Scientific institutions must interface with policy for many reasons including securing funding, securing their products/outputs, and retaining public buy-in. In this section, we cover a few examples of the myriad of institutions, their motivations for investing in science policy, and how they interface with the policy space. The four scientific institutions include academic institutions, scientific societies, industry, and hybrid models. The diversity (and membership) in these institutions drive key differences in priorities, audiences, and interests. For example, academic interests lie in its research dollars and higher education concerns, societies are more concerned with the interests of a profession and its individuals, while industry is focused on its production. In addition, the interests of individuals within these example institutions may center around other topics such as outreach, interfacing with the media, or direct community engagement. Depending on the institution, policy interactions may occur on the local, state, or federal level. The purpose of this module is to highlight how institutions represent their policy needs, while also representing the needs of the individuals who make up the institution, and how early-career scientists can get involved with their scientific community.
Academic Institutions
Colleges and universities have a unique role to play in influencing policy, as they must represent and advocate for the needs of the scientific research enterprise, in the form of federal government appropriations, as well as the needs of the individual students, faculty, and staff who use or provide institutional services, in the form of educational resources and work-force considerations such as parental leave and healthcare. The make-up of students, faculty, and staff at an institution varies drastically, based on location, private versus public status, institutional reputation, and known areas of expertise. As a result, policy priorities can also vary across institutions.
To navigate this, academic institutions are represented at the federal level through their involvement in higher education associations, such as the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU). AAU and APLU are research, policy, and advocacy organizations which provide a forum through which academic institutions can work together to advance scientific innovation, improve practices in higher education, and enhance the contribution of academic institutions to society. Dedicated federal relations and policy staff at AAU and APLU work to meet with Congressional offices to advocate for the needs of the institutions they represent, while also conducting research to assess policy impacts and assess outcomes for various higher education initiatives.
In addition to membership in national higher education associations, a college or university will have dedicated government relations staff. This could come in the form of an on-campus Government Relations Office with staff on-site, or in the form of a contract lobbyist, who resides in Washington D.C. and works to advance the individual needs of the institution. These offices and lobbyists are responsible for advocating for the needs of the specific institution. This often comes in the form of advocating to Congressional members who serve on appropriations committees, which decide on funding numbers for federal agencies such as NIH, NSF, USDA, EPA, and FDA, which fund a significant proportion of academic research. Government relations staff for universities and colleges understand which areas of research are a primary focus for the institution, and will target those agencies.
Additionally, government relations offices at academic institutions are a pathway for faculty, students, and staff to interface with their policy-makers and local, state, and federal levels. These offices often organize legislative advocacy workshops or Capitol Hill visits to allow for direct testimony from faculty and students in the offices of state and federal representatives to help sway policy-making decisions regarding funding, or provide expert information on a scientific topic of interest.
Scientific Societies
Scientific societies range in their breadth and depth, from organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which represents scientists from all scientific disciplines, to more specific professional societies such as the American Chemical Society (ACS) or the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). These institutions have a narrower focus as compared to academic institutions, as they represent the niche scientific interests of their members and the profession they represent. Scientific societies also have dedicated federal affairs and/or public policy departments, with staff members dedicated to interfacing with federal, state, and local governments with respect to issues that concern their society members. They will organize Captiol Hill days in Washington D.C. and provide advocacy training opportunities to equip their members with the skills to interface with policy. They also ensure their members are aware of important policies being discussed and provide scientific expertise to members of Congress on relevant issues, such as antimicrobial resistance, PFAS contamination, or pandemic preparedness. Scientific societies often provide easy easy for members to contact Congress on matters of importance, through form emails or providing appropriate phone numbers and templates for contact. These advocacy opportunities are open to all levels of society members, including undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty level scientists.
Industry
The priorities for an industry organization or company vary considerably from those of academic institutions or scientific societies. Importantly, industry is tied to product development and economic considerations for their work. In specific areas such as drug development, companies are concerned with approval processes via the FDA. The focus is thus less on representing needs of individual members and is instead focused on representing the needs of the company as a whole. Therefore, policy considerations for industry span a vast range of topics, including tax, healthcare, environmental regulations, small business, as well as scientific innovation. Industry organizations will also have public policy and/or federal relations staff which interface with Congressional offices.
Hybrid Models
There are many scientific community organizations that do not fit under the above categorical headings. For example, non-profit organizations or foundations often represent needs that overlap with academic institutions, societies, and industry. Additionally, larger societies often have offshoot initiatives that more specifically address concerns such as outreach, diversity within the scientific workforce, or science communication. However, an organization representing a part of the scientific community, no matter in what shape or form, will have dedicated staff that address policy concerns and advance policy initiatives.
Ways to Get Involved with Your Scientific Community
There are a multitude of ways in which a graduate student or other early-career researcher can interface with their scientific communities, at the level of the academic institution, scientific society, or relevant industry. Figuring out who the dedicated government relations staff at your academic institution are is a great first step, and building a relationship with them so you know of upcoming advocacy opportunities or times when your scientific expertise may be needed to support a policy decision. Joining a professional society related to your area of expertise and networking with society public affairs/policy staff will ensure you know of important policy issues, upcoming advocacy and/or policy trainings, and opportunities to visit with federal, state, or local policymakers. If your academic institution does not have readily available government relations staff and/or your field does not have an active professional society, visiting websites that track relevant policy issues, such as Duke Sci Pol, will allow you to stay informed about issues that matter to you and learn about ways to engage.