IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 144 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

To forestall the loss of research talent by establishing a 

temporary early career research fellowship program. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Early-Ca3 reer Researchers Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The Nation’s universities and industrial re7 search labs are facing unprecedented budget pres8 sure as part of the COVID–19 health crisis, result9 ing in considerably fewer openings for research and 

10 teaching positions. 

11 (2) Emergency funding is needed to forestall 

12 the loss of research talent likely to occur if early-ca13 reer researchers are forced to seek employment out14 side of research due to the sharp economic decline 

15 caused by the COVID–19 health crisis. 

16 (3) The future of America’s defense will rely on 

17 advanced technologies to maintain its military supe18 riority over its rivals, including China. These tech19 nologies will require new levels of scientific and engi20 neering aptitude and understanding. Early career re21 searchers will play a critical role in the development 

22 of these technologies, and the loss of an entire gen23 eration of researchers due to the COVID–19 pan24 demic will be detrimental to the United States na25 tional security. 


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1 SEC. 3. EARLY-CAREER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

3 Science Foundation may establish a 2-year pilot program 

4 to award grants to highly qualified early-career investiga5 tors to carry out an independent research program at the 

6 qualified institution of higher education chosen by such 

7 investigator, to last for a period not greater than 2 years. 

8 (b) SELECTION PROCESS.—The Director of the Na9 tional Science Foundation shall select grantees under sub10 section (a) from among citizens, nationals, and lawfully 

11 admitted permanent resident aliens of the United States. 

12 (c) OUTREACH.—The Director shall conduct program 

13 outreach to recruit fellowship applicants— 

14 (1) from all regions of the country; 

15 (2) from historically underrepresented popu16 lations in the fields of science, technology, engineer17 ing, and mathematics; and 

18 (3) who graduate from or intend to carry out 

19 research at a variety of types of institutions of high20 er education, including— 

21 (A) Historically Black Colleges and Uni22 versities; 

23 (B) Hispanic-Serving Institutions; 

24 (C) Tribal Colleges and Universities; and 


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1 (D) institutions of higher education that 

2 are not among the top 50 institutions in annual 

3 Federal funding for research. 

4 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Director shall 

5 give special consideration to an application from an indi6 vidual who graduated from or is intending to carry out 

7 research at an institution of the type listed in subsection 

8 (c)(3). 

9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the con10 clusion of the second year of the pilot program, the Direc11 tor shall submit a report to Congress that includes— 

12 (1) statistical summary data on fellowship 

13 awardees disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, 

14 age, years since completion of doctoral degree, and 

15 institution type; 

16 (2) an assessment, drawing on feedback from 

17 the research community and other sources of infor18 mation, of the effectiveness of the pilot program for 

19 mitigating the loss of research talent due to the pan20 demic; and 

21 (3) if determined effective, a plan for perma22 nent implementation of the pilot program. 

23 (f) QUALIFIED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

24 DEFINED.—The term ‘‘qualified institution of higher edu25 cation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 102 


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1 of the Higher Education of Act of 1965, except that such 

2 term does not include an institution described in sub3 section (a)(1)(C) of such section. 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Direc6 tor of the National Science Foundation $250,000,000 for 

7 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2022 to carry out the 

8 activities in this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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