NSF Support of Socio-Technical Research
Heng Xu
Program Director
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
University of Maryland - College Park, December 3, 2013
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
National Science
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Offices
• International &
Integrative Activities
• Legislative & Public
Affairs
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• Diversity & Inclusion
Office of the
Director
Office of Inspector
General
Social,
Behavioral,
& Economic
Sciences
Computer &
Info. Science
& Engineering
Biological
Sciences
Engineering
Education &
Human
Resources
Geosciences
Budget,
Finance &
Award
Management
Mathematical
& Physical
Sciences
Information &
Resource
Management
SBE BUDGET TRENDS
• FY SBE 2014
request is
$272.35 Million
AARA
85
241
255
247
254
2009
2010
2011
2012
243
272
• Increase of
10.9% over FY
2013 Enacted
2013
2014
Enacted Request
Approximately 5,000 proposals and 1,000 awards in a typical year
NSF SBE OVERVIEW
Directorate for Social,
Behavioral & Economic Sciences
Dr. Joanne Tornow, Acting Assistant Director
Dr. Fae Korsmo, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
Division of Behavioral
and Cognitive Sciences
(BCS)
Division of Social and
Economic Sciences
(SES)
SBE Office of
Multidisciplinary
Activities (Virtual)
National Center for
Science and
Engineering Statistics
BCS STANDING PROGRAMS
• Archaeology and
Archaeometry
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Cultural Anthropology
• Developmental and
Learning Sciences
• Documenting
Endangered Languages
• Geography and
Spatial Sciences
• Linguistics
• Perception, Action,
and Cognition
• Biological
Anthropology
• Social Psychology
SES STANDING PROGRAMS
• Decision, Risk and
Management Sciences
• Economics
• Ethics Education in
Science and Engineering
• Science of Organizations
• Law and Social Sciences
• Methodology,
Measurement and
Statistics
• Political Science
• Science, Technology
and Society
• Sociology
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING STATISTICS (NCSES)
• Nation’s primary source of data and analysis on
the science and engineering enterprise
• Designs, supports and directs about 11 periodic
surveys, other data collections and research
projects
• 30 publications yearly
• Congressionally-mandated publications:
– Science and Engineering Indicators
– Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in
Science and Engineering
NSF SBE OVERVIEW
Directorate for Social,
Behavioral & Economic Sciences
Dr. Joanne Tornow, Acting Assistant Director
Dr. Fae Korsmo, Acting Deputy Assistant Director
Division of Behavioral
and Cognitive Sciences
(BCS)
Division of Social and
Economic Sciences
(SES)
SBE Office of
Multidisciplinary
Activities (Virtual)
National Center for
Science and
Engineering Statistics
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT
• Standing Program Proposals
• Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER)
Proposals
• Student Support (DDRIGs, REU Supplements
and Sites)
• Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research
(EAGER)
• Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID)
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT:
CAREER
• Available in all NSF programs
• Untenured faculty (or comparable)
• Single scholar award
• $400,000, 5-years minimum award
• Three proposals lifetime limit
• Mid to late July deadline
• High Prestige/High Expectations
– the most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who
exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding
research, excellent education, and the integration of
education and research
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT:
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
• Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement
Grants (DDRIG)
– Available in some SBE programs
– Small grant to support (and extend) dissertation
research
SMA
• Science of Science &
Innovation Policy
SES
• Decision, Risk, & Management
Science
• Economics
• Law and Social Sciences
• Political Science
• Science, Technology & Society
• Sociology
BCS
• Archaeology
• Cultural Anthropology
• Geography & Spatial
Sciences
• Linguistics
• Physical Anthropology
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT:
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU)
– Available in all programs
– Two types of awards
- REU Supplements: Awards added onto existing
awards to sponsor undergraduate student
research
- REU Sites: training programs, often in the summer
months, for teaching research methods to
undergrads
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT:
EAGER (Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory
Research)
• Exploratory work on untested, potentially
transformative ideas
• High-risk, high-potential payoff
• $300,000 maximum; 2 years
• Eight page description
• Internal review required; external optional
• Contact Program Director first
– EAGERs are exceptions, not the rule!
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT:
RAPID (Grants for Rapid Response Research)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Research when data are ephemeral
$200,000 maximum; 1 year
5 page project description
Internal review required; external optional
Available in all programs
Contact Program Director first
– For proposals having a severe urgency with regard to
availability of, or access to data, facilities or specialized
equipment, including quick-response research on natural
or anthropogenic disasters and similar unanticipated
events
PATHS TO SBE SUPPORT (Summary)
• Standing Program Proposals
• Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER)
Proposals
• Student Support (DDRIGs, REU Supplements
and Sites)
• Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research
(EAGER)
• Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID)
FY 2014 SBE 2020 INVESTMENTS
• SBE Postdoctoral Research
Fellowships
• Interdisciplinary Behavioral
and Social Science
Research
• Building Community and
Capacity for Data-Intensive
Research in the Social,
Behavioral, and Economic
Sciences and in Education
and Human Resources
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2011/nsf11086/nsf11086.pdf
Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social
Science Research (IBSS)
• Full proposal submission deadline:
– December 03, 2013
– December 02, 2014
• Two types of projects:
– Large Interdisciplinary Research Projects (with
maximum award sizes of $1,000,000)
– Interdisciplinary Team Exploratory Projects (with
maximum award sizes of $250,000)
• Awarded projects last year:
– http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?ProgEleCode=821
3&BooleanElement=ANY&BooleanRef=ANY&ActiveAwards=true&#results
SBE Support of Socio-Technical
Research and Education
Example Programs:
1. Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
2. Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI: BIC)
3. Building Community and Capacity for Data-Intensive Research in the
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences and in Education and
Human Resources (BCC-SBE/EHR)
Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
• Three Perspectives along with a Transition to
Practice (TTP) supplemental option:
– Trustworthy Computing (TWC)
– Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
– Cybersecurity Education
• Types of Projects:
– Small (1/14/2013): up to $500,000 in total budget, with
durations of up to three years
– Medium (11/12/2013): $500,001 to $1,200,000 in total
budget, up to four years
– Frontier (11/19/2013): $1,200,001 to $10,000,000 in total
budget, up to five years
• Awarded projects:
– http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?ProgEleCode=
8060&BooleanElement=ANY&BooleanRef=ANY&ActiveAwards=true&#
results
SaTC EAGERs Enabling New Collaborations
Between Computer and Social Scientists
• New Collaboration:
– Proposals should clarify how the proposed
collaboration will take place
– Budget: around $200,000
• Two rounds of submissions:
– Two-page summary: March 1 & May 1, 2014
– Invited proposal: May 1 & July 1, 2014
• Awarded projects:
– 1343141, 1343528, 1343430, 1343433, 1343453,
1343766, 1347075, 1347113, 1347151, 1347186
– http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch
SaTC Research Coordination Network Addressing
Experimental and Evaluation Methods & Techniques
• SaTC Research Coordination Network (RCN):
– RCN supports the means by which investigators can share
information, develop community standards, and advance
science and education through communication and
sharing of ideas
– Up to $500,000 for up to three years
– Deadline: December 15, 2013
• Types of Projects:
– Methodologies and analysis techniques from the CISE /
SBE sciences that can be applied toward cybersecurity but
are not currently widely used by SBE / CISE researchers
– Limitations and hidden assumptions in analysis techniques
– Methodologies and techniques that are best suited for
particular classes of cybersecurity problems
– Threats to internal and external validity of research studies
caused by technological and social changes
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13131/nsf13131.jsp
Partnerships for Innovation: Building
Innovation Capacity (PFI: BIC)
• "Smart" Service Systems
– Seeking proposals with a focus on platform technologies to
enable "smart" service systems
– A minimum of one (1) industry partner of any size is
required
– Demonstrate understanding of potential commercial
applications and markets
– Awards may be up to $800,000 with a duration of three
years
• Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 2
• Due Dates:
– Letter of Intent (required): November 18, 2013
– Full Proposal Deadline: January 27, 2014
• Awarded projects:
– http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?ProgEl
eCode=1662&BooleanElement=ANY&BooleanRef=ANY&Active
Awards=true&#results
Building Community and Capacity for Data-Intensive
Research in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
and in Education and Human Resources (BCC-SBE/EHR)
• Enable communities to develop visions for
data-intensive SBE and EHR areas of research:
– Infrastructure such as tools and communities to utilize
the large scale databases
– Design of large scale databases and/or associated
analytic tools
– Support wide scale deployment and use
• Types of Awards:
– Awards are expected to be one, two or three years in
duration.
– Range from $100,000 to $500,000 in size.
• Awarded projects:
– https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504747
PROPOSAL PROCESS & TIMELINE
NSF
Proposal
Generating
Document
Minimum
of three reviews
required
Award via
DGA
Ad hoc
Organization
submits
via
FastLane
Panel
Proposal
Processing
Unit
Program Officer
Analysis &
Recommendation
Division
Director
Concur
Both
Decline
NSF Program
Officer
Research &
Education
Communities
Returned as
Inappropriate/
Withdrawn
Organization
Div. Dir. Concur
Proposal received by NSF
6 months
Proposal Preparation Time
Review of Proposal
Award
30 days
PO Recommend
DGA Review &
Processing of Award
WHERE TO START WITH WRITING
A PROPOSAL?
• A basic science idea
– Research questions/ hypotheses
• Check awards by program, keyword, etc.
(www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/)
• Read solicitation carefully!
• Ensure alignment of the project’s content, scale and
budget to the targeted NSF program
• Become familiar with the NSF Grant Proposal Guide
(GPG)
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_
key=gpg
PROPOSAL TIPS
• Make project titles short and simple (declarative
statement; avoid cute)
• Consider theoretical foundations and
prospective theoretical contributions
• Learn how proposals will be evaluated; think like
those who will review and make decisions
• Volunteer to review proposals
• Provide suggested reviewers (‘single copy
documents’)
MERIT REVIEW ELEMENTS
1. Potential for the proposed activity to:
a. Advance knowledge and understanding (Intellectual Merit);
b. Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes
(Broader Impacts)
2. Creative, original, or potentially transformative
concepts
3. Well-reasoned, well-organized plan; mechanism to
assess success
4. Qualifications of the individual, team, or organization
5. Adequate resources available
BE SURE TO BE PAY ATTENTION
TO…
• Data Management Plan
– All proposals must describe plans for data management and
sharing
– Plan is reviewed as part of the intellectual merit or broader
impacts
• Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan
– If requesting money for a postdoc, must have plan as
supplementary document
• IRB (human subjects) or IACUC (vertebrate animals)
Clearance
– No award involving human subjects can be made without IRB
approval or exemption; studies involving vertebrate animals
require IACUC approval prior to award
– This approval is not needed at the time of proposal submission;
may be “pending”
ADVICE
• Sign up for “NSF Updates by Email” on NSF
homepage
• Email Program Director with specific questions,
one-page prospectus
• What to Say—and Not Say—to Program
Officers: http://chronicle.com/article/What-toSay-and-Not-Say-to/131282/
CONTACTING PROGRAM
DIRECTORS
• Communicate with appropriate Program Director
about your ideas
• How Program Directors can help:
– We can identify potential fit
– We can offer advice on proposal preparation
QUESTIONS?
Email: hxu@nsf.gov
Phone: (703) 292-8643
Room: 995.21
Division of Social and Economic
Sciences