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WASHINGTON—David Challinor smiles as he explains how Smithsonian Institution scientists benefit from about a dozen National Science Foundation grants even though Congress has prohibited the organization from asking NSF for money. "It just takes some imagination. One way is to join a consortium. Another is to approach the NSF with a project it wants done. As any Washington bureaucrat knows, there's more than one way to skin a cat." In fact, the 66-year-old Challinor knows more than most bur

WASHINGTON—A 1984 law to encourage competition among defense contractors has forced federal agencies to become aware of the importance of evaluating all possible bidders for contracts, but also has slowed the procurement process and angered many industry officials. The Competition in Contracting Act was an attempt by Congress to end "sweetheart" deals between the Pentagon and individual defense contractors. Its requirement that agencies seek bids from a range of contractors has led some ag

WASHINGTON—The Department of Energy will boost the undergraduate training of scientists and engineers with a program offering students and faculty a semester of hands-on research at one of five national laboratories. Up to 300 juniors and seniors, each receiving travel, housing and weekly stipends, will participate in energy-related investigations during the next academic year at Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Oak Ridge National L

CHICAGO—Pharmaceutical firms are raiding universities to recruit X-ray crystallographers with expertise in biological molecules at a rate that threatens to undercut academic research in the field. "This trend may weaken the university training of molecular biologists, and impair the development of protein engineering, which might remain limited to those projects targeted by industry," contended Daniel J. Goldstein of the University of Buenos Aires at the annual meeting of the American Asso

WASHINGTON—Federal research administrators have reacted coolly to suggestions from the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment that their agencies become more active in support of programs to preserve biological diversity. In a lengthy report released in late March, OTA pressed Congress to increase funding to existing programs that foster or protect biological diversity, such as the Endangered Species Program and the National Plant Germplasm System. In addition, OTA proposed a specif

WASHINGTON—Congress may take up legislation to govern ownership of human tissue and cell lines. The issue of who owns a cell line—the human source of the original tissues and cells or the scientists who derived the cell line from them—has caught the fancy of two influential legislators. Sen. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.), vice chairman of the Congressional Biomedical Ethics Board, said that present confusion over the issue "could impede important research." He thinks legislation may be

SYDNEY—A high-level advisory panel has recommended that Australia reorganize and spend more on its system of public funding for university-level research. The government has not yet responded to the report, which is shaping up as a test of the political influence of the nation's university and research communities. The Australian Science and Technology Council (ASTEC), which reports to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, said in its report that research at Australian universities is hampered by limi

WASHINGTON—In an attempt to revive a disheartened space science community, NASA has teamed up with other federal research agencies to design a series of small, inexpensive experiments to be carried by the space shuttle during construction of the proposed space station in the first half of the next decade. The program is expected to run on a timetable more in harmony with the academic career of a typical graduate student than the extended period needed to launch a major scientific experimen

LONDON—Government spending on research is becoming a major issue in Britain's upcoming elections, with the major parties staking out their positions. Campaigning is not officially underway, but the election is expected to take place by early autumn. There is a growing split between the Conservative administration of Margaret Thatcher, which argues that state expenditure on research is about right, and opponents who believe more cash is needed to strengthen basic research and stem the trans

MANILA—A new national Constitution does more for the Philippines than endorse the political reforms of President Corazon Aquino. Scientists hope it will also stem the emigration of doctors and researchers, encourage research to improve the country's economy, and promote involvement in R&D by the private sector. More than 12,000 Filipino scientists and engineers emigrated between 1966 and 1978, according to Fernando Sanchez, past president of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges.

WASHINGTON—Director Erich Bloch, under congressional prodding last month, predicted that the National Science Foundation will come to grips in the next five years with many of the major problems facing American science. Bloch used the annual round of hearings on NSF's request for funding to flesh out the administration's wish to double the agency's budget, to $3.2 billion, by 1992. That financial goal is part of an attempt by Bloch, a former IBM vice president, to graft a corporate approac

WASHINGTON—In the scramble to point every available instrument at the recently discovered supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, NASA plans a campaign of balloon flights, rocket launches and airborne observations to begin next month. The crash program, if approved by NASA Administrator James Fletcher, will cost $15 million. It will include 16 or 17 instrumented balloon flights extending through late next year, as well as sounding rocket flights and infrared observations using NASA's Kuip