New England Board of Higher Education » research

DC Shuttle: No Research Left Behind?

John O. Harney — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 14:21:50 +0000

Common guidelines for education research and development. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have formally released common guidelines for education research and development. The guidelines are intended to guide research investment decisions at IES, the U.S. Department of Education's main research agency, and NSF research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. They also seek to clarify the evidence expected for different types of research proposals in applications for grants from the agencies. At a hearing Tuesday, Education and the Workforce Chair John Kline (R-MN) said he will begin writing a renewal of the Education Sciences Reform Act while striving to make its work more useful in schools. Congress passed the law creating the agency in 2002 while also passing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization known as No Child Left Behind. Recent efforts to update that law have been stalled.

We publish the DC Shuttle each week featuring higher ed news from Washington collected by the New England Council, of which NEBHE is a member. This edition is drawn from the Higher Education Update in the Council's Weekly Washington Report of Sept. 16, 2013.

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is a nonpartisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region. The Council's mission is to identify and support federal public policies and articulate the voice of its membership regionally and nationally on important issues facing New England. For more information, please visit: www.newenglandcouncil.com.

Trends & Indicators: NE Universities Still R&D Powerhouses

John O. Harney — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:10:54 +0000

New England universities performed more than $4 billion worth of research and development in 2009, but the region’s share of total R&D performed by all U.S. universities remained at 7.3%, down from more than 10% in the 1980s.

The region's university research labs have been world-famous for ideas that breed companies and whole industries in fields ranging from biotechnology to photonics.

New England universities capture a disproportionate share of research dollars in fields such as environmental sciences. But the region has been overly reliant on federal research funds and underfunded by the New England states.

Defense research has also been key in New England, thanks in part to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), whose mission was to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military by sponsoring "revolutionary, high-payoff research bridging the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use." DARPA helped scientists create the Internet among other innovations. The Obama administration recently proposed similar investment in an “Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education" to direct efforts to solve specific problems.

For other trend data, visit our continually updated Trends & Indicators or check back to last year's Trends & Indicators 2010 or Newslink.

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URI Gets $212k Shot in Arm for Vaccine Studies

NEBHE Admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:40:50 +0000

A University of Rhode Island biotechnology professor was awarded a $212,000 grant to hire summer research fellows for vaccine studies. The grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allows 14 students and recent graduates from URI, Brown University, Bates College and the University of Connecticut to conduct research on vaccines against diseases ranging from Hepatitis C to Lyme disease to engineered bioterror agents.