Does accountability legislation threaten integrity of U.S. research enterprise?

Mildred Dresselhaus coauthored a report to be released Feb. 17. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) President Bruce M. Alberts was so concerned by the accountability provision buried in last year's "omnibus" budget legislation that on Jan. 26 he sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew in which he writes that he's "convinced that the new legislation will have serious, unintended consequences for the nation's research enterprise." Speaking at the recent American Associ

Written byEugene Russo
| 5 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
5:00
Share

The following is a preliminary outline of some of the major points of the COSEPUP report due to be released Feb. 17 at a public briefing in the Foundry Building, 1055 Thomas Jefferson St. N.W., room 2004, Washington, D.C. They're taken from the comments of Mildred Dresselhaus, an MIT professor, former AAAS president, COSEPUP member, and report coauthor, who spoke Jan. 23 at the AAAS meeting in Anaheim, Calif. For more information, go to the Web site at www.nas.edu or call the NAS/NAE/IOM/NRC office of news and public information at (202) 334-2138. According to Industry Representatives: Although quantifying results of basic research is not always possible, industry nevertheless supports basic research; in the long run, it pays off and is beneficial to industry. Metrics must be simple, not easily manipulated, and able to drive "constructive behavior." For example, when using indicators such as the number of publications per researcher, the ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Published In

Share
December digest cover image of a wooden sculpture comprised of multiple wooden neurons that form a seahorse.
December 2025, Issue 1

Wooden Neurons: An Artistic Vision of the Brain

A neurobiologist, who loves the morphology of cells, turns these shapes into works of art made from wood.

View this Issue
Stacks of cell culture dishes, plates, and flasks with pink cell culture medium on a white background.

Driving Innovation with Cell Culture Essentials

Merck
Stacks of cell culture dishes, plates, and flasks with pink cell culture medium on a white background.

Driving Innovation with Cell Culture Essentials

MilliporeSigma purple logo
Abstract wireframe sphere with colorful dots and connecting lines representing the complex cellular and molecular interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

Exploring the Inflammatory Tumor Microenvironment 

Cellecta logo
An image of a DNA sequencing spectrum with a radial blur filter applied.

A Comprehensive Guide to Next-Generation Sequencing

Integra Logo

Products

brandtech logo

BRANDTECH® Scientific Announces Strategic Partnership with Copia Scientific to Strengthen Sales and Service of the BRAND® Liquid Handling Station (LHS) 

Top Innovations 2026 Contest Image

Enter Our 2026 Top Innovations Contest

Biotium Logo

Biotium Expands Tyramide Signal Amplification Portfolio with Brighter and More Stable Dyes for Enhanced Spatial Imaging

Labvantage Logo

LabVantage Solutions Awarded $22.3 Million U.S Customs and Border Protection Contract to Deliver Next-Generation Forensic LIMS