Ethical and Responsible Research
This program funds research on ethical conduct in STEM, focusing on diversity, equity, responsible practices, and organizational factors that promote research integrity.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
U.S. National Science Foundation has archived this opportunity.
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Due Dates: January 25, 2024 | Fourth Thursday in January, Annually Thereafter
Funding Amounts: Up to $700,000 for Institutional Transformation Projects (max 5 years); up to $400,000 for Standard Research Projects (max 3 years); up to $90,000 for Incubation Projects (max 1 year); up to $50,000 for Conference Projects (max 1 year)
Summary: Supports fundamental research on responsible and ethical conduct of STEM research, focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, organizational practices, and fostering ethical research cultures.
Key Information: Proposals from EPSCoR jurisdictions, minority-serving institutions, women's colleges, and organizations serving persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged; international collaborations welcomed if they enhance merit.
Description
The Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) program by the National Science Foundation (NSF) funds fundamental research aimed at understanding and promoting responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) within STEM fields. It encourages researchers, practitioners, and educators at all career stages to conduct research with integrity and to educate others about ethical research practices.
The program supports projects that explore ethical issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, bias, culture, transparency, mentoring, and interpersonal behaviors in research environments. It also investigates organizational practices, contexts, and incentives that promote ethical STEM research and how ethical cultures can be established, maintained, and transferred across settings.
Research topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Defining what constitutes responsible and ethical conduct of research and why.
- Comparing RECR norms across different STEM fields, sectors (academia, industry, non-profit), or geographic locations.
- Identifying organizational practices and incentives that foster ethical research.
- Examining ethical dimensions of emerging technologies (e.g., gene editing, AI, robotics).
- Investigating data-related research practices such as governance, sharing, and reporting.
- Addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in STEM research, including mentoring of students and postdocs with disabilities.
- Preventing sexual harassment in STEM fields.
- Conducting STEM research in international contexts and with Indigenous or historically underrepresented groups.
The program supports various project types including:
- Standard Research Projects: Up to $400,000 for up to 3 years, producing new knowledge about fostering ethical research.
- Institutional Transformation Research Projects: Up to $700,000 for up to 5 years, supporting systemic change strategies to promote ethical research conduct within institutions.
- Incubation Projects: Up to $90,000 for 1 year, enabling collaboration across organizations to develop future ER2 proposals.
- Conference Projects: Up to $50,000 for 1 year, supporting thematic conferences to foster new research and standards on ethical practices.
ER2 awardees must submit deliverables such as ethics case studies and instructional materials to the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science and participate in biennial PI meetings (costs to be included in budgets).
The program does not consider proposals focused primarily on ethics in medical education but may consider those addressing ethical dimensions in biomedical engineering, medical informatics, and related areas.
