Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences

Examples of Funded Projects

Topics of recently funded research include: brain activity associated with truth and deception; the influence of fear on perceptions and decision making; network modeling; rebuilding from disasters; and the effects of terrorist assaults and natural disasters on people removed from physical harm but emotionally engaged with those who have directly suffered. With major support from the SBE-managed Human and Social Dynamics priority area and SBE?s core programs, NSF recently announced new Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) awards to study the impact of Hurricane Katrina on people and social systems in the hard-hit Gulf Coast region. SGER awards are limited in size and support exploratory, high-risk research and have proven to be especially well-suited for rapid-response situations in which the need for timely response is crucial in order to capture time-sensitive and perishable data. SBE previously used SGERs effectively to field research teams in the aftermath of both the September 11th terrorist attacks and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Other recently funded projects investigate the human dimensions of ecological issues such as climate change and the social and ethical issues that surround advances in nanotechnology. SBE also provides statistical data for critical analyses of the role of foreign citizens in the U.S. science and engineering workforce. In addition, SBE awards foster the development of new information technology systems and software, the sharing of data within and across disciplines, the development of new social research infrastructures, and education at all levels in the SBE sciences.

Program Accomplishments

In fiscal year 2005, 4,487 competitive proposals were received and 1,006 awards were made. In fiscal year 2006, approximately 4,600 competitive proposals will be received and about 1,013 awards will be made, and in fiscal year 2007 approximately 4,600 competitive proposals will be received and about 1,050 awards will be made.