The bill could see a vote by the full Senate as soon as this week, though the date has yet to be set.  While the subcommittee and full committee markups were uneventful in terms of amendments attacking social science programs, the Senate floor debate could be a different story.  You can follow COSSA's real-time coverage of the FY 2015 appropriations process by following us on Twitter @COSSADC and #Stand4Science. 

Read on for COSSA's preliminary analysis. 

The Minerva Initiative is a DOD-sponsored program launched in 2008 that awards grants to university-based social science researchers and teams.  The goal of the initiative is to "improve DOD's basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S."  

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues held a meeting on June 9 and 10 that focused on the ethical and moral implications of advances in neuroscience research. President Obama charged the Commission with considering these topics in light of the Administration's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. The Commission is chaired by Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania. Click here to read COSSA's full report on the meeting.

Office of AIDS Research (OAR) director Jack Whitescarver noted that his presentation to the ACD not only fell on the anniversary of the D-Day invasion but that June 6 was also the "D-Day" for the recognition of the AIDS pandemic, exactly 33 years ago, when the first cases of what is now known as AIDS were reported in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Rochelle Walensky, Harvard, presented the working group's priorities and recommendations to the ACD.  She began by acknowledging the remarkable progress made over the last 33 years but also noted the "formidable challenge ahead." Read on for more details.

Experts from government agencies, universities, research organizations, and interested stakeholders spoke on a handful of topics, but a few themes prevailed throughout the day.  For instance, most agreed that the wide and growing body of research on effective STEM education is neither being adequately spread nor used by practitioners.  It is vitally important that researchers create bilateral or multilateral dialogues between themselves and teachers, school board members, and administrators to ensure their research reaches the right audiences.  Finally, it is important that researchers recognize that they do not have all the answers and further research will always be necessary.

To conclude the session, retiring Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) participated in a panel on the challenges and future of STEM education.  Holt, a physicist, emphasized the importance that all Americans have the ability to "think like scientists."  Discussing the importance of the social sciences, Holt said that we "badly need" people on Capitol Hill to recognize sciences like economics can also be an empirical science. 

The second call is for applications in the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program.  This program provides grants for "planning, developing and carrying out programs to strengthen and improve undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign languages in the United States."  This call for applications includes the same priority preferences as the previous soliciation.  More information is available here, and the deadline is July 28, 2014 with applications available at grants.gov.