Archive for the ‘policy’ category

 

OSTP Studying Benefits of Video Games

February 3rd, 2012

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)USA TODAY is out this week with an interesting article featuring the work of MacArthur Foundation Fellow Constance Steinkuehler, an Assistant Professor in the Educational Communications & Technology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — who’s on assignment for 18 months as a Senior Policy Analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to study video games that improve health, education, civic engagement and the environment, among other areas.

According to the USA TODAY piece:

If you’re training for a new job someday soon with a video game controller in your hands, thank Constance Steinkuehler.

 

This summer, when your kids’ favorite science museum boasts a new augmented-reality environmental simulation? Same deal.

 

If in the next few years a video game teaches you anything — how to conserve energy, eat a balanced diet or solve quadratic equations — consider the invisible hand of one of the most unconventional White House hires in recent memory.

 

Steinkuehler studies video games. Since last September, she has been a senior policy analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she’s shaping the Obama administration’s policies around games…

 

» Read more: OSTP Studying Benefits of Video Games

OSTP Posts Comments to Public Access RFIs

February 2nd, 2012

Back in November, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued two Requests for Information (RFI) soliciting broad public input about “the long-term preservation of, and public access to, the results of Federally-funded research, including digital data and peer-reviewed scholarly publications.” Now this week, OSTP has posted the comments that it received — from scientists, citizens, publishers, scientific societies, libraries, and others.

According to the OSTP Blog (follow the link):

» Read more: OSTP Posts Comments to Public Access RFIs

NIH Institute Creates New Division for Bioinformatics, Comp Bio

January 13th, 2012

NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) announces reorganization (image courtesy NIH/NIGMS).The National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (NIGMS), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supporting basic research and research training, announced earlier this month that it would establish two new divisions — including one focused on biomedical technology, bioinformatics, and computational biology – as part of a reorganization that includes the dissolution of the NIH National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) which has had a history of supporting scientific computing.

According to the announcement:

The new Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology administers research and research training in areas that join biology with the computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and physics. It includes programs of the former NIGMS Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CBCB) along with NCRR biomedical technology programs. Former CBCB Director Karin Remington, Ph.D., is the division director.

 

“Great progress is often made at the intersections of scientific fields, and the Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology is well-positioned to facilitate just such advances,” [NIGMS Acting Director Judith H.] Greenberg noted.

 

The amount of money allocated to programs in the new divisions will not change as a result of the reorganization or transfer of NCRR programs. Most grants in the new divisions will continue to be managed by the same staff members.

And from the new division’s website (after the jump):

» Read more: NIH Institute Creates New Division for Bioinformatics, Comp Bio