Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: January 15, 2025 | August 15, 2025 | January 15, 2026 (Annually Thereafter) | August 15, 2026 (Annually Thereafter)
Funding Amounts: Up to $25,000 in direct costs per award (plus indirect costs); ~40–50 awards/year; total program budget ~$800,000/year.
Summary: Supports doctoral students in cultural anthropology at U.S. institutions conducting basic scientific research on human social and cultural variability.
Key Information: Proposals must be submitted by the dissertation advisor (PI) on behalf of the student (co-PI); only two submissions per student allowed without special dispensation.
This opportunity provides funding for doctoral dissertation research in cultural anthropology, supporting projects that advance basic scientific knowledge of human social and cultural variability. The program welcomes empirically grounded, theoretically engaged, and methodologically sophisticated research in all subfields of cultural anthropology. Research priorities include, but are not limited to, sociocultural drivers of environmental change, resilience of sociocultural systems, conflict and cooperation, migration, kinship, health, biocultural dynamics, language and cognition, computational modeling, and the sociocultural aspects of technology.
The program does not fund research with the primary goal of improved clinical practice, humanistic understanding, or applied policy, nor projects that are descriptive or non-generalizable. Proposals must clearly articulate how the research will contribute to theory-testing or theory-expanding in anthropology.
Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. local time of the submitting organization.
Budgets should be appropriate to the research scope. Funds are for research expenses not typically covered by the student's institution (e.g., fieldwork, data collection, travel, equipment, participant incentives).
Who may apply:
Who may serve as PI:
Submission limits:
Submission platforms: Research.gov or Grants.gov
Letters of intent/pre-proposals: Not required
Proposal preparation:
Review process: Proposals are reviewed for intellectual merit and broader impacts by external panels
| Name | Role/Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Mantz | Program Director | jmantz@nsf.gov | (703) 292-7783 |
| Tarini Bedi | Program Director | tbedi@nsf.gov | (703) 292-8740 |
| Jeremy Koster | Program Director | jkoster@nsf.gov | (703) 292-8740 |
| Brittiney Cleveland | Program Specialist | bclevela@nsf.gov | (703) 292-4634 |
| NSF Help Desk | Technical Support | rgov@nsf.gov | 1-800-381-1532 |
| Grants.gov Support | Technical Support | support@grants.gov | 1-800-518-4726 |
For general NSF information: info@nsf.gov | (703) 292-5111