On April 6, FABBS hosted a discussion with National Science Foundation (NSF) Assistant Director Arthur “Skip” Lupia, head of the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate. Dr. Lupia spoke with FABBS members about mid-scale and interdisciplinary opportunities for social and behavioral scientists. NSF will also host a webinar on these opportunities on April 15 at 4:00 p.m. ET. You can Register Here, and see Dr. Lupia’s Slide Presentation Here.
Two programs include exciting opportunities for our members who may not immediately recognize that they are eligible. The agency is interested in funding more social and behavioral science projects, and Dr. Lupia noted that NSF recently approved its first major SBE infrastructure proposal, though the details are not yet public.
The Mid-scale Infrastructure program funds awards from $6 million to $100 million over five years. Dr. Lupia stressed that while “infrastructure” may bring to mind big physical projects like satellites, the agency’s definition is far broader than that. These infrastructure projects could include new tools, regional centers, networks, or frameworks, such that researchers could build on a large body of work over the long term.
The Convergence Accelerator program provides opportunities to conduct use-inspired interdisciplinary research aimed at transitioning basic research into practice to solve high impact societal challenges. These awards encourage partnerships with non-academic stakeholders, and fund projects at $5 million/year over five years.
Please share these announcements with your membership.
