April 2016

On April 13, AERA co-sponsored a poster exhibition organized by the Coalition to Promote Research and the Coalition for National Science Funding titled “Wasteful” Research? Looking Beyond the Abstract. The event featured nine researchers who had been targeted for their federally funded grants either in congressional wastebooks or as part of requests to federal research agencies for more information on specific grants.

The scientists discussed the story of their research and the importance of their work to societal goals and public health. In addition, Richard Nakamura, director of the Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes for Health, and Alan Tomkins, Acting Director of the National Science Foundation’s Social and Economic Sciences Division in the Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, discussed the peer-review processes at NIH and NSF.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), one of the members of Congress who releases an annual report highlighting selections of “wasteful” federal programs, attended the event.