H.R. 3054 — RESEARCHER Act

This section directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), within six months of enactment, to develop policy guidelines for federal research agencies to address financial instability of graduate researchers (i.e., advanced-degree students receiving stipends or compensation for research) and postdoctoral researchers (i.e., post-doctoral trainees receiving such compensation) at federally funded institutions of higher education. The guidelines must address, to the extent practicable: (1) increasing stipends, including location-based indexing; (2) increasing postdoctoral stipends in rural or underserved areas or EPSCoR-eligible states (i.e., Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research under 42 U.S.C. 1862g); (3) improving access to affordable medical, dental, and vision care; (4) improving access to affordable housing and transportation; (5) reducing food insecurity; and (6) addressing family care costs (e.g., child care). OSTP must encourage and monitor agency implementation; agency heads must develop and disseminate consistent policies within six months of receiving the guidelines; OSTP must update guidelines as needed; and OSTP must report to specified congressional committees on the guidelines and implementation progress one year after development and every five years thereafter. This section amends data collection requirements in the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (Division B of P.L. 117-167) to include graduate and postdoctoral researcher stipend amounts and financial instability (disaggregated by demographics, to the extent practicable). This section directs the National Science Foundation to competitively award grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or consortia) to collect data on such researchers' financial instability.