2015 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Forum Summary

I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2015 AAAS Science and Technology Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. This annual meeting brings together a range of academics and professionals to discuss the broad S&T policy landscape. Below are some of my takeaways from the meeting. I hope to have additional comments from other National Science Policy Group members up soon.

By Chris Yarosh

The talks and panels at the Forum encompassed a huge range of topics from the federal budget and the appropriations outlook to manufacturing policy and, of course, shrimp treadmills. My opinion of the uniting themes tying this gamut together is just that—my opinion— and should only be taken as such. That being said, the threads I picked on in many of the talks can be summarized by three C’s: cooperation, communication, and citizenship.

First up, cooperation. Although sequestration’s most jarring impacts have faded, AAAS’s budget guru Matthew Hourihan warns that fiscal year 2016 could see a return of…let’s call it enhanced frugality. These cuts will fall disproportionately on social science, clean energy, and geoscience programs. With the possibility of more cuts to come, many speakers suggested that increased cooperation between entities could maximize value. This means increased partnership between science agencies and private organizations, as mentioned by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren, and between federal agencies and state and local governments, as highlighted by NSF Director France Córdova. Cooperation across directorates and agencies will also be a major focus of big interdisciplinary science and efforts to improve STEM education. Whatever the form, the name of the game will be recognizing fiscal limitations and fostering cooperation to make the most of what is available.

The next “C” is communication. Dr. Córdova made a point of listing communication among the top challenges facing the NSF, and talks given by Drs. Patricia Brennan (of duck penis fame) and David Scholnick (the aforementioned shrimp) reinforced the scale of this challenge. As these two researchers reminded us so clearly, information on the Web and in the media can be easily be misconstrued for political or other purposes in absence of the correct scientific context. To combat this, many speakers made it clear that basic science researchers must engage a wider audience, including elected officials, or risk our research being misconstrued, distorted, or deemed unnecessary. As Dr. Brennan said, it is important to remind the public that while not every basic research project develops into something applied, “every application derives from basic science.”

The last “C” is citizenship. Several of the speakers discussed the culture of science and interconnections between scientists and non-scientists. I think that these presentations collectively described what I’ll call good science citizenship.  For one, good science citizenship means that scientists will increasingly need to recognize our role in the wider innovation ecosystem if major new programs are ever going to move forward. For example, a panel on new initiatives in biomedical research focused on 21^st Century Cures and President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative. Both of these proposal are going to be massive undertakings; the former will involve the NIH and FDA collaborating to speed the development and introduction of new drugs to the market, while the latter is going to require buy in from a spectrum of stakeholders including funders, patient groups, bioethicists, and civil liberty organizations. Scientists are critical to these endeavors, obviously, but we will need to work seamlessly across disciplines and with other stakeholders to ensure the data collected from these programs are interpreted and applied responsibly.

Good science citizenship will also require critical evaluation of the scientific enterprise and the separation of the scientific process from scientific values, a duality discussed during the William D. Carey lecture given by Dr. William Press. This means that scientists must actively protect the integrity of the research enterprise by supporting all branches of science, including the social sciences (a topic highlighted throughout the event), and by rigorously weeding out misconduct and fraud. Scientists must also do a better job of making our rationalist approach works with different value systems, recognizing that people will need to come together to address major challenges like climate change.  Part of this will be better communication to the public, but part of it will also be learning how different value systems influence judgement of complicated scientific issues (a subject of another great panel about Public Opinion and Policy Making). Good science citizenship, cultivated through professionalism and respectful engagement of non-scientists, will ultimately be critical to maintaining broad support for science in the U.S.