Forty-three scientific societies, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), have written to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to highlight the important role scientific associations have played during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIBS has joined fourteen other scientific societies in urging Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to adhere to stringent scientific and medical standards while assessing the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

The Public Policy Report has been released. The report provides analysis and communication on important issues in the scientific community.

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) has announced changes to their program solicitation process, specifically the migration of BIO’s “no-deadline” solicitations from FastLane to Research.gov.

Congress has now passed and the President has signed a continuing resolution to keep the government open in the new fiscal year (FY), which started on October 1, 2020. The stopgap measure will allow federal science agencies to continue operating at FY 2020 budget levels. Decisions about FY 2021 appropriations bills have been deferred until December 11.

The undersigned scientific societies strongly urge the Administration to rescind its elimination of federal employee training programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion as specified in the Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies issued September 4th, 2020 and the September 22nd Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a preliminary framework for the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. The plan is intended to guide policymakers at the global, regional, and national level in their allocation and prioritization decisions about vaccines.

As representatives of hundreds of thousands of scientists across the country, we write to urge you to adhere to stringent scientific and medical standards as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prepares to assess the safety and efficacy of vaccine candidates that are currently in phase III clinical trials.

The Public Policy Report has been released. The report provides analysis and communication on important issues in the scientific community.

The White House will appoint Dr. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist and former researcher at the Cato Institute, to serve as the new Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to The Washington Post.