Forty-eight newly elected Congressmen will arrive here this afternoon and kick off a week-long series of closed briefings and social events sponsored by the Institute of Politics (IOP).

The bi-annual Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress features discussions--on issues including tax policy, intergovernmental fiscal relations, urban and energy policy, and foreign relations--led by Harvard professors, journalists, opinion researchers and Congressional staffers.

The program, which began in 1972, also includes a series of dinners and luncheons, beginning with a Faculty Club reception tonight. "It's a chance for them to get to know the other members of the freshman class," Nicholas T. Mitropoulos, assistant director of the IOP, said yesterday.

Mitropoulos added that the conference is probably the largest program meant to acquaint new Congressmen with major public policy issues, though he said the Brookings institution and partisan groups hold similar briefings for many of the 76 incoming representatives.

State Rep. Barney A. Frank '61, elected to Congress last month, yesterday called "being in a legislative body a little like being in high school," and said he will attend the conference because "it's a chance to meet your congressional classmates. It's important to get into the socializing very early."

Many of the scheduled briefings "look pretty exciting," Frank added.

Don K. Price, professor of Public Policy and a speaker on "Science and Technology," yesterday called the sessions "a chance to expose them [the newly-elected congressmen] to some fairly broad ideas on the state of the world and the issues they'll have to deal with."

He added that he will stress the "overriding importance of new science and technology in a whole range of government programs, ranging from nuclear science to personal health." He said he will also emphasize the government trend towards granting contracts to private companies on science issues.

Japan as Number One

Ezra Vogel, professor of Sociology, said yesterday he will offer "words of anguish" on American industry's inability to compete with Japan.

"They're outcompeting us. If we don't move quickly we're going to be out of business with steel, and maybe even cars," Vogel said, adding that the conference "is an opportunity to get people to think about these problems."

Though the conference proceedings are closed to the public, many of the congressmen will have dinner with students in undergraduate Houses on Tuesday evening, Mitropoulos said.