HR3054-119

What This Bill Does

The RESEARCHER Act addresses financial instability among graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers supported by federally funded institutions of higher education. Within six months, the OSTP Director, consulting NSTC, the Committee on STEM Education, PCAST, institutions of higher education, graduate and postdoctoral organizations, and other stakeholders, must develop consistent policy guidelines for federal research agencies. The guidelines must address opportunities to increase stipends, including location indexing; increase postdoctoral stipends in rural, underserved, or EPSCoR states; improve access to medical, dental, and vision care; improve affordable housing and transportation access; reduce food insecurity; and address family-care costs such as child care. OSTP must encourage and monitor agency implementation, and each federal research agency must implement consistent policies and disseminate them to current and potential R&D award recipients within six months after receiving the guidelines. The bill adds graduate and postdoctoral stipend and financial-instability data to CHIPS and Science Act data collection, directs NSF to competitively fund institutions or nonprofits to collect and analyze demographic data, requires NSF to contract with the National Academies for a study of stipend adequacy relative to health, housing, transportation, food, and family-care costs over at least the prior five years, and requires GAO to assess agency implementation within three years.

Who Benefits and How

Graduate researchers benefit from federal guidelines aimed at higher, location-adjusted stipends and better access to health care, housing, transportation, food, and child care support. Postdoctoral researchers benefit from stipend-improvement guidance, including special attention to rural, underserved, and EPSCoR-state research positions. Institutions of higher education benefit from clearer federal expectations and potential NSF-funded data work on researcher financial instability. NSF data grantees benefit from competitive awards to collect and analyze demographic financial-instability data. Congress benefits from OSTP, National Academies, and GAO reports on guideline implementation and researcher cost burdens.

Who Bears the Burden and How

OSTP must develop, update, monitor, and report on policy guidelines for federal research agencies. Federal research agencies must implement consistent financial-instability policies and disseminate them to R&D award recipients. NSF must fund data collection and contract with the National Academies for a researcher financial-instability study. Institutions of higher education may need to provide stipend, demographic, and financial-instability data for federally funded researchers. GAO must assess implementation and recommend additional policy and data-collection changes.

Key Provisions

• Requires OSTP guidelines on graduate and postdoctoral researcher financial instability within six months.
• Directs federal research agencies to implement and disseminate consistent policies within six months after receiving guidelines.
• Adds stipend amounts and financial-instability data to federal R&D award data collection.
• Authorizes NSF awards for demographic data collection and analysis on researcher financial instability.
• Requires National Academies and GAO reports on cost burdens, implementation, and needed policy changes.