CHIPS and Science Highlights: Developing a Scientific Workforce of the Future

With the goal of jump-starting American innovation post-pandemic, and building a foundation for the challenges of the future, including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductor manufacturing, the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law. The multi-year legislative effort started as an attempt以瓦内瓦尔·布什（Vannevar Bush）的遗产为基础，该法案的标题为“无尽边境表演”，以布什的著名报告命名“科学，无尽的边界。”但是，随着国会在美国创造科学愿景时，几乎每个人都专注于该法案授权进行科学研究的金钱。但是，布什原始报告中有许多经常被忽视的部分对当今的科学企业和整体预算同样重要。特别是，公众讨论中缺少的是他专注于发展科学人才的发展。

毫无疑问，我们的科学资金机构需要大量的投资和改革，但资金只是难题的一部分。正如布什在无尽的边境中指出的那样，“政府可以促进工业研究的最重要方法是通过支持基础研究并帮助发展科学人才的发展来增加新科学知识的流动。”

《芯片与科学法》的作者清楚地注意到了。在众议院和参议院之间进行了几个月的谈判之后，这项立法的最后文本反映了认识到这一要求的工作人员的辛勤工作。让我们看一下其中的一些规定。

Expanded GRFPs

The legislation increases the number of Graduate Research Fellowships from 2,000 to 3,000 per year. The GRFP is the National Science Foundation’s premier fellowship for graduate students in science and engineering, and it provides three years of support for exceptional students to pursue their research. The GRFP has an impressive track record: over forty Nobel Laureates and over four hundred and fifty members of the National Academy of Science started their graduate research with the help of GRFP. Aside from all the good company the award puts you in, the GRFP provides students the flexibility to work with an advisor that aligns with their interests rather than settling for whoever has money available to fund them, potentially stifling their potential. That is a big deal for these graduate students who’re still early in their career and whose interests may evolve over the years. A recentreport查看GRFP接收者的成功发现，GRFP的参与增加了学生的博士学位。研究员还发表了更多同行评审的论文，在国家或国际会议上发表了更多演讲，并在研究生院后获得了更多的赠款和合同。它还发现，被授予GRFP的妇女在研究生院申请了更多的专利，而不是非GRFP接受者。

Combatting Sexual Harassment in Science

In 2018, the National Academies released areportwhich looked at the factors that contribute to an environment tolerant of sexual harassment and its impact on women’s careers. The negative outcomes students experience when they are sexually harassed include: declining motivation to attend class, greater truancy, dropping classes, paying less attention in class, receiving lower grades, changing advisors, changing majors and transferring to another educational institution or dropping out. Additionally, Gender harassment that is severe or occurs frequently over a period of time can result in the same level of negative professional and psychological outcomes as isolated instances of sexual coercion. Therefore, Gender harassment, which is often considered a “lesser,” more inconsequential form of sexual harassment, cannot be dismissed when present in an organization. This further showed up in a recent民意调查由美国大学协会ies to study the campus climate across 33 research universities. The survey found that 41.8 percent of all students have experienced sexual harassment since enrolling, and 18.9 percent of students have experienced sexual harassment that interfered with their academic or professional performance, limited their ability to participate in an academic program, or created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive social, academic, or work environment. Among women graduate and professional students who were sexually harassed, nearly one in four reported that the perpetrator was a faculty member or instructor. The Combating Sexual Harassment in Science Act included in the CHIPS and Science Act addresses key recommendations from the report and builds on steps that have already been taken to address this issue. The legislation will establish a grant program for research into the causes and consequences of sexual harassment, issue policy guidelines for agencies making extramural research awards, convene an interagency working group to coordinate efforts, and assess the progress of these efforts over time. The bill authorizes over $32 million in spending to enact this provision, making it one of the most aggressive commitments by the federal government to combat sexual harassment in science.

A Focus on Good Mentoring and Good Mental Health

CHIPS和Science Act还通过建立新的计划来促进研究生与PI之间的指导关系，包括扩大研究生研究人员的个人发展计划，从而增加了NSF作为劳动力发展工具的指导。这些计划将有助于确保所有科学家都可以找到可以指导他们完成职业的高素质导师，这是确保在科学方面取得成功的重要组成部分2019 report由国家学院。该立法还指示NSF支持研究研究生教育体系的研究以及各种干预措施的结果，包括学员的影响，奖学金，实习，研究生教育的影响以及指导政策和程序对学位完成，发展和评估的方法，以改善指导，改善指导，改善指导者的方法，评估并研究，收集和评估有关研究生心理健康危机的数据，并制定支持研究生心理健康的策略。

这些规定仅刮擦表面。该法案包括更多的规定，以确保我们发展一支科学劳动力，该劳动力将准备应对未来的挑战。如果我们想将美国置于科学发现的最前沿，我们需要确保我们不断地为科学家池补充，以最好，最聪明的思想。《筹码和科学法》中包含的未来科学家的投资将不仅为这些人，而且为整个国家带来红利。通过培养下一代的科学人才，我们可以确保美国仍然是几代人的科学技术领导者。