In support of our overall mission, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) provides two primary funding opportunities for external researchers to conduct unique research projects:
- Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
- Grant program entitled “Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Indicators, Statistics, and Methods (NCSES S&T)”(Program Solicitation NSF 21-627)
Both funding mechanisms have submission deadlines in January each year.
The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) provides research opportunities primarily to U.S. institutions of higher education and their collaborators to conduct a variety of research projects that support the strategic objectives of NCSES and partner federal statistical agencies.
To view the research outcomes of past BAA awards, please visit BAA Research Outcomes.
BAA solicitations from NCSES are released annually and outline the current research projects of interest. The solicitations provide the background, objective, and a rough outline of a research plan in order to encourage applicants with innovative research plans.
BAA awardees work in partnership with a representative from NCSES who facilitates access to NCSES resources and provides information, advice, and an NCSES perspective on interpretations and directions. Institutions awarded a BAA research project will follow contract protocols and specify deliverables, but they have flexibility to adjust the research plan as needed.
Solicitations are typically posted around 1 December to sam.gov, under Contract Opportunities. Applicants are asked to submit short concept papers in January, which are evaluated for overall technical value to the area of interest. NCSES may request formal project proposals for the project concepts that are deemed to have value. Awards are announced in the spring or early summer of each year.
Because the work is often experimental and may be the first stage of a potentially large endeavor, the awards are designed to last no more than 2 years, with a budget of no more than $500,000. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include funding and development opportunities for graduate students and postdocs, as well as widely disseminate their work in appropriate outlets.
For more detail on how the BAA operates as a unique mechanism differing from a standard grant or contract, please visit our FAQ page.
Grant Program
NCSES’s grant program, Research on the Science and Technology Enterprise: Indicators, Statistics, and Methods (NCSES S&T) (Program Solicitation NSF 21-627), is designed to advance analytic and methodological research in support of understanding the science and technology (S&T) enterprise.
The program operates like many grant programs by the National Science Foundation, welcoming proposals for standard grants, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) awards, conferences, Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grants, Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards, Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER), and Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grants. Submissions are due the third Tuesday in January annually.
Although NCSES produces and houses much of the relevant domestic data on the S&T enterprise, researchers are not required to submit proposals that use NCSES data. Please see the full solicitation here.
Still have questions? Visit our FAQ page for more information. You may also contact us at ncsesweb@nsf.gov.