Sir
Your news story “Research mired in Homeland Security delays” (Nature 424, 986; 200310.1038/424986a) does not reflect how the Science and Technology division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working with the private sector or the scientific community. The statement that the department is “sitting on some 3,000 unsolicited research proposals” has been corrected (Nature 425, 9; 2003), but we also take issue with the overall impression given by your account.
Instead of using information provided by the Science and Technology division, your article quoted sources outside the DHS, who are unfamiliar with the operations of the department and thus unable to draw an accurate picture.
Although I understand that individuals in the scientific community are looking at the DHS as a possible source of funding, the department is not responsible for funding decisions made by other organizations, as suggested by a physicist from the Department of Energy who was quoted in your article.
The DHS is currently reviewing more than 3,300 submissions sent in response to a Broad Agency Announcement. These initial submissions are being reviewed by the Technical Support Working Group and we expect to award contracts before the end of the year. To find more information about these proposals, interested individuals can visit our website at http://www.dhs.gov. Our department takes seriously its mission to coordinate the extensive talents and expertise resident in the private sector for homeland security, and this solicitation of proposals represents an important first step.
In future, I hope that Nature can provide a more accurate and balanced picture of the operations of the DHS to give your readers a better understanding of the role they can play in protecting the homeland.
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correspondence Contributions to Correspondence may be submitted to corres@nature.com. They should be no longer than 500 words, and ideally shorter. Published contributions are edited.
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McQueary, C. How scientists can help to protect US homeland. Nature 425, 451 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/425451b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/425451b