Seven researchers, including two Nobel Prize winners, will be honored today at the second annual Golden Goose Award ceremony, celebrating researchers whose seemingly odd or obscure federally funded research turned out to have a significant impact on society.
The awardees will be honored at a ceremony on Capitol Hill, where they will receive their awards from a bipartisan group of Members of Congress. The scientists are:
The purpose of the Golden Goose Award is to demonstrate the human and economic benefits of federally funded research by highlighting examples of seemingly obscure or unusual studies that have led to major breakthroughs and have had a significant impact on society. Such breakthroughs may include development of life-saving medicines and treatments; game-changing social and behavioral insights; and major technological advances related to national security, energy, the environment, communications, and public health.
The Golden Goose Award was originally the idea of Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN). It was created and jointly launched by a coalition of organizations, listed below, which believe that federally funded basic scientific research is the cornerstone of American innovation and essential
to our economic growth, health, global competitiveness, and national security. The award recipients were selected by a panel of respected scientists and university research leaders.
"It's easy to mock researchers," Rep. Cooper said, "but we couldn't live without their brilliant breakthroughs. Today's awardees gave unexpected gifts to mankind. Fiscal discipline is important, but without science we'll never see the next discovery."
Rep. Cooper and other Republican and Democratic Members of Congress who support the Golden Goose Award are expected to speak and hand out the awards at today's ceremony.
"The unexpected benefits of basic research have been substantial, a point well-demonstrated by the work of this year's Golden Goose awardees," said Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the organizations that created the award.
The MC of the event will be Paul McKellips. McKellips, a former journalist, works with the Foundation for Biomedical Research.
To see a new video about the awardees, read their individual stories, and learn more about the Golden Goose Award, go to http://www.goldengooseaward.org .
FOUNDING ORGANIZATIONS:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
Association of American Universities (AAU):
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A۰P۰L۰U):
Breakthrough Institute:
Progressive Policy Institute (PPI):
Richard Lounsbery Foundation:
The Science Coalition (TSC):
Task Force on American Innovation:
United for Medical Research:
Other organizations sponsoring the 2013 Golden Goose Awards:
American Astronomical Society
American Educational Research Association
American Mathematical Society
American Psychological Association
American Society for Microbiology
American Sociological Association
APS Physics
Association for Psychological Science
Association of American Medical Colleges
The Biophysical Society
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
IEEE-USA
Texas Instruments