Issues in Political Science
U.S. House Members Single Out Research on Bison, Menopause in NSF Vote
According to the Chronicle for Higher Education, "[t]he U.S. House of Representatives defeated a proposal late Wednesday night to micromanage peer review at the National Science Foundation, but not by an overwhelming margin. The members authorized increased spending by the NSF and turned down, after heated debate, two amendments to block nine research projects previously financed by the agency that some members depicted as a waste of money." Click here to read the full story.
House Overturns Bush Order of Acces to Presidential Records
Concerns about Human Subjects Committees and Rules
A number of members have expressed concerns about the ways that Human Subjects Committees function at different colleges and universities. The key problem is that some appear to have an exceptionally strict and risk-averse interpretation of the rules. This makes it very difficult for researchers to conduct research at these institutions. In response to these concerns, then President Herbert Weisberg appointed an Ad Hoc Committee to examine this issue.
MPSA is a member of the Consortium of Social Science Organizations (COSSA), which has formed the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) to help address our concerns. Click on the link below to read COSSA's update on NSF funding for grants.
COSSA Statement on Status of NSF FY2007 Funding
Howard Silver, executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), has provided information regarding the status of the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget for FY 2007 and an impact statement from NSF. Click on the links below to read these.
If you would like more information about COSSA, please visit their website at http://www.cossa.org . If you would like to subscribe to the COSSA Newsletter, click here.