Message to Members:
SCIENCE AT THE LEADING EDGE

Dear AAAS Member,

Our overriding goal is to keep members and science at the leading edge of innovation and technology—hence the theme of our 2004 Annual Meeting, 12-16 February in Seattle, Washington.

Plan to join us for an informative and inspiring schedule. More than 140 symposia fall under 21 tracks ranging from genomes to science and security. Daily plenary lectures, led off by AAAS President Mary Ellen Avery, will delve into global warming, infectious disease, and theoretical physics. Topical lectures will feature 14 leading scientists, physicians, and academics covering issues such as new ecosystems, wireless sensor networks, and women in physics. Two-day seminars will offer in-depth examinations of nanotechnology, proteomics, vaccines, and school science.

The exhibit hall will present the companies, products, and services that lead the fields of science, engineering, and technology. The Science Career Fair will include career-building workshops. Family Science Days, a new two-day event, will attract families and children to explore freshwater ecosystems and investigate the composition of soil and rocks.

You can register online at http://www.aaas.org/meetings/ to attend this once-a-year showcase of multidisciplinary international advances where you'll have the opportunity to network with 6,000 peers. Advance registration closes 16 January, 2004.

As 2003 closes, I would like to thank you for your support and wish you well as we enter a new year of advancing science and serving society.

Sincerely,
Alan I. Leshner, CEO, AAAS

AAAS in Action:
NEWS TO NOTE

Breaking News: Breakthrough of the Year
What was the most electrifying advance of 2003? What feat was judged as the best contribution to innovation? Will it turn out to be the breakthrough of the year -- or the decade? Science has selected Illuminating the Dark Universe as the Breakthrough of 2003. Read how the field of cosmology has marked a turning point confirming that our cosmos is even more of a mystery than we ever imagined, in the hot-off-the-presses 19 December issue. The issue will be online the evening of 18 December at http://www.sciencemag.org. Tell your family and friends that they also have free access to the special issue on this site, usually reserved for members only. (Free registration is required).

Human Rights: Honoring a Champion
AAAS marked its third annual Human Rights Day on 10 December by honoring physicist and human rights advocate Irving A. Lerch. The date commemorates the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which followed World War II. Read about the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, and the humanitarian contributions of Dr. Lerch, director of International Affairs for the American Physical Society and past chair of AAAS's Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/1205lerch.shtml.

R&D: U.S. Congress Finalizes FY 2004 Budget
AAAS has now posted a comprehensive analysis of R&D in the close-to-final FY 2004 budget, highlighting important funding trends. The U.S. federal R&D investment will total $127 billion in 2004, an increase of nearly $10 billion. More than 80 percent of this increase, however, will go to the Department of Defense, leaving most of the other R&D funding agencies with modest increases or even funding cuts. The Department of Homeland Security is a big winner with a 56 percent increase in its R&D portfolio to $1 billion. The National Institutes of Health, after the conclusion of a five-year doubling campaign, will receive increases of about 3 percent. The final budget may not be signed into law until late January 2004, or even later, due to procedural delays. For the full analysis, go to: http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/new.htm.

Hail to New Fellows
The Fellows Forum, to be held during the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting, will honor 348 new Fellows of AAAS, recently elected by the AAAS Council. Fellows are nominated by groups of three current Fellows/Members and defined as "a Member whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished." Go to http://www.aaas.org/news/newsandnotes/inside101.shtml to view the names of the new Fellows, presented by section affiliation. For information on the nominating criteria, visit: http://www.aaas.org/about/aaas_fellows/instructions.shtml. The deadline for completed nomination documentation for next year's Fellows is 14 May 2004.

Support for Biodefense Research
On 12 November, AAAS co-sponsored a discussion by high-level government and public agency officials focusing on the future of U.S. defense against biological and chemical attacks. The keynote address covered R&D funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the BioShield project to spur the development of next-generation medical biomeasures such as vaccines. Read more: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/1114biodefense.shtml. On 17 November, DHS Secretary Tom Ridge spoke at AAAS, welcoming the first 100 young scientists and engineers to be approved as Homeland Security Scholars and Fellows. Read about this addition to the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellows Program: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/1118ridge.shtml.

AAAS Announcements:
ITEMS OF INTEREST

AAAS Membership: Give the Gift of Science
Give all the benefits of AAAS membership at rates specially discounted for the holidays. You'll help advance the careers and knowledge of colleagues, friends, and family members with 51 issues of Science, Science Online, job postings, and more. Check the special rates for new professional, postdoc, student, and international memberships: http://promo.aaas.org/holidaya.

Launch Your Career in Singapore
"The Biopolis of Asia" is being touted as a new global hub for biomedicine. Check out the opportunities at www.sciencecareers.org/singapore, a new recruitment web portal officially introduced by Science at a reception 4 November during Drug Discovery Technology, Asia. The new site, fully supported by the government of Singapore, has already attracted more than 1,200 scientists interested in working in Singapore who have registered online. Find out more about life in the new "Biopolis" at http://recruit.sciencemag.org/feature/singapore/singapore_resources.dtl. To advertise your job opening, contact tholmes@science-int.co.uk.

Advance the Work of AAAS
The "Fund for Excellence" generates private support for AAAS through contributions from members and friends of the association during a yearly campaign. While your membership dues provide critical program support, your additional contribution will enable AAAS to undertake new initiatives and tackle new priorities. You may make an unrestricted donation or select a specific programmatic area. To make a donation, go to: http://aaasdev.aaas.org/giving/donate.shtml.

AAAS at Work:
PROGRAMS AT THE FOREFRONT

Healthy People Library Project: Health Resources
Consumer demand for health information is skyrocketing as requests flood public, medical, and health libraries. To answer this demand, AAAS joins in providing the latest biomedical research on selected health topics to some 16,000 U.S. public libraries. The libraries, in turn, give minority groups and other consumers easy access to current, reliable health information.

The AAAS downloadable e-book series, The Science Inside, is an important part of the project. The series includes Diabetes (prevention and treatment) and Having a Healthy Baby (avoiding the health risks of pregnancy and the development of healthy infants and toddlers). High Blood Pressure is expected to be available in January 2004.

The Healthy People 2010 Library Initiative is funded by the National Institutes of Health as part of the broad Healthy People 2010 project, a 10-year set of health objectives for the U.S. Visit the site: http://www.healthlit.org. Read more: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2003/1202library.shtml.

Funding Ph.D.s: Underrepresented Minorities
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has chosen AAAS to lead a major initiative to increase the proportion of underrepresented minorities with Ph.D.s in the fields of science and engineering.

The foundation has funded doctoral studies in S&T for graduates of historically black colleges and universities for the past 11 years. AAAS will manage the $1.1 million HBCU Graduate Scholars Program for the next five years, encouraging the 88 current scholars while assessing the program's impact.

AAAS was selected for its expertise gained from activities that promote diversity in the science and engineering work force. Using the Packard program as a model, AAAS will encourage the development or expansion of similar programs. Read more about the impact of this initiative: http://www.aaas.org/news/newsandnotes/inside101.shtml.

READ ON, ONLINE
AAAS News & Notes appears in Science in the last issue of each month. Or access http://www.aaas.org or http://www.scienceonline.org/.

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