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Research Priorities Author:RON KAUFMAN Policy watchers say President Bill Clinton's proposed restructuring of the environmental advisory groups within the White House and other proposed changes could alter not only the arrangement of how the government oversees environmental research and development, but also the thematic approaches to this type of R&D. They say researchers may find themselves working with a whole new set of priorities. During the presidential campaign, candidate Clinton spo

They strive to ward off authors who rehash findings in order to rack up lengthy lists of publishing credits In today's competitive job market, some scientists may be tempted to add heft to their c.v.'s by stretching their research a little, engaging in practices referred to by journal editors as redundant publication. Redundancy--attempts to get two or more articles out of the research for one--has always existed in some form or other, editors say. But, spurred by speculation that the pres

Frank Press, outgoing president of the National Academy of Sciences, and chemist Kary B. Mullis, inventor of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), have been selected as winners of the 1993 Japan Prize. Press and Mullis will each receive 50 million yen (about $385,000), a gold medal, and a certificate from the Science and Technology Foundation of Japan during a ceremony to be held at the National Theatre in Tokyo on April 28. The award has been given since 1985 in two categories that change annua

United States Food and Drug Administration officials were, understandably, pleased late last year when Congress authorized the agency to hire 600 new drug reviewers. Additional staff, FDA officials contended at the time, would be bound to reduce-- perhaps by as much as half--the time required for pharmaceuticals to move through the agency's review process and, thus, make great inroads in relieving FDA's long-criticized "biotech bottleneck." Now, however, the edge of optimism among the offici

Items: The Industrial Biotechnology Association, meeting in Naples, Fla., last week, voted unanimously to merge with the Association of Biotechnology Companies to form a new group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization. According to Carl Feldbaum, the newly appointed president of BIO (Barbara Spector, The Scientist, Feb. 22, 1993, page 1), IBA's board first voted unanimously for the merger. Later in the meeting, ABC's board, also meeting in Naples, voted unanimously in favor of mer

Investigations on aging lead the Long Island institute's efforts to combine the best traits of 'pure' and 'applied' research Just over a year after launch, the Picower Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y., is gathering momentum, and confidence among institute researchers is growing. The institute came into being Oct. 1, 1991--although it was created on paper July 31--with the near-total transplantation of top researcher Anthony Cerami's group from the Laboratory of Medical Bioc

Presidential science panel may have to change its ways -- if, that is, it continues to exist Science journalists who brought a federal lawsuit against the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) say the court action has resulted in an opening up of some meetings of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) and release of documents detailing PCAST's operations. They say they hope the case also will serve to send a warning to other federal scienc

One big, happy family of firms is the goal; but skeptics foresee internal squabbling An impending merger of the Industrial Biotechnology Association and the Association of Biotechnology Companies will enable the biotech industry to speak with one voice, say those instrumental in forming the unified group. Observers say they expect the combined association to send a clearer message to Congress about what the industry hopes to accomplish, and to provide expanded networking opportunities for it

As the Clinton administration establishes itself in Washington, D.C., action is heating up in the United States capital to raise the awareness of the general public--as well as lawmakers--about the disproportionately high unemployment rates and low salaries of women in scientific careers. Most noteworthy among these efforts, perhaps, is last month's reintroduction of federal legislation that would create a Commission on the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. Other efforts include

Items: Among women chemists who are now college presidents, perhaps the most prominent is Linda Wilson, president of Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. Another name to add is Jane Margaret O'Brien, biochemist and president of Hollins College in Roanoke, Va. In July 1991, O'Brien--who received a B.S. in biochemistry from Vassar College in 1975 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1981--became the eighth president of the small, all-women's school. She says the

(The Scientist, Vol:7, #4, February 22, 1993) To the extent that the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST), established by the Bush administration, leaves any substantial legacy for the years ahead, it is likely to be identified as the major public policy questions presented in a 46-page report that was released less than a month before the administration left office. The report, "Renewing the Promise: Research-Intensive Universities and the Nation," takes a hard lo

Slowdowns in corporate R&D are foreseen, which, experts reason, will cut employment potential for researchers in 1993 The 1993 employment outlook for scientists in industry is marginally optimistic, at best, according to various economic indicators and industry experts. With the exception of a few sectors that, as a result of sustained consumer demand, appear relatively recession-proof, such as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, hiring will be tied to the sluggish recovery of th