April 4, 2014 - This Week's Consolidation of Advocacy News
News
At House Science Panel Hearing, Sarcasm Rules
March 28, 2014 | Science Insider
Presidential science advisor John Holdren gave testimony at a hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. There was extensive discussion about the future of the research enterprise and whether the National Science Foundation has done enough to explain the purpose of each research project funded to the public.
Neurological Institute Finds Worrisome Drop in Basic Research
April 1, 2014 | Science Insider
Story Landis, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), reports that grant funding that went to basic research has declined between 1997 and 2012.
- Consider setting up a meeting with your legislature and make your case for basic science funding using SfN’s new factsheets for NIH.
DARPA Launches Biological Technologies Office
April 1, 2014 | DARPA
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a new division, the Biological Technologies Office (BTO), to explore the increasingly dynamic intersection of biology and the physical sciences. The new office will bring together neuroscientists, biologists, and engineers under one roof. It will also include projects like Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies (SUBNETS) which is a part of the President’s BRAIN Initiative.
Ukraine's Science in Turmoil
April 1, 2014 | Nature
With political chaos playing out around them, scientists in Ukraine and the freshly annexed region of Crimea are facing their own upheavals. The interim government in Ukraine, set up after the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, is bringing reform and budget cuts to education and research. As a result, research institutes and universities in Crimea have requested takeover by Russian institutions in search of relative budget stability.
- Find out more about global advocacy efforts at SfN.org/advocacy.
Lean Times Ahead for Russian Science Academy
April 2, 2014 | Science Insider
Following a merger that allowed the Russian Science Academy to subsume all sister academies, there are considerably fewer resources for science research, with only $1.3 billion to be distributed through a competitive process.
Articles of Interest
Scientists Unveil First Wiring Diagram of Mouse's Brain
April 2, 2014 | Reuters
A group of scientists led by SfN member Hongkui Zeng of the Allen Institute for Brain Science have released the most detailed brain map of the mouse brain ever developed.
- Read the Q&A with Cornelia Bargmann and William T. Newsome about the National Institutes of Health part of the BRAIN Initiative
Scientists Create an Unprecedented Map of the Developing Human Brain
April 2, 2014 | Wired
SfN member Ed Lein and colleagues from the Allen Institute for Brain Science have created the most extensive map of the human developing brain that includes massive amount of information about gene activity at a crucial time in development - just as the cerebral cortex is developing.
- Check out this week's Image of the Week of the developing brain at BrainFacts.org.
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