Comment from Anonymous
Anonymous AnonymousOpposeAcademic
Summary: A PhD student at Boston University opposes the proposed revisions to §200.432, arguing that requiring pre-approval to attend conferences would hinder the ability of trainees to share research and learn from experts. The commenter urges the OMB to restore the regulation to its current form to preserve benefits for future trainees.
I am a third-year PhD student in biomedical engineering at Boston University, funded through a NIH T32 training grant. I am writing to oppose the proposed revisions to §200.432. Section 200.432 would require pre-approval to attend conferences. I was fortunate to attend a conference using funding from my training grant, but had no way of knowing I would be accepted into a conference or which conference would be most relevant for my research when I started on the training grant. My training and future career were greatly supported by attending the conference and having an opportunity to share my research with experts in my field and learn from them. If this provision goes into effect, future trainees will not be able to have the same benefit that I had. I urge OMB to restore §200.432 to its current form.