Foundations of a Healthy and Vital Research Community for NASA Science (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 41-57
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From page 41... ...
The ratio of directed dollars allocated to community-competed research is an important metric and guidance for grants by science discipline is covered in the decadal surveys, with increased grant funding tied to the important role it plays in development and sustainment. ROSES grants are awarded annually and generally last for 3-5 years.
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From page 42... ...
Key data to include are the ratio of directed to competed research dollars, numbers of grants per PI/Co-I/Science PI, grant award success rates per PI/Co-I/Science PI, numbers of supported research contracts per PI/Co-I/Science PI and/or hours per week expected to support specific research contracts. IMPROVING THE PROCESS FOR SOLICITATION AND REVIEW OF HIGH-QUALITY PROPOSALS NASA's R&A programs represent a major source of support for the U.S.
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From page 43... ...
Strong competed mission and research grant processes ensure development of not only current and future research leadership but also ensure a healthy and vibrant supplier base capable of providing key technologies -- for example, sensors, optical comms, coronagraphs, sample return, computing, and data management, etc., to complement, support, and drive the accomplishments of the research community. Much like the importance of broader impacts in an NSF proposal, it is important to recognize that training, of both undergraduate and graduate students, in these key technologies is an important aspect of competed mission and research grant proposals.
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From page 44... ...
Of course, the decadal surveys and other studies provide opportunities to balance the individual science disciplines' research, but visualizing progress and opportunities of the long view strategy, whether for science or workforce vitality could be beneficial, potentially supporting multi-year funding requests. Finding: NASA is a federal agency and funding comes from congressional appropriations.
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From page 45... ...
/ Science PI, grant award success rates per PI/Co-I/Science PI, numbers of supported research contracts per PI/ Co-I/Science PI and/or hours per week expected to support specific research contracts. Because SMD's budget is driven by the president's budget request and congressional authoriza tion and appropriations, SMD should develop an integrated dashboard of annual priorities and budget allocations across all decadal science categories and SMD programs and projects to show at-a-glance investments and progress against science planned missions and the scientific results they deliver.
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From page 46... ...
.10 These programs that require open access to data represent an additional opportunity to engage and grow a larger science community. Consistently providing access to data remains a priority captured by the SMD Strategy 10 NASA, "Citizen Science Projects," https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience.
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From page 47... ...
However, a simple indicator of the trend of the partnerships in each of these areas may provide an indicator of overall health. Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should define, collect, and report metrics of collaboration and partnership in each of the areas of international collaboration, inter-agency col laboration, commercial partnerships, and citizen science as indicators of a healthy and growing science community.
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From page 48... ...
The committee considered other options, such as relying on agency-level initiatives, encouraging better coordination and communication between the Office of the Chief Scientist and SMD, and allowing individual science mission areas to proceed as they individually felt was appropriate, following the guidance of their individual discipline State of the Profession decadal reports. However, the committee concluded that an SMD directorate-level initiative was appropriate, with 14 Nicholas Skytland in the OCHCO led the Future of Work Initiative.
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From page 49... ...
primary responsibilities for this effort because having a leader with significant responsibilities outside of SMD would dilute the effectiveness. Finding: There is a need for a single executive leadership position within SMD, supported by adequate staff, which is responsible for oversight of the data collection and analysis that provides insight into the health and vitality of the science community.
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From page 50... ...
Management of a Data Stream Review and Criteria Against Which to Evaluate Outcomes: Data Collection and Analysis NASA Human Resources gathers extensive information on its workforce through the NASA Office of Human Capital Management. The Workforce Strategy Division provides information, updated biweekly, on multiple dimensions -- work location, occupations, grades, salaries, demographics, and trends.15 See Figure 5-5.
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From page 51... ...
COMMUNITY STANDARDS OF CONDUCT As an agency, NASA uses multiple controls to ensure a safe, fair, and equitable work environment within the foundations of NASA and externally conducted research, as summarized in Chapter 2. It is appropriate to acknowledge that NASA is compliant with legal regulations and uses multiple controls and mechanisms to ensure a safe, fair, and equitable work environment.
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From page 52... ...
Continued assessment of this subject by subsequent state of the profession panels in each discipline area will evolve final recommendations for SMD overall. 18 NASA, 2021, "State of the Profession SMD Initiatives," NASA Science Mission Directorate, https://science.nasa.gov/science-pink/s3fs public/atoms/files/Sheth_APAC%20March%202021.pdf.
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From page 53... ...
This is a very difficult, if not impossible, task. It is tempting to identify the things that can be counted or measured -- for example, number of publications, number of successful grant applications, number of patents, number of people with a variety of demographic characteristics, number of people with managerial responsibility, and more.
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From page 54... ...
However, inclusive of NASA HQ, 93 percent of the center-based civil servants are located predominately at five facilities: the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Ames Research Center, the Langley Research Center, the Johnson Space Center, and the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA 2021a)
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From page 55... ...
7 to support NASA science missions. The SMD workforce is located across NASA centers and allied facilities: • Ames Research Center • Armstrong Flight Research Center • Glenn Research Center • Goddard Institute of Space Studies • Goddard Space Flight Center • Jet Propulsion Laboratory8 • Johnson Space Center • Katherine Johnson IV & V Facility • Kennedy Space Center • Langley Research Center • Marshall Space Flight Center • Michoud Assembly Facility • NASA Engineering and Safety Center • NASA Headquarters • NASA Safety Center • NASA Shared Services Center • Neil A
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From page 56... ...
Based on the current distribution of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) researchers across NASA, a pilot program to begin assessing the health and vitality of its science research community and impacts of changes could include gathering rich demographic data from the civil service workforce at the six locations that employ the bulk of the SMD workforce.
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From page 57... ...
Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should use diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) indicators from collected demographic data to identify characteristics associated with success for space and Earth science careers and research health and performance.
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