Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Offers New Grants for Research on the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is pleased to announce a new small grants program to support creative research on the U.S. workforce and labor markets in science and engineering (S&E).
Depending on the number and quality of proposals received, this grant program will provide up to 10 research grants, selected on the basis of a peer review process. Grant budgets requested cannot exceed a total of $45,000, though we expect that most will be smaller than this ceiling.
The first grant application deadline is April 7, 2008. Full details as to eligibility and requirements may be obtained at
http://www.sloan.org/programs/USScienceWorkforceGrants.shtml
Nanotechnology & Society:
Short and long-term Societal Impacts of Nanotechnology
Nanoart: worlds smallest flat art
by artist J'Sha |
Nanoethics Group's anthology covers near and long-term societal impacts of nanotech
The Nanoethics Group has released a collection of papers that it says is the first to address both urgent and distant issues related to nanotechnology's impact on society. Nanoethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Nanotechnology, is a 416-page anthology which includes papers from nearly 40 contributors worldwide including Mihail Roco (US NSF) and Ray Kurzweil (Kurzweil Technologies) and addresses how nanotechnology will impact the environment, health, the military, education, molecular manufacturing, artificial intelligence, life extension, among a broad range of topics.
Nanotechnology & Health: Effects of the infinitely small: Are the risks of nanotechnologies appropriately assessed by current methods?
The Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) of the European Commission has released an opinion calling for greater understanding of the health risks associated with nanoparticles.
The H-1B Program and PERM:
Implications for Science and Engineering Workers
By Philip Martin
Foreign workers in high-tech seem to inspire extreme assertions. Bill Gates of Microsoft said: The terrible shortfall in the visa supply for highly skilled scientists and engineers stems from visa policies that have not been updated in more than 15 years. We live in a different economy now, and it makes no sense to tell well-trained, highly skilled individuals--many of whom are educated at our top universities--that they are not welcome here." Intel chairman Craig Barrett urged the US government to staple a green card or immigrant visa to the diplomas of foreign students who graduate from US universities with science and engineering degrees.
2007 Life Sciences Salary Report - The Scientist
The 2007 Life Sciences Salary Report by The Scientist reviews the jobs available to scientists in todays labor market. Among the results, is the finding that when an academic is promoted to administrative position, they are compensated with a large increase in salary, part of which is retained even when the scientist steps down from such a position. Biochemists are the most highly paid of all scientists, with engineers a close second. Zoologists earn much less than other scientists. The report also looks at salaries in different cities, such as Los Angeles which has higher costs of living and higher salaries and college towns such as Durham, NC, which offer competitive salaries to academics but have lower costs of living. Areas where science jobs are most plentiful, such as the Boston area, tend to offset high living costs by offering many more job opportunities.
