美国众议院民主党领袖1月份表示，科研、培训和科学仪器等都有可能被包括进一项大规模经济复苏计划中。该计划所提供的资金最有可能通过扩大一些机构现有的项目来进行，包括美国国家科学基金会（NSF）、能源部（DOE）、美国国立卫生研究院（NIH），和其它相比现在能更好地资助更多有资质科学家的机构。美国大学联合会（AAU）已经提出了一个很长的列表，列出了其认为与计划意图相符合的项目。该计划有望在2年内提供超过8000亿美元的资金，现在看来科研项目非常有可能分享这份资金，不过还不知道到底能有多少。
美国众议院议长Nancy Pelosi举行了一个2小时的会议，8名负责经济复苏计划的众议院委员会会长都参与了会议，会议结束之后，众议院教育委员会会长、议员George Miller解释说，一些项目，比如NSF为大学提供的重点研究仪器计划，和NSF为有兴趣成为科学教师的本科生提供的Robert Noyce奖学金计划，已经在进行中了，议会希望能通过这次的经济刺激资金完成这些项目。Miller说：“我们希望为长期创新奠定基础，其中包括填补我们实验室的漏洞，并确保能有优秀的教师教育下一代。”
另一位与会的议员、众议院科技委员会会长Bart Gordon表示，增加的资金并不是专项拨款。他说：“我们并不是在讨论橡树岭国家重点实验室购买更多试管所需资金这种问题，这次的资金将会通过NSF或 DOE进行同行评审的方式进行分配，将资金给予那些获得最好评价的提议。”
Will Science Be Part of Recovery Package? Pelosi Says Yes
House Democratic leaders this morning strongly signaled their support for including research, training, and scientific equipment in a massive economic recovery package being crafted this month. The funding is most likely to come by expanding existing programs at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and elsewhere that could financially support a lot more qualified scientists than they currently do. Scientific organizations have proposed a long list of such projects that they feel meet the intent of the proposed legislation, which could exceed $800 billion over 2 years. Now it's looking more and more likely that science programs will get a chunk of that money—but no one yet knows what fraction of the big pie.
Education chairman Representative George Miller (D-CA) spoke after a 2-hour forum arranged by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that brought together the chairs of eight House committees responsible for cobbling together the recovery plan. He explained that programs such as NSF's Major Research Instrumentation for universities and its Robert Noyce Scholarship program for undergraduates interested in becoming math and science teachers are already doing what Congress hopes to accomplish through the stimulus package. "We want to lay down the foundation for long-term innovation," he said. "Part of that includes fixing the holes in our research labs, and making sure that our children are taught by good teachers."
The additional money isn't an earmark, says another participant, Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), chair of the House science committee. "We're not talking about money for Oak Ridge [National Laboratory] to buy some more test tubes. This money would be distributed via the peer-review process at NSF or DOE, based on its judgment about the best proposals it has received."
During the hearing, Miller referred to the "hat trick … of starting with discovery, moving to innovation, and ending up with jobs" that flows from federal funding of basic research. Pelosi echoed those comments by noting that her inclusion of Massachusetts Institute of Technology geophysicist Maria Zuber and former Lockheed-Martin CEO Norman Augustine alongside prominent economists Martin Feldstein, Mark Zandi, and Robert Reich was no accident. "This recovery plan must be about the future," she said. "It's about innovation, which begins in the classroom. ... You have to have the labs to attract talent, and talent attracts capital."
评论 (0)