ITECS Insider » Agency Watch

Obama To Seek Extension Of R&D Tax Credits

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:07:07 +0000

By Christi Parsons

(LA Times, September 5, 2010) President Obama will ask Congress to pass a $100-billion plan to expand and permanently extend the tax credits for businesses that invest in research and development, part of a larger plan for spurring the economy that he is to unveil in greater detail Wednesday. In an address at a Cleveland-area community college, Obama will call for an increase to 17% from 14% in one of the credit options available to businesses, an administration official said Sunday. Obama will propose paying for the plan in part by closing corporate tax breaks for multinational corporations and some energy companies. The president will announce his plan to extend the tax credits along with proposals to increase spending on highways and other infrastructure projects and to continue the middle-class portion of the Bush administration tax cuts. Those tax cuts are scheduled to expire in four months. The president’s proposals are likely to have only a modest effect on the economy in the short term. Republicans oppose Obama’s economic policy, making more sweeping proposals politically untenable for the Democratic president. Click here to read more…

NIH Teams With Pay.Gov To Speed Tech-Transfer Payments

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:06:48 +0000

(NIH, August 31, 2010) A new payment site within Pay.gov will make it easier for companies that license inventions owned by the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to make their royalty payments. Royalties are typically paid upfront for biological materials and over the term of a commercial patent license. The project is led by the Office of Technology Transfer and the Office of Financial Management at NIH. By eliminating the need for bank checks, this bank-to-bank transfer system can shorten the processing time from several months down to a day or less. This also will reduce the administrative costs by moving from a paper system to a secure electronic system. “The new Pay.gov process will hasten the pace of technology transfer to the private sector, enabling business to commercialize important discoveries made by scientists in NIH and FDA laboratories,” said OTT Director Mark Rohrbaugh. Click here to read more…

U.S.-India Nuclear Pact Clears First Legislative Hurdle

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:05:09 +0000

By Sujoy Dhar – (Washington Times, August 25, 2010) The lower house of the Indian Parliament brought the U.S.-India nuclear deal close to operational status Wednesday by passing the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, laying down how much damages foreign nuclear-equipment suppliers could have to pay in the event of an accident. The passage by the Lok Sabha — House of the People — ahead of a scheduled November visit by President Obama is seen as a personal victory for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who signed the landmark civilian agreement with President Bush in 2008. Mr. Singh rejected opposition claims that the bill was a sop to the U.S. and multinational corporations, telling Parliament that the bill marks the end of Indias isolation in the global nuclear market. Click here to read more…

NSF Calls For Nominations For The 2011 Alan T. Waterman Award

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:48:59 +0000

(NSF, August 1, 2010) The Alan T. Waterman Award is the highest honor awarded by the National Science Foundation. Since 1975, when Congress established the award to honor the agency’s ﬁrst director, the annual award has been bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated exceptional individual achievement in scientiﬁc or engineering research of sufficient quality to place them at the forefront of their peers. The annual award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any ﬁeld of science or engineering supported by the National Science Foundation. In addition to a medal, the awardee receives a grant of $500,000 over a three year period for scientiﬁc research or advanced study in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, social or other sciences at the institution of the recipient’s choice. Click here to read more…

NIH Loan Repayment Programs Relieve Researchers’ Educational Debt

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:49:36 +0000

(NIH, August 30, 2010) As the costs of medical education continue to rise, the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) serve as a lifeline for physician scientists who have high educational debt. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average debt for graduates in the class of 2009 was $156,456, and 79 percent of all medical school graduates owed $100,000 or more. For nearly 10 years, the LRPs have supported early stage investigators by repaying up to $35,000 of educational debt annually for investigators who commit to at least two years of research funded by a domestic nonprofit, university or government entity. For the 2010 application cycle, more than 3,200 applications were received, and nearly 1,600 scientists received loan repayment contracts. The next application cycle will open on Sept. 1 and conclude on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. EST. The five extramural LRPs are clinical research, pediatric research, health disparities research, contraception and infertility research, and clinical research for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Click here to read more…