The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget request sends a strong signal for its support of research funding, proposing 20 percent increases for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Many of the federal statistical agencies also see strong support through increases of 5–10 percent.
NSF
State of the Science and Engineering Data Infrastructure: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Three experts discuss the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, which provides data on science and engineering enterprise; collects essential data on STEM education; provides research and development activities, funding, and infrastructure; and supports data innovations.
ASA, COPAFS, Partners Urge Bolstering of Federal Statistical Agencies
Federal statistics have undergirded our democracy, society, and economy since the nation’s founding. Even as their importance has increased over the centuries—especially recently with the focus on evidence-based policymaking—the agencies producing the data have been neglected, lost important autonomy and statutory protections, and been pushed deeper into the federal bureaucracy.
Nandini Kannan
Nandini Kannan was born in Bhopal, India, and completed her schooling in Mumbai and New Delhi. She enjoyed solving math puzzles as a child, inheriting her love of mathematics from her father, a mathematician. After completing a master’s degree at the University of Madras, Kannan joined the University of Pittsburgh to work with C. R. Rao. She is proud of her work at the National Science Foundation developing interdisciplinary research and training programs in data science and is passionate about the critical role science and technology play in this global interconnected society. Kannan is committed to developing and supporting initiatives that address diversity and equity in the STEM workforce.
FY21 Federal Budget Finalized
![Figure 1 shows the budgets of the seven mid-sized statistical agencies normalized to their FY09 levels, along with the GDP deflator to account for inflation. Budget restructuring for ERS in FY15 and ORES in FY19 are accounted for in the graph to allow for comparison over this time period. One-time moving costs in FY16 for BEA are also omitted. [Key: BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis; BJS, Bureau of Justice Statistics; BTS, Bureau of Transportation Statistics; ERS, USDA Economic Research Service; NCSES, NSF National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; ORES, Social Security Administration Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; SOI, IRS Statistics of Income Division]](https://magazine.amstat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FY_Figure1_-150x150.jpg)
The NIH, NSF, and several federal statistical agencies received increases, but many are facing fiscal challenges after years of purchasing power loss.
IMSI: A New NSF-Funded Institute
The mission of the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation is to apply mathematics and statistics to complex problems and to spur transformational change in the mathematical sciences.
Panel Shares Advice on Applying for NSF Fellowships
The ASA Committee on Funded Research hosted a webinar on September 14 about the National Science Foundation fellowships supporting graduate and postdoctoral study. The webinar was timed to inform applicants for the 2021 round of awards; however, the advice offered here will also apply to the next round of applicants.
Senior Research Fellowships Available from BLS, BEA
The ASA, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis under a grant from the National Science Foundation, is offering senior research fellow programs for 2021.
Large Budget Increases for Agency Survey Mask Budget and Staff Challenges
ASA Science Policy Director Steve Pierson responds to a critique of his April Amstat News article about the federal statistical agencies’ FY20 budgets.
Sherri Rose
Sherri Rose grew up in poverty and violence. Adjusting to college life was a struggle, but she was laser-focused on her courses in hopes of finding a path to a stable future. In fact, she was part of the first group of undergraduates in the Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics (SIBS) at Boston University, which solidified her determination to earn a PhD. She is now associate professor at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Health Policy Data Science Lab.