AIBS has been awarded a Standard Grant from the National Science Foundation on the science of peer review entitled: “Reliability, Risk Aversion, and Bias in Grant Peer Review”.

AIBS will be having a special meeting of the AIBS Council on June 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM Eastern. This webinar discussion will explore opportunities for scientific societies to combat racism and intolerance.

During the COVID-19 crisis, AIBS has continued to support our clients, partners, and members in our collective efforts to promote informed decision-making that advances science for the benefit of society. We continue to work to help the biological sciences community respond the effects of disruptions arising from COVID-19, and to prepare for continued impact and effectiveness as we all prepare for new models of operation.

AIBS stands with all people and organizations working to end racism and injustice through peaceful protest, legal action, policy change, and systemic reform.

The American Institute of Biological Sciences is honored to receive a Special Service Award for advocacy on behalf of scientific collections from the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). The Award was presented on May 31, 2019, in conjunction with the SPNHC annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Sharing the recognition with AIBS is the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance).

AIBS has announced a new webinar, Building Resilient Scientific Societies and Organizations, which will take place June 24, 2020 at 1:00pm ET.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a new coronavirus relief package, The Heroes Act, on May 15, 2020. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, this will be the fifth measure adopted by Congress to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We, the undersigned scientific organizations representing tens of thousands of members of the American biomedical research enterprise, are alarmed by the National Institutes of Health's revocation of a peer-reviewed research grant for studies of coronaviruses by EcoHealth Alliance. Not only is this decision counterintuitive, given the urgent need to better understand the virus that causes COVID-19 and identify drugs that will save lives, but it politicizes science at a time when, if we are to stamp out this scourge, we need the public to trust experts and to take collective action.

More than ever before, the country is relying on the scientific enterprise to help guide our path to recovery. Scientific progress and U.S. economic development are vastly accelerated by bringing the best and brightest minds together. Therefore, we urge you to prioritize the immigration of science and technology talent that will spur the scientific breakthroughs and economic growth of the United States that is needed for rapid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Often in the peer review of research grant proposals, panel discussion is used as a way to take advantage of a broader set of expertise and perspectives for making funding decisions. The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has published findings exploring reviewer experiences with panel discussion and examining their perceived quality and effectiveness as well as their influence on scoring.