Developmental Sciences
Supporting basic research on human developmental processes across the lifespan, including cognition, social interactions, and biological influences, with budgets typically $100k-$200k per year.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: January 30, 2027 (Annual full proposal) | February 1, 2027 (Current application closing date) | July 30, 2027 (Annual full proposal) | Anytime (Invited conferences, supplements, approved RAPID/EAGER)
Funding Amounts: Typically $100,000–$200,000 per year for approximately three years; estimated program funding $6.5 million
Summary: Supports basic research on the processes and mechanisms of human development across the lifespan.
Key Information: Clinical trials and research focused primarily on health outcomes are not supported.
Description
NSF’s Developmental Sciences program supports basic research on perceptual, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, motor, cultural, and biological development across the lifespan. Studies may involve infants, children, adolescents, adults—including aging populations—and non-human animals. Research may examine family, peers, schools, communities, culture, media, physical environments, genetics, and epigenetics as influences on developmental change.
Administered by the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences within the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, the program funds multidisciplinary, multi-method, and longitudinal approaches, new methods and theories, and integration across processes, levels of analysis, and time scales. Its goal is to explain developmental mechanisms underlying social, cognitive, and behavioral functioning. The program seeks diverse methodologies, participant populations, and research leadership, including equity-centered collaboration with communities.
