On behalf of the thousands of members of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), we write to express our opposition to the proposal titled “Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media.” (DHS Docket No. ICEB2019-0006). This … Read more
Kicking off Plant Biology 2019 in San Jose, CA, seventy PUI-associated folks participated in a half-day workshop focused on designing undergraduate research projects to increase the probability of subsequent publication and broad dissemination. Twenty-seven attendees received travel awards from a NSF-funded conference grant. A panel of five faculty associated with PUIs, two of whom were … Read more
On September 24, the Director of the Office of Science, Dr. Chris Fall, released a memo to Office of Science applicants and awardees to provide an update on the administration of grants and other awards during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office of Science continues to be “committed to maximum flexibility in administering awards, recognizing potential … Read more
The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science recently released its fiscal year (FY) 2021 open funding call for basic research. The FY 2021 Continuation of Solicitation for the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program is an annual, open solicitation that funds grant applications in all six major Office of Science programs, including Advanced Scientific … Read more
This update follows the September 24 Lewis-Burke note “Policy Update: President Trump Releases Executive Order on ‘Race and Sex Stereotyping’ Impacting Federal Grants and Contractors.” Background On September 4, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued memorandum M-20-34, which directed executive branch agencies to end trainings on topics such as “critical race … Read more
ASPB signs on to two letters urging the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to rescind the September 4th memorandum and September 22nd Executive Order (EO) to eliminate federal employee training programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. “Such constraints are antithetical to the progress we seek to … Read more
Maureen McCann became ASPB president on October 1, 2020. She succeeds Judy Callis, who becomes immediate past president. In the following article, Maureen tells us her thoughts for ASPB over the next few years. A career in academic research is, in equal measures, hard work and great fun. But I believe deeply that academic life … Read more
ASPB has made progress in increasing transparency in its activities. Although we have a ways to go, we are on the right track, and with your continued interest, ASPB will respond by initiating changes to better serve you. Way back in San Jose in the summer of 2019, multiple suggestions were put forward during the … Read more
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed rule that would replace the current Duration of Status policies for F, J, and I visa holders with fixed time periods of admission, as a way to increase oversight over these categories of nonimmigrants. The proposed fixed length of time would not exceed four … Read more
On September 22, President Trump released an Executive Order (EO), entitled “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.” The EO has implications for federal agencies, grantees, and contractors and is a follow-up to a September 4 executive memorandum, M-20-34, which directed executive branch agencies to end trainings on topics such as “critical race theory,” … Read more
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a new cross-agency solicitation for Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks (SRS RNs) to advance convergent science, engineering, and education research to create more sustainable regional systems. The Research Networks will seek understanding of the connections between rural and urban communities integrating data collection, outcomes, theories of change, generalizable … Read more
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) released a $25 million funding opportunity for new technologies to improve the carbon efficiency of bioconversion platforms. The Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio) program seeks to establish pathways for low-, zero-, or negative-carbon fuels, chemicals, and materials for a robust and secure U.S. … Read more
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) pertaining to the agency’s 2010 framework for providers of synthetic double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). This framework aims to mitigate the potential biosecurity risks of certain dsDNA products being … Read more
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) will be holding a proposers day webcast on September 25, 2020 in anticipation of releasing its 2021 Young Faculty Award Program (YFA) research announcement (RA). DARPA’s YFA program aims to expose rising stars in junior faculty or equivalent positions at academic and non-profit research institutions … Read more
The fourth day of the Plant Biology Worldwide submit was introduced by Asia Hightower, a PhD student at Michigan State University who is also the Early Career Representative on the ASPB Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee. Asia relayed how becoming involved in ASPB provided many opportunities to build her network and gave her access to … Read more
It’s been more than a month since the successful completion of the Plant Biology 2020 (PB20) Worldwide Summit hosted by the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). But those who got to attend it certainly will not have come out of its daze yet. The conference, held for a good five days, came to the … Read more
Research network presents action plan for the plant science community to maximize impact on pressing global issues such as human health and climate change. Plant science research has tremendous potential to address pressing global issues including climate change, food insecurity and sustainability. However, without sustained investment in plant science, the necessary research to generate innovative … Read more
By Yun-Ting Kao (Plantae Fellow) This year, nine plant scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Science. We asked the newly elected plant scientists about how the news of their election to the NAS reached them, what inspires their research, and for their advice for early career researchers. Barbara Valent is a University … Read more
Workshop recap from How Machine Learning Can Be Used to Solve Plant Biology Problems at Plant Biology 2020 Worldwide Summit We live in a time of substantial technological innovation. Developments such as next-generation sequencing and high-throughput phenotyping mean that the rate at which data is generated is immense. In modern interdisciplinary biology, we frequently hear … Read more
On August 31, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced, via two Dear Colleague Letters (DCL), new opportunities to support international collaboration. Specifically, the two DCLs will enable collaborative projects in specific research areas with the UK and with France to undergo a single review under lead agency agreements. Both lead agency opportunities allow for reciprocal … Read more