Biophysical Society Bulletin | April 2018

Public Affairs

President Sends FY 2019 Budget Proposal Request to Congress

Visit BPS at the USA Science and Engineering Festival

The White House released its budget proposal on Monday, February 12, entitled “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget.” The proposal includes an addendum written after Congress approved on February 9 raising the spending caps (see next article). While the President was orig- inally planning to cut science programs across the board, the addendum added funding back in for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, but not to the levels proposed for FY 2018. Other agencies, includ- ing National Institute for Standards and Technology and the Department of Energy Applied Research programs, did not receive a reprieve. The President’s proposal includes two ways it plans to “stretch” NIH grant funding in FY 2019: by capping the amount of an investigator’s total salary that can be paid by grants to 90 percent and by reducing the maximum amount of salary that can be paid with NIH grant funds from $187,000 to $152,000. At NSF, the President proposes funding the agency at FY 2017 levels. Funding for research would increase by $145 million, or 2 percent; funding for the education directorate would remain flat; and funding for large new facilities would be cut in half. The NSF is proposing to build only two of three mid-sized research vessels Congress had directed the Foun- dation to build.

The Biophysical Society will be presenting “What Proteins Do” at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, April 6–8, 2018, in Washington, DC. Visit us at booth 921!

The festival attracted over 365,000 visitors the last time it was held in 2016. Those attending have the opportunity to hear from famous science ambassadors, meet acting scien- tists, and learn about science, engineering, and math through hands-on activities. For more information, visit the Soci- ety’s website http:/www.biophysics.org/outreach/usa-sci- ence-and-engineering-festival#/ and the festival’s website www.usasciencefestival.org.

BiophysicsWeek 2018

Thank you for participating in Biophysics Week 2018! With more than 60 events taking place on six continents, the week was a huge success! Be sure to look for a recap of events in the May BPS Bulletin. In the meantime, save the date for Biophysics Week 2019: March 25–29!

Trump Discretionary Budget Request 2019; $1.19 Trillion

Food & Agriculture 1%

Science 2% Unemployment & Labor 2%

Energy & Environment 2%

Transportation 2% Diplomacy & Foreign Aid 2%

Health 5%

Housing & Community 5%

Education 5%

Government 6%

Military 61%

Students from a local Baltimore high school engage in experiments at Johns Hopkins University during an event for Biophysics Week 2018.

Veterans Benefits 7%

April 2018

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