"the Future of U.S. Science Policy"

Illustration by Jordan Domont

There is a useful article in The Scientist which recommends that the next Administration restore the office of President's Science Adviser (at a high level in the White House) as a first step in restoring the strength of the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation efforts of the United States. I quote from the section describing the problem:

In late 2001, the George W. Bush Administration stripped the Office of Science and Technology Policy director John Marburger of his official title - "assistant to the president" - and moved the office from its longtime home in the Old Executive Building in the White House complex to a site blocks removed from the Oval Office. It was a short distance, but symbolic, say critics of how the administration has handled science.

On top of frequent news articles quoting accusations of government meddling in science over the past few years, scientists have lamented the plateauing of the National Institutes of Health budget, and the woeful rate of acceptance for NIH grant applications (in 2005, only about 9% of R01 grants were successful).

Comment: The fact that Barack Obama has responded to Science Depbate (see earlier posting) and John McCain has not, suggests a real difference. Moreover, the choice of Sarah Palin for VP worries me about the likelihood of a Republican return to Bush administration science policies. Still, I agree that U.S. policy can be returned to excellence in all its aspects, but that it will take time and effort. JAD