Dive Brief:
- The Association of American Universities board issued a statement Monday telling a Congressional committee to stop meddling in the National Science Foundation’s grant awarding process.
- The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has sent three letters to the foundation’s director seeking “exhaustive information” ongrants for about 60 projects, based mainly on their titles, according to the association.
- The inquiry, which includes requests for the names and comments of scientific reviewers who were guaranteed confidentiality, is having a destructive effect on the foundation and the merit review process that is supposed to insulate the grant program from politics, the letter said.
Dive Insight:
The list of projects that the committee is seeking information on include three from Brown University, two from Columbia University, two from State University of New York schools, six from University of California schools and two from the University of South Florida. This is part of an ongoing battle that the committee has had with the science foundation over the its $7 billion annual budget. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-TX, the chairman of the House science committee, says it is his job to question research that may be silly or otherwise a waste of taxpayer money. Studies related to climate change and research outside of the U.S. are seemingly targets of the committee's scrutiny, according to the AAU letter. The projects questioned by the committee go back five years, Science magazine reported.