October 23, 2015

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee recently concluded an outreach effort seeking feedback from the scientific community on the Senate version of the America COMPETES bill, which authorizes funding for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, and other federal science programs. The Innovation and Competitiveness Working Group, lead by Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters (D-MI), is leading the effort to draft the bill and sought input on two focus areas: STEM education and workforce issues, and research commercialization and technology transfer.

The working group received more than 200 submissions regarding the importance of basic science research. Several requests were in favor of more federal investment in basic science research and STEM subjects. In addition, the stakeholder groups also called for the establishment of stronger partnerships between the government, private sector, and academia.

The community outreach effort concluded on October 30, 2015. The Innovation and Competitiveness Working Group will now consider all of the submitted comments before they release their version of the bill.

Sources: Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation press release, AIP Bulletin