I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10374 

To require the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

to develop a consistent set of policy guidelines for Federal research 

agencies to address mental health and mentoring of graduate researchers 

and postdoctoral researchers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2024 

Mr. TONKO (for himself and Ms. MCCLELLAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a consistent set of policy guidelines for Federal research agencies to address mental 

health and mentoring of graduate researchers and 

postdoctoral researchers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental health En5 hancement, Navigation, and Treatment for Our Research6 ers Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘MENTOR Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POLICY GUIDELINES FOR FEDERAL RESEARCH 

2 AGENCIES TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH 

3 CRISIS AMONG GRADUATE RESEARCHERS 

4 AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS. 

5 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

6 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

8 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High9 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

10 (2) GRADUATE RESEARCHERS.—The term 

11 ‘‘graduate researchers’’ means individuals enrolled in 

12 a degree program leading to an advanced degree who 

13 conduct research or teach in any discipline at an in14 stitution of higher education that is a recipient of 

15 Federal funding. 

16 (3) POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS.—The term 

17 ‘‘postdoctoral researchers’’ means individuals in 

18 training-focused positions who have received a doc19 toral degree or equivalent and receive stipends or 

20 other compensation to conduct research in any dis21 cipline at an institution of higher education that is 

22 a recipient of Federal funding. 

23 (4) PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR.—The term 

24 ‘‘principal investigator’’ means an individual who is 

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1 search grant at an institution of higher education 

2 that is a recipient of Federal funding. 

3 (5) FEDERAL RESEARCH AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘‘Federal research agency’’ has the meaning given 

5 such term in section 223(d)(4) of the William M. 

6 (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization 

7 Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (42 U.S.C. 6605(d)(4)). 

8 (b) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY

9 GUIDELINES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di12 rector of the Office of Science and Technology Pol13 icy, in consultation with the National Science and 

14 Technology Council, the Committee on STEM, the 

15 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and 

16 Technology (PCAST), institutions of higher edu17 cation, graduate researchers and postdoctoral re18 searchers, principal investigators from across career 

19 stages, labor representatives, mental health experts, 

20 and other relevant stakeholders, shall develop a con21 sistent set of policy guidelines for Federal research 

22 agencies to address mentoring and mental wellness 

23 of graduate researchers and postdoctoral research24 ers, including by providing Federal research agencies 

25 with additional reports to inform grant awards. 


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1 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the policy 

2 guidelines under paragraph (1), the Director of the 

3 Office of Science and Technology Policy shall include 

4 guidelines that— 

5 (A) define what behaviors constitute bul6 lying and harassment at institutions of higher 

7 education to build consistency among Federal 

8 research agencies’ definitions relating thereto; 

9 (B) develop an operational definition of 

10 mentorship for use at institutions of higher 

11 education; 

12 (C) address opportunities to discourage 

13 and mitigate problematic behavior and negative 

14 mentorship experiences, including through— 

15 (i) requiring institutions of higher 

16 education to submit to Federal research 

17 agencies annual reports on incidents of 

18 bullying and harassment; 

19 (ii) requiring Federal research agen20 cies to implement standardized mecha21 nisms for graduate researchers and 

22 postdoctoral researchers to safely and con23 fidentially report to such agencies incidents 

24 of bullying or harassment or negative 

25 mentorship experiences; and 


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1 (iii) requiring Federal research agen2 cies to implement accountability systems 

3 that can be imposed if a principal investi4 gator or senior grant personnel is found 

5 responsible for harassment, bullying, or 

6 other behaviors that could contribute to 

7 poor mental wellness; 

8 (D) address opportunities to strengthen 

9 mentor-mentee relationships, including by— 

10 (i) requiring principal investigators to 

11 submit mentoring plans that are aligned 

12 with best practices with any grant applica13 tions to Federal research agencies that 

14 may be used to support research conducted 

15 by graduate researchers or postdoctoral re16 searchers; 

17 (ii) requiring principal investigators to 

18 submit a list of public and guaranteed ben19 efits for all graduate researchers and 

20 postdoctoral researchers with funding ap21 plications to Federal research agencies, in22 cluding salary levels, leave policies, and 

23 health care options, including mental 

24 health; 


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1 (iii) requiring institutions of higher 

2 education receiving funding from Federal 

3 research agencies to describe their 

4 mentorship systems, including any systems 

5 in place to incentivize and reward effective 

6 mentorship and methods in place to evalu7 ate mentorship and any systems to dis8 courage inadequate mentorship; 

9 (iv) requiring Federal research agen10 cies to incorporate evaluation of a principal 

11 investigator’s recent service and 

12 mentorship contributions into funding de13 terminations, taking into account relative 

14 institutional support and time in position; 

15 (v) requiring Federal research agen16 cies to include explicit funds for mentoring 

17 activities within research grants, including 

18 for mentor training programs, and profes19 sional development opportunities; 

20 (vi) making public recommendations 

21 for process and outcome measures that can 

22 be used to evaluate mentorship progress 

23 and a principal investigator’s continued 

24 learning, competency, and implementation 


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1 of effective and inclusive mentoring prac2 tices within a grant-funded project; and 

3 (vii) making recommendations to Fed4 eral research agencies and institutions of 

5 higher education to help reduce adminis6 trative burdens on principal investigators 

7 to increase time for developing and imple8 menting effective and inclusive mentoring 

9 practices; and 

10 (E) address opportunities to improve the 

11 mental wellbeing of graduate researchers and 

12 postdoctoral researchers, including by— 

13 (i) requiring institutions of higher 

14 education receiving funding from Federal 

15 research agencies to report to such agen16 cies methods to provide support for inter17 national graduate researchers and inter18 national postdoctoral researchers; 

19 (ii) requiring institutions of higher 

20 education receiving funding from Federal 

21 research agencies to report to such agen22 cies institutional protections and supports 

23 for graduate researchers and postdoctoral 

24 researchers experiencing mental health 

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1 uate researchers and postdoctoral research2 ers are made aware of such protections 

3 and supports; 

4 (iii) requiring principal investigators 

5 and institutions of higher education receiv6 ing funding from Federal research agencies 

7 to report to such agencies support systems 

8 for underrepresented and minority grad9 uate researchers and postdoctoral research10 ers with grant applications to such agen11 cies; 

12 (iv) requiring Federal research agen13 cies to provide explicit funding opportuni14 ties to cover permanent research staff sala15 ries; 

16 (v) requiring institutions of higher 

17 education receiving funding Federal re18 search agencies to ensure access to quality, 

19 affordable physical and mental health care 

20 for graduate researchers and postdoctoral 

21 researchers; and 

22 (vi) making recommendations for Fed23 eral research agencies and institutions of 

24 higher education receiving funding from 

25 such agencies to ensure financial security 


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1 of graduate researchers and postdoctoral 

2 researchers. 

3 (3) APPLICATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Of5 fice of Science and Technology Policy shall en6 courage and monitor efforts of Federal research 

7 agencies to develop, adopt, and implement poli8 cies based on the policy guidelines under para9 graph (1). 

10 (B) CONSISTENCY.—To the extent prac11 ticable, the policies developed, adopted, and im12 plemented pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall 

13 be consistent with other relevant standards and 

14 laws as determined by the Director of the Office 

15 of Science and Technology Policy. 

16 (C) FEDERAL RESEARCH AGENCY IMPLE17 MENTATION.—Not later than one year after re18 ceiving the policy guidelines under paragraph 

19 (1), the head of each Federal research agency 

20 shall— 

21 (i) develop and implement policies 

22 with respect to the mental health of grad23 uate researchers and postdoctoral research24 ers that are consistent with such policy 

25 guidelines; and 


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1 (ii) broadly disseminate such policies 

2 to past and current recipients of, and ap3 plicants for, research and development 

4 awards made by such agency. 

5 (4) UPDATES.—The Director of the Office of 

6 Science and Technology Policy shall update the pol7 icy guidelines under paragraph (1) every five years 

8 as new data collected under subsection (d) is avail9 able to provide metrics for evaluation and best prac10 tices. 

11 (5) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

12 date after the guidelines are developed pursuant to 

13 paragraph (1) and not later than one year after each 

14 update pursuant to paragraph (4), the Director of 

15 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

17 Technology, the Committee on Education and the 

18 Workforce, and the Committee on Energy and Com19 merce of the House of Representatives and the Com20 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

21 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

22 and Pensions of the Senate a report containing in23 formation relating to the following: 


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1 (A) The policy guidelines under paragraph 

2 (1), and the updates under paragraph (4), as 

3 the case may be. 

4 (B) Progress on the implementation of 

5 such guidelines by Federal research agencies. 

6 (d) DATA ON MENTAL HEALTH OF GRADUATE RE7 SEARCHERS AND POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS.—The 

8 Director of the National Science Foundation, in collabora9 tion with the Director of the National Institutes of Health, 

10 shall conduct and publish biennial evaluations of the state 

11 of mental health of graduate researchers and postdoctoral 

12 researchers (disaggregated, to the extent practicable, by 

13 demographics). 

14 (e) GAO STUDY.—Not later than three years after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

16 General of the United States shall submit to the Com17 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, the Committee 

18 on Education and the Workforce, and the Committee on 

19 Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

20 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor21 tation and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

22 and Pensions of the Senate a report that— 

23 (1) outlines implemented guidelines under sub24 section (b) and analyzes the effectiveness of such 

25 guidelines; 


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1 (2) includes recommendations on potential 

2 changes to practices and policies to improve such 

3 guidelines and such implementation; and 

4 (3) includes recommendations on additional 

5 data collection and research needed to monitor 

6 progress on improving mental health and wellness of 

7 graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers. 

Æ 


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