transfer. A series of workshops will be devoted to 
examining aspects of the transfer process from sci- 
entific inception to development, testing, and ap- 
plication. The third area of grant-supported activi- 
ties is that of anticipating legal and ethical issues 
that may arise from the revolution in biology and 
^^advances in medicine. A study is under way to scru- 
tinize how public understanding of the relevant sci- 
ence and technology affects decision-making about 
health issues. 
Studies and reports from the lOM will be used to 
help guide the Institute's development of future 
grants programs in this area. 
PROGRAM ASSESSMENT 
The Institute is committed to a comprehensive 
program of assessment that will focus initially 
on the outcomes of grants in graduate and under- 
graduate science education. The Institute also will 
be monitoring trends in science education and 
resources for science, using established national 
databases. Assessment activities are central to 
the Institute's grants program and will augment 
established programs and help to guide future 
planning. 
The commitment to the assessment program 
must necessarily be long-term. Shifts in national or 
institutional trends are frequently slow and incre- 
mental. Furthermore, certain outcomes of interest, 
such as a fellow achieving a faculty-level appoint- 
ment, may require a 10- or 15-year interval subse- 
quent to the initial fellowship award. Nonetheless, 
many short-term outcomes are of equal interest. 
Many science education data collected by and for 
a number of federal agencies, including the Depart- 
ment of Education, the National Institutes of 
Health, and the National Science Foundation, are 
organized into an integrated system of databases 
called CASPAR (Computer-Assisted Science Policy 
Analysis Research). For example, nonconfidential 
national figures on enrollments, degrees awarded, 
and sources of support are available and will be 
used in the Institute's program of assessments. 
Comprehensive science education databases main- 
tained by the NAS/NRC and the Association of 
American Medical Colleges (AAMC) also are of in- 
terest, and will be used within limits set by confi- 
dentiality protections. 
Under a five-year, $480,000 grant, the AAMC will 
track the training and careers of medical students 
who participate in relevant Institute programs. 
(Two programs offer support for a year of full-time 
fundamental research by medical students: the 
Medical Student Research Training Fellowships and 
the Research Scholars at NIH, the latter being a 
joint program with NIH.) To help place the 
Institute's programs in context, the AAMC will also 
track a general cohort of medical students, and, 
with the cooperation of NIH, will monitor careers 
of M.D./Ph.D. students supported through the NIH 
Medical Scientist Training Program. To obtain reli- 
able national figures on the numbers of students 
studying toward combined M.D. and Ph.D. degrees, 
the AAMC will undertake special surveys of the 
medical schools and will use databases on the 
awarding of M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. 
As part of its assessment activities, the Institute is 
undertaking a study of support for science educa- 
tion by private independent and corporate founda- 
tions and voluntary health associations. Initially the 
target of the study will be graduate, undergraduate, 
and precoUege science education support. The In- 
stitute awarded a one-year, $55,000 contract to the 
Center for Health Policy Studies of Georgetown 
University to collect and analyze data in these areas 
and to submit a report to the Institute. The princi- 
pal source of data for the study is the Foundation 
Center library, a national repository of information 
on foundation giving. In recognition of its assis- 
tance in providing data resources, as well as materi- 
als on private giving, the Institute awarded the Cen- 
ter a grant in the amount of $30,000 in 1989. 
In addition, as noted in the Graduate Education 
section, the Institute awarded a grant totaling 
$404,000 to the NAS/NRC in 1989- This program 
assessment grant supports the evaluation of appli- 
cations to the doctoral fellowships competition. 
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