Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) (NSF 04-537)

Eligibility Requirements

How many proposals am I allowed to submit this year to the HSD solicitation (NSF 04-537)?
In submitting to HSD, does the university department of the PI matter?
Can international institutions apply to HSD?
Are government laboratories or for-profit organizations allowed to submit HSD proposals?
Are graduate students or unaffiliated researchers eligible to apply to HSD?
My question is not on this list and is not answered in the solicitation. What should I do?

Question: How many proposals can an investigator submit this year to the HSD solicitation (NSF 04-537)?

Answer: The short answer is, ”any investigator may submit multiple proposals to this year’s HSD solicitation (NSF-04-537).”

Question: In submitting to HSD, does the university department of the PI matter?

Answer: No. The department within a university or non-profit research organization does not matter. The subject of the research does matter; the HSD competition stresses multidisciplinarity so HSD proposals from many different university or organizational departments are anticipated.

Question: Can international institutions apply to HSD?

Answer: The HSD Program encourages international collaborations. HSD understands that topics of interest will cross national boundaries and that U.S. investigators will and already do communicate and collaborate with colleagues throughout the world to accomplish their research and educational goals. The typical expectation is that all investigators on a project team will receive funding from their own countries‘ funding agencies, especially if the international collaboration is with researchers in developed countries (e.g., Europe, Britain, Japan) that have substantial resources of their own. However, the eligibility rules for submission to HSD do allow for international institutions to apply indirectly to the HSD Program — either as consultants on a lead proposal or as subawards. In both cases, justification is required of the unique capabilities offered or the specific research needs that will be accomplished. No indirect costs are allowed to be charged by the international institution. In addition, it is expected that the international budget will be small, relative to the overall size of the project budget.

Question: Are government labs or for-profit organizations allowed to submit HSD proposals?

Answer: Federally funded laboratories of other agencies and for-profit organizations are eligible to apply to HSD as specified in the Grant Proposal Guide Chapter 1 Section C https://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?gpg. Interested applicants should contact the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission.

Question: Are graduate students or unaffiliated researchers eligible to apply to HSD?

Answer:. Graduate students and unaffiliated researchers are eligible to apply to this year’s HSD competition as specified in the Grant Proposal Guide Chapter 1 Section C https://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf042. It may be instructive to note that most investigators generally have Ph.D.'s and/or a reasonably rich research track record. Reviewers of the proposals will most likely have a Ph.D. and/or a rich research track record in the area of focus, and often are faculty at academic institutions. In addition to the National Science Board Merit Criteria for evaluation, HSD proposals will be evaluated in terms of their multidisciplinarity. Consequently, the credentials of the investigators will be evaluated in terms of the multidisciplinary nature of the proposal as well. Finally, this is not a Doctoral Research Fellowship. The start date for most awards may not be consistent with graduate student goals. Interested applicants should contact the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission.

Question: My question is not in this list and is not answered in the solicitation. What should I do?

Answer: Send email to hsd@nsf.gov.