Social Science Space

UPDATED: The U.S. Senate committee that oversees funding for the National Science Foundation, and with that most of the federal money spent on basic social and behavioral science research, today approved a 2020 budget that increases NSF spending by $242 million compared to the current fiscal year. The bill must still pass the full Senate, and be reconciled with a more generous House version.

As details emerged on March 11 about the president’s fiscal year 2020 budget, it became increasingly clear that science funding would once again be targeted for significant spending cuts. But a new target also emerged – federal spending on education.

The two federal agencies that spend the most on making grants to social and behavioral science research in the United States, both have their budgets shaved by an eighth in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposal released by the Trump administration earlier this month. But the move is more symbolic than substantive.

The final agreement ending the most recent U.S. government shutdown provides $8.1 billion for the National Science Foundation, a $301 million increase over the amount appropriated in fiscal year 2018.

One of the most important issues facing Congress this year is the opioid epidemic that has touched on the lives of so many Americans. On May 17, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved a package of 57 bills designed to address the crisis of health and behavior, and the full House is expected to debate these bills later this month.

A group of professional organizations, universities, businesses, and scientific societies are thanking Congress for this year’s 4 percent increase in funding for the National Science Foundation — and wondering if they might double that next year.

Months into the 2018 fiscal year, the U.S. Congress approved and the president today signed a $1.3 trillion spending plan for the existing fiscal year that increases National Science Foundation funding to $7.77 billion and does not cut social science research funding.

The Consortium of Social Science Associations has taken a good look at the budget proposed by President Trump, and finds a particular concern: the disproportionate treatment of the NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate in the request, which would see a cut of 9.1 percent from FY 2017.

The focus was more on ‘competition’ than on ‘innovation’ Tuesday as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened a hearing looking at the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act a year after its passage.

After returning from summer recess, the House in September approved an Omnibus Appropriations Act comprised of several appropriations bills, including the Commerce-Justice-Science and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Act.

Congressman Daniel Lipinski says “we should encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, but we must also maintain support for core social science research.” He will moderate the congressional briefing on “Social Science Solutions for Health, Public Safety, Computing, and Other National Priorities” on Wednesday.

A new video from the National Science Foundation concisely emphasizes the role that social science has in preparing for and reacting to natural disasters.