I
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1453
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2007
Ms. Matsui (for herself and Mr. Gordon of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology
A BILL
To provide for communications training to improve the ability of scientists to interact with policymakers.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Scientific Communications Act of
2007
.
Findings
The Congress finds that—
with the increasing presence of science and technology in public policy issues, a greater national effort needs to be made to train scientists to engage in the public dialogue;
graduate training programs in science and engineering often lack opportunities for students to develop communications skills that will enable them to effectively explain technical topics to nonscientific audiences;
providing training in communications skills development will ensure that United States-trained scientists are better prepared to engage in dialogue on technical topics with policymakers and business leaders;
given the enormous annual investment that the Federal Government makes in the United States research enterprise, training scientists to interact with policymakers will improve accessibility to information and ensure that technical expertise is included in the public policy dialogue; and
providing early career preparation for interaction with nonscientists will improve the ability of research scientists to engage in public/private partnerships to facilitate product development based on United States research discoveries.
Communications training for scientists
Program
The National Science Foundation shall establish a program to make grants to institutions to provide communications training to graduate students to improve the ability of scientists to interact with policymakers. Such program shall be integrated with other National Science Foundation programs for the training of scientists, such as the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program.
Awards
Grants shall be awarded under this section on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, in a manner so as to ensure relevance to public policymaking.
Reports
A recipient of a grant under this section shall transmit to the National Science Foundation an annual report describing the operations of the program funded by the grant.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for carrying out this Act $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012.