The American Science Acceleration Project (ASAP) - SPARC

"In June 2025, Sens. Heinrich (D-NM) and Rounds (R-SD) launched the American Science Acceleration Project (ASAP), a bipartisan Senate initiative that aims to make American science “ten times faster” by 2030 through five pillars: data infrastructure, computing resources, AI development, enhanced collaboration, and streamlined regulatory processes. 

The initiative reflects concerns about maintaining U.S. scientific leadership amid international competition. Its sweeping goals—from curing cancer to deploying fusion energy—echo familiar patterns of ambitious congressional science initiatives. ASAP has attracted a coalition of over 70 supporting organizations spanning academia and industry, demonstrating significant community engagement and appetite for targeted legislative action that could address the specific barriers currently limiting scientific productivity.

SPARC’s Three Recommendations

The initiative’s sponsors issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking recommendations on mechanisms to help achieve ASAP’s main objectives. SPARC’s response centered on three main suggestions: 

• Codify Open Access Requirements: Congress should pass legislation making the 2022 OSTP memorandum permanent, requiring immediate public access to federally funded research with explicit reuse rights. This provides legal certainty beyond executive policy shifts.
• Mandate Persistent Identifiers: As AI becomes more prevalent in research, we need robust systems to track attribution and research lineage. This infrastructure becomes critical when AI systems are analyzing vast datasets and making cross-disciplinary connections.
• Integrate Open Education: Enable rapid incorporation of new research into educational materials without licensing barriers, creating a knowledge pipeline from lab to classroom...."