Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2023

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Around the World Mexican Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Controversial Science Funding Law The controversial science funding law backed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador , known as the General Law on Humanities, Science, Technology, and Innovation, now faces a legal challenge in the Mexican Supreme Court. The law creates a new national agency to oversee research and seeks to steer funds to fields judged critical to Mexico’s future, including health, agriculture, and environmental protection. Many scientists opposed the sweeping measure, saying it gives the government too much control over research and will make it difficult, if not impossible, for researchers and students at private universities to receive funding. Two groups—Connecting Paths Mexico, a human rights group, and CienciaPluralMx, a network of researchers—have helped more than 400 researchers file 41 individual and collective legal challenges. Courts have so far agreed to hear 37 of these challenges. On July 7, a judge evaluating one of the 37 cases issued a provisional suspension order. On July 13, the Supreme Court announced it would hear a challenge filed in June by federal legislators opposed to the law. The legislators argue that the measure’s passage was marred by numerous procedural violations. Last month, more than 500

academics and others working at 68 research institutions and universities signed a letter urging the court to accept the lawsuit. No date has been scheduled for the Supreme Court to take up the case, but it is expected to take months for the lower courts to consider the existing legal challenges. Australian Research Council Follows Suit on Ban of AI in Peer Review On July 7, the Australian Research Council (ARC) issued a pol icy banning the use of generative AI tools by grant assessors, following allegations that some assessor reports were being written by publicly available AI engines. The policy outlines potential risks including IT security, intellectual integrity and property protection, and the loss of confidential information. When information is entered into generative AI tools, it enters the public domain and can be accessed by unspecified third parties. The content, therefore, is not reliable and can lead to disputes about its true author. Elsewhere, the policy states: “Release of material into gener ative AI tools constitutes a breach of confidentiality and peer reviewers, including all detailed and general assessors, must not use generative AI as part of their assessment activities.” The full ARC policy can be found at: https:/www.arc.gov.au/ sites/default/files/2023-07/Policy%20on%20Use%20of%20 Generative%20Artificial%20Intelligence%20in%20the%20 ARCs%20grants%20programs%202023.pdf.

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September 2023

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