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'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility'
by Seth M. Cohen | June 1st, 2009
It's critical for scientists to help shape public policy.
On Monday April 27, 2009, the President of the United States addressed the National Academy of Sciences. One goal of his address was to unveil newly appointed members of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, better known as PCAST. However, President Obama gave us much more than insight into who would be offering him S&T advice. He gave an historic and truly stirring presentation on science and the importance of science in governance, policymaking, and the future of the nation.
Any card-carrying scientist who did not hear the President's speech should take the time to listen to the address online. In it, the President made several commitments to the future of U.S. science, including: a long-term national goal to devote 3 percent of GDP to public and private R&D; doubling fundamental research in key science agencies such as the National Science Foundation, NIST, and the DOE Office of Science; tripling the number of NSF Graduate Research Fellowships; and a pledge to restore science to its rightful place. With respect to the last commitment, the President specifically stated: "Our progress as a nation - and our values as a nation - are rooted in free and open inquiry. To undermine scientific integrity is to undermine our democracy." These comments were received with great applause from the audience of Academy members and guests.
By all accounts President Obama's speech to the Academies was a great success; the next day, the White House was abuzz with praise for the NAS event. Later in that same week, at the Science Policy Forum held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, publisher of Science), several international science leaders such as Tateo Arimoto, Director-General of RISTEX (Japan), and James Wilsdon, Director of the Science Policy Centre for The Royal Society (UK), spoke with envy about the remarks made by our President, and held them up as the high watermark for comments by a world leader to the scientific community.
The President has begun to take action on these promises and pledges. In addition to the supportive numbers in the 2010 budget request, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stands alone as the largest one-time increase in R&D spending in American history. It provided about $20 billion in new monies for S&T research. For example, at the NSF an increase of about $3 billion was provided - this is for an agency that typically has an annual budget of roughly $6 billion. This represents a nearly 50% increase in funding -- huge numbers for the scientific community, and especially in light of the financial challenges we face today. Happily, the President clearly has the foresight to realize that investments in the S&T community today will reap great benefits to the Nation's future economy.
As the President said at the National Academy of Sciences in April: "At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science, that support for research is somehow a luxury at moments defined by necessities. I fundamentally disagree. Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been before."
As individuals and organizations across the country scramble to write grants and capitalize on these new opportunities, the community should take a step back and realize that the President's success rests, in many respects, in our hands. As the words of comic-book lore state, "With great power comes great responsibility." In this case, every one of us seeking to use these new resources should recognize that our accomplishments, discoveries, and advancements will help prove the President's faith in science and technology, justify further support of our enterprise, and, most important, make the nation stronger and safer. Similarly, any and every underutilized or abused resource will potentially undermine support for science.
So how can we ensure that this great scientific experiment is a success? The President stated in his presentation at the Academies, "We also need to engage the scientific community directly in the work of public policy." This of course does not mean that we must all start writing legislation. But it does call us to task to do our part to ensure that the government uses its resources wisely, properly applies the information generated from scientific inquiry, and obtains the best scientific advice on technical matters. There are a number of ways that academic scientists can assist the government in its scientific missions. You can start by contacting your congressional representative and offering your expertise. You do not need to be in Washington to do this, as each representative has a district office. Call, make an appointment, and talk with your representative or his or her staff. Let them know that you are a resource for helping them understand scientific matters. Remember, most of our representatives are not scientists and rely heavily on the opinion of experts to understand scientific components of policymaking. A more direct way that we can help is to serve on Federal Advisory Committees (FACs). There are thousands of such committees through which experts from outside the government provide advice on a wide range of subjects, including scientific matters. Finding qualified experts willing to participate and who do not have conflicts of interests is a critical component to advising every department and agency in the federal government. Vacancies on such committees can generally be found readily at the websites of these departments and agencies, and the scientific community should be more proactive about seeking out and assisting in these opportunities. By serving on FACs, you assist the government by providing an independent and informed opinion on matters of national importance.
Similarly, many scientists may not realize that grant review panels (e.g. NIH study sections) are FACs. The role scientists play in this process of merit-based peer-review cannot be overstated. In an address at the AAAS Science Policy Forum, Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu emphasized that there will be a huge demand for scientists to participate on peer-review panels to ensure that the ARRA funds at the DOE are properly allocated to the most meritorious projects. This of course applies not only to DOE, but all the major extramural funding agencies (e.g. NSF, NIH, etc.). So, for a start, we can participate, as many of us do routinely, by providing high-quality, scientific peer-review. In the coming months and years, when you are asked to serve on a review panel, do it, even if it is inconvenient. Just as important, do the job well. Remember, you are not just reviewing a colleague's research proposal, you are formally providing advice to the federal government. Think of it as giving advice to the President. You may not be sitting in the Oval Office, but trust me, at the end of the day, he appreciates it all the same!
Seth M. Cohen is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego and a Cottrell Scholar of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. He is currently on sabbatical at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, where he is the American Association for Advancement of Science Roger Revelle Fellow in Global Stewardship.