national science and technology council

Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE)

Office of Science and Technology PolicySeptember 3, 2019

National Science and Technology Council

Pre-decisional-FOUOJCORE:

NSTC Committee on Science + Committee on S&T Enterprise

Joint Committee Objectives• Elevate research environment issues

• Ensure research environments reflect foundational tenets of research itself—integrity, safety, productivity, effectiveness, openness, etc.

• Improve the efficiency and ROI of Federal R&D spending.

• Convene and lead by example • Coordinate and collaborate with the interagency to rationalize agency policies.• Identify and promote innovative ways to address issue areas and message as

high priorities.

• Engage with external community• Act as conduit for recommendations from academia, industry, non-profits, etc.• Create innovative partnerships to collect external feedback.



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Joint Committee Efforts

Rigor & Integrity in Research

Safe, Inclusive Research

Environments (SIRE)

ResearchSecurity

Reducing Administrative

Workloads

Committee on S&T Enterprise

Committee on Science

Research Environment

CoS/CSTE:• OSTP• NSF• NIH• NIST• DOEMembers:• DoD• NASA• NSA• USPTO• USDA



Research Environment Definition

Research Environment – Professional research settings including but not limited to laboratories, field sites, institutions, classrooms, conferences and workshops, and any location (physical or virtual) where scholarly colleagues interact.

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SUBCOMMITTEE ON RIGOR AND INTEGRITY IN RESEARCH



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RIGOR AND INTEGRITY SCOPE

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Standards & Validation for Materials & Methods

Training & Messaging

Effective Mechanisms for Peer Review

Replication Studies & Dissemination of Negative Results

ResearchMisconduct

Incentives for ResearchVolume Over Rigor

Workforce Imbalance /Hypercompetition

Replicable,Reproducible,Trustworthy

Research

Inherent uncertainty,

Misinterpretation

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SUBCOMMITTEE ON SAFE INCLUSIVE RESEARCH

ENVIRONMENTS (SIRE)



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SIRE: MissionThe NSTC Subcommittee on Safe and Inclusive Research Environments (SIRE):

• Serves as the primary coordination body for Federal agencies to share promising practices, challenges, and activities regarding harassment of all types in the research environment

• Prevents conditions that lead to a climate in which harassment in research environments is tolerated

• Fosters an American research enterprise which is the epitome of our values, where researchers:• Join and remain in research because the environment accepts them and values their ideas

• Are supported and individuals are treated as equals

• Know the environment will promote bold thinking, rigorous and civil debate, and collegiality

• Builds upon previous and current interagency or agency-specific efforts

• Recognizes the importance of stakeholder involvement, including strong engagement with professional societies and institutional leaders and governing boards.



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SUBCOMMITTEE ON REDUCING ADMINISTRATIVE WORKLOADS



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REDUCING ADMINISTRATIVE WORKLOADS

• American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (2017, AICA) Section 201 directed OMB, in coordination with OSTP, to establish an interagency working group to reduce administrative burden on federally funded researchers.

• RBM reconvened to execute the Working Group responsibilities. Report submitted to Congress in May 2018.

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SUBCOMMITTEE ON RESEARCH SECURITY



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The NSTC Subcommittee on Research Protections is the primary coordination body for Federal science and technology agencies to share and coordinate policies and practices to strengthen the security of America’s research enterprise.



BALANCE OPENNESS WITH NATIONAL SECURITY

National Science and Technology Council



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