November 1, 2013

Dear Colleagues:

The Political Science Program at NSF will be holding its regular and dissertation competitions this spring. As usual, the deadline for both competitions is January 15th with results being announced between the middle of May and early June.

When developing proposals for these two competitions, please keep in mind that the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013 (P.L. 113-6, enacted on March 26, 2013) stipulates that projects funded through the Political Science Program must either promote national security or the economic interests of the United States. The relationship of the proposed research to these goals should be addressed both in the broader impacts section of the project summary and within the project description.

The Political Science Program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences will continue to engage panels to review grant proposals, using the two National Science Board approved merit review criteria (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts). Panels will be asked to provide input on the degree to which the proposed research projects promote national security or the economic interests of the United States. Informed by the advice of the review panels, NSF Program Officers will make funding recommendations.

Questions about this Dear Colleague Letter may be addressed to the following SBE program contacts: Brian Humes (bhumes@nsf.gov) and Erik Herron (eherron@nsf.gov).

Sincerely,

Dr. Joanne Tornow
Acting Assistant Director, National Science Foundation
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences