Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2023

APnunbulaicl MAfefeatirinsg

Applications Are Open for the Biophysical Society 2024–2025 Congressional Fellowship Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Does spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Wash ington, DC helping to develop policy sound exciting? The Biophysical Society’s Congressional Fellowship Program is your opportunity to participate directly in the process of lawmaking that impacts how research is funded and reg ulated. This year-long opportunity provides fellows a chance to utilize their science knowledge to inform the public policy process. Fellows will gain firsthand knowledge and experience on how Congress works and will participate in the esteemed American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Fellows program that provides ongoing training and networking opportunities during the fellowship year and beyond. Visit https:/www. biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/congressional-fellowship for more details about the program or contact Leann Fox at fellows@biophysics.org or (240) 290-5606. The application deadline is December 8, 2023 .

Six-Month Extension to United States Science and Technology Agreement with China The United States has secured a six-month extension to the U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STA). On August 23, a mere four days before agreement was set to expire, the State Department indicated that it would seek the extension while continuing to negotiate new agreement terms. Republicans have made clear they believe the deal should be scrapped, citing concerns about industrial espionage, forced technology transfers, and other tactics that could fuel China’s military modernization. Three members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party introduced legislation coinciding with the announcement that proposed that any science and technology agreements be tween the two countries be subject to Congressional review. The six-month extension leaves little time to resolve a host of thorny issues, including how to protect intellectual prop erty rights to any findings, share data among collaborators, and ensure that research outcomes are fully reported. The Biden administration also faces calls to block joint work on any technologies that could have both civilian and military applications. The landmark deal, signed when Beijing and Washington established diplomatic ties in 1979 and renewed about every five years since, has shown that the geopolitical rivals could cooperate across a range of scientific and technical fields. It enables government agencies, universities, companies, and other entities in each nation to pursue joint research, and the

United States has similar bilateral research agreements with some 60 countries. However, concerns about China’s growing military prowess and theft of U.S. scientific and commercial achievements have prompted questions about whether the STA should continue. The proposed bill would require the State Department to provide Congress with assessments of security risks, technology transfers, and the U.S.’s ability to monitor China’s commitments within a set number of days, or any agreement would be revoked. Proponents of renew ing the STA argue that, without it, the United States will lose valuable insight into China’s technical advances. In early August, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) an nounced that it will no longer oppose unionization efforts by early-career researchers. Paperwork was filed with the Na tional Labor Relations Board earlier this summer requesting permission to hold an election of the 4,800 non-permanent researchers working within NIH facilities on the formation of a union. The proposed group of researchers is comprised of postdocs, graduate students, and postbaccalaureate researchers. Initially, NIH contended that the cohort of researchers was appointed and therefore did not consist of employees with the right to unionize. The withdrawal of NIH’s opposition now leaves the door open for an election to be scheduled. If the ef fort succeeds, it will be the first union formed by early-career researchers within a federal agency. NIH Withdraws Objection to Early-Career Unionization Vote

October 2023

4

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY