about the true source of DARPA’s perceived success.

Hearing on innovation offers divergent perspectives

On Oct. 8, in testimony before the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Research and Science Education Subcommittee, prominent witnesses from the scientific community expressed differing views about how the federal government can foster scientific innovation. While witnesses and subcommittee members agreed that supporting “high-risk, high-reward” research was important, there was little consensus about the best mechanisms to encourage groundbreaking science.