The President's Scientists: Understanding the Role and Impact of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

总统科技顾问理事会（英语：President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology，简称PCAST）是一个联邦咨询委员会，由总统任命的大约20名科学家、工程师和行业领袖组成。该项目通过其成员的透镜研究PCAST及其对美国联邦科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）政策的影响。研究小组正在建立和分析与PCAST相关的材料库-个人通信和档案收藏-并进行和出版与PCAST成员的口述历史访谈。这些数据将用于为未来的白宫STEM咨询机构制定政策建议，确定最佳实践，确定改进领域，并提高对PCAST作用的整体认识，更广泛地说，STEM在制定公共政策中的作用。这些数据和研究成果将汇集成一个全面的、可供公众访问的PCAST材料库，为政策制定者、科学历史学家和社会学家、STEM研究界以及更广泛的公众提供信息。PCAST由白宫科技政策办公室（OSTP）主任领导，该办公室通常被称为总统的“科学顾问”，“以及来自STEM社区的另外两名非联邦成员。1990年在总统乔治H. W. PCAST就与STEM相关的广泛问题向总统提供建议，包括国家和国内安全、劳动力和经济、能源和环境以及公共卫生和医学。该理事会拥有备受瞩目的成员，与总统关系密切，历来在制定联邦STEM政策和维持国家STEM企业的整体健康发展方面发挥着核心作用。然而，仅从公共记录来看，确定PCAST在与STEM相关的广泛政策问题上的全面影响是具有挑战性的。总统科学家汇编和分析PCAST公开报告以外的数据，包括所有白宫关于PCAST的通信; PCAST会议的记录和会议记录;以及来自总统档案和科学顾问收藏的任何其他有关PCAST的相关材料。此外，该团队正在对选定的前PCAST成员进行一系列口述历史采访，这些成员是根据他们的人口统计数据，专业领域以及他们所服务的政府部门进行选择的，以获得包容性和多样化的样本。采访将突出成员对PCAST的看法，以及他们在理事会任职前后在STEM的个人历史。我们的目标是了解PCAST的影响力的全面程度，它如何在每一位总统和不断变化的政治条件下被利用，以及它如何与政府和更广泛的STEM社区的其他政策机构互动，以建立共识并促进其建议。这项研究将产生一个全面的，公众可访问的PCAST文件，以及最佳实践和政策建议PCAST和其他未来的白宫STEM咨询委员会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a federal advisory committee consisting of roughly 20 scientists, engineers, and industry leaders appointed by the president. This project examines PCAST and its impact on U.S. federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) policy through the lens of its membership. The research team is building and analyzing a repository of materials related to PCAST - personal communications and archival collections - and conducting and publishing oral history interviews with PCAST members. This data will be used to develop policy recommendations for future White House STEM advisory bodies, determine best practices, identify areas of improvements, and raise overall awareness of PCAST's role and, more broadly, the role of STEM in developing public policy. The data and research products will be assembled into a comprehensive, publicly accessible library of PCAST materials to inform policymakers, science historians and sociologists, the STEM research community, and the broader public.PCAST is led by the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), commonly referred to as the president's "science advisor," and up to two other non-federal members from the STEM community. Created in 1990 under President George H.W. Bush, PCAST advises the president on a broad range of issues related to STEM including national and domestic security, workforce and the economy, energy and the environment, and public health and medicine. The council, with its high-profile membership and proximity to the president, has historically played a central role in shaping federal STEM policy and maintaining the overall health of the nation's STEM enterprise. However, determining the full impact of PCAST across the broad spectrum of policy issues related to STEM is challenging from the public record alone. The President's Scientists compiles and analyzes data beyond PCAST's public reports, including all White House communications regarding PCAST; transcripts and minutes from PCAST meetings; and any available other relevant materials concerning PCAST from presidential archives and collections of science advisors. In addition, the team is conducting a series of oral history interviews with select former PCAST members, chosen based on their demographics, areas of expertise, and the administration they served, to have an inclusive and diverse sample. The interviews will highlight members' perspectives on PCAST, as well as their personal histories in STEM before and after their tenure on the council. The goal is to understand the full extent of PCAST's influence, how it has been utilized under each president and shifting political conditions, and how it interfaces with other policy bodies across the government and in the broader STEM community to build consensus and promote its recommendations. This research will result in a comprehensive, publicly-accessible documentation of PCAST, as well as best practices and policy recommendations for PCAST and other future White House STEM advisory councils.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.