Many will remember Sen. William Proxmire’s (D-WI) Golden Fleece Awards, established in 1975 and designed to call attention to perceived wasteful government spending, frequently focusing on federally funded research projects. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), with the support of a bipartisan…

As expected, the DATA Act was passed by the US House of Representatives today. Submitted and sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), it was passed by voice vote. The Act establishes a new Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Commission, which…

The general opinion regarding the DATA Act seems to be that it is likely to move forward and be passed. Generally speaking, the DATA Act would codify the quarterly reporting initiated for ARRA awards broadening the scope to cover all…

While it seems unlikely this bill will move substantially forward, it is worth noting that Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) submitted HR 4370 “[t]o require new policies and procedures to address duplication and inefficient spending in the Federal grants process.” The…

Dual use research of concern is “that research with the highest potential for yielding knowledge, products, or technology that could be misapplied to threaten public health or other aspects of national security.” A Public Consultation Meeting is being held on…

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has proposed changes to its funding paradigm. CIHR has proposed two tracks of funding: Foundation/Programmatic Scheme focused on investigators with a separate track for new/early career investigators, and Project Scheme, which is about…

The announcement of the Big Data program was made at a conference titles “Challenges and Opportunities in Big Data”, jointly sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Big…

NIH uses the Just-in-Time (JIT) method for investigators to provide certain information about grant applicaitons following review. The JIT procedure reduces the time to award while ensuring accuracy and timliness of the necessary information. Electronic submission of JIT information through…

The GRANT Act, H.R. 3433 the Grant Reform and New Transparency Act of 2011, seeks to establish new standards for awarding federal grants. It would require agencies to base award decisions merit-based procedures and to evaluate the prospective awardee’s ability…

OMB is extending the public comment period for input regarding making the oversight of Federal funds more effective and efficient. [This extension is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, March 26, 2012] I posted a description…