National Academy of Sciences
For A Report Assessing The US Department Of State’s Science And Technology Capacity And Assets
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Amount$100,000
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Program
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Date Awarded4/23/2013
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Term18 Months
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Type of SupportProject
Overview
The U.S. Department of State has requested that the National Academy of Sciences conduct a current, unbiased assessment on the Department's capacity to draw effectively on U.S. science and technology assets in developing and achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives. Recent strengthening of the department's science and technology assets have been based on recommendations from a (now-outdated) 1999 report, which this grant would seek to update. Non-government funding is necessary in order to avoid conflicts of interest in the Academy's provision of advice to a Federal Agency. Such a report would examine the changing environment for the role of science and technology in diplomacy over the past decade, exploring issues of bioterrorism, climate change, communicable diseases, water scarcity, energy, oceans and more, to answer the question: "How can the department use its limited resources most effectively in addressing key science and technology issues of the future?" This grant would support the preparation, review, and dissemination of this report.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.nas.edu
Address
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC, 20001-2736, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for a workshop on lessons learned in the conduct of large scale global health program evaluations
This grant will support the Institute of Medicine with the National Academy of Sciences to plan and convene a two-day public workshop on "Lessons Learned in the Conduct of Large Scale, Complex, Multi-National Global Health Program Evaluations". The goal of this workshop is to capture and share the state of the art in evaluation science and to inform the planning and implementation of future large scale evaluations.
for developing a framework to guide the design of new national science assessments
The Academy set a vision for science education when it released a framework for new K-12 standards in 2010. Now it plans to design blueprints for assessments that would include measurement of deeper learning skills. We propose a partnership with the Carnegie Corporation and the Bechtel Fund to support this work, which likely will lead to a follow-up request in 2013 to fund new assessments of deeper learning in science.
for a meeting exploring development of a professional school course on science, law, and policy
The National Academies’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law seeks $10,000 from the Hewlett Foundation to support travel of experts and other related expenses for a June 2012 meeting to discuss the feasibility of a professional school course on science, law, and policy. This meeting is a follow-on from a January 2012 meeting co-chaired by Dr. Bruce Alberts and Mr. Paul Brest.
NAS posits that graduates of professional schools (e.g., in law, public policy, and business) require scientific and technical knowledge to support their decision-making, but that most of these graduates lack a fundamental understanding of the methods, social and intellectual practices, goals, achievements, and/or limitations of the sciences.
The June 2012 meeting is intended to help plan for the development of this curriculum by:
a) Developing a mission statement/report on the importance of the problem of scientific literacy in decision-making and the justification for the initial focus on professional schools;
b) Generating ideas about case studies that could demonstrate the importance of improving understanding of "scientific reality" in a variety of decision-making settings: legislative, regulatory, litigation, standard-setting and business;
c) Considering development of a curated web-site to house existing materials, new materials, and possibly host forums for debates on emerging problems.
Following the June 2012 meeting, staff will work with the co-chairs to develop a project plan and strategy.
