SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES (SBE) at the National Science Foundation

1. SOCIAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES (SBE)at the National Science Foundation Judy Sunley Deputy Assistant Director, SBE Standing Committee for the Social Sciences 16 April 2010

2. NSF in a Nutshell • Independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" • Annual budget of about $6.9 billion – funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities • Most of the funds go to peer reviewed grants to individuals or small groups of investigators -- currently about 10,000 new awards per year, with an average duration of three years • NSF also provides funding for research centers, instruments, surveys, and facilities

3. NSF Organization NSF LEADERSHIP: Director / Deputy Director – National Science Board SEVEN RESEARCH DIRECTORATES: Biological Sciences Computer and Information Science and Engineering Engineering Geosciences Mathematics and Physical Sciences Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Education and Human Resources FOUR OFFICES: Office of Polar Programs Office of Integrative Activities Office of International Science and Engineering Office of Cyberinfrastructure

4. SBE in a Nutshell • Assistant Director: Myron Gutmann • Annual budget of $255 million • Funds approximately 58% of federally funded basic research in SBE fields in academic institutions • Most of the funds go to peer-reviewed grants to individuals and small groups – approximately 4800 proposals and 1200 awards in a typical year, including dissertation improvement grants • Also provide funding to major surveys; collect data on the science and engineering enterprise • SBE Advisory Committee made up of external researchers • Programs reviewed every three years by an external Committee of Visitors

5. NSF SBE: Who We Are • Two Research-Oriented Divisions • Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences • Social and Economic Sciences • Science Resources Statistics • SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities

6. BCS Programs • Archaeology & Archaeometry • Cognitive Neuroscience • Cultural Anthropology • Developmental & Learning Sciences • Documenting Endangered Languages • Geography & Spatial Sciences • Linguistics • Perception, Action, & Cognition • Physical Anthropology • HOMINID • Social Psychology .

7. SES Programs • Decision, Risk, & Management Sciences • Economics • Innovation and Organizational Sciences • Law and Social Science • Methodology, Measurement & Statistics • Political Science • Science, Technology and Society • Sociology

8. Science Resources Statistics 8 • Serves as the nation's primary source of data and analysis on the science and engineering enterprise • Designs, supports, and directs about 11 periodic surveys as well as a variety of other data collections and research projects; each year SRS produces about 30 publications • Publications include congressionally mandated • Science and Engineering Indicators • Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering

9. SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities Science of Science and Innovation Policy Science of Learning Centers Research Experiences for Undergraduates Minority Postdoctoral Fellowships Catalyst funding for interdisciplinary work

10. Science of Science & Innovation Policy • Supports research designed to advance the scientific basis of science and innovation policy • Develops, improves and expands models, analytical tools, data and metrics that can be applied in the science policy decision making process • Contributes to interagency efforts to develop a new area of social science research.

11. Science of Learning Centers • Currently have 6 large-scale, long-term centers that create infrastructure needed to advance Science of Learning research • Program is very broadly conceived, includes learning in humans, animals, and machines • Key elements • Developing network of centers • Cross-center student organization • Evaluation

12. SBE Office of the Assistant Director Coordinating SBE’s participation in NSF-wide and crosscutting activities, including: • Cyber-based activities • Sustainability (Environment, Climate Change, Energy) • Human and social dimensions of nanoscale technology • Learning Systems • Workforce development activities • International partnering Work in the interagency environment • SBE Sciences in the Federal Arena • Science of Science Policy

13. Cyber-based activities Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation Complex systems; data-intensive science; virtual organizations Cyberinfrastructure DataNet PetaScale Applications Virtual Organizations Computer and Information Science Creative IT Social and Computing Systems

14. Sustainability Climate Research Investment Water Climate Modeling SBE-based Decision Making Under Uncertainty Coupled Natural and Human Systems Urban Long-term Ecological Research Areas Environment, Society, and Economics

15. STAR METRICS Interagency partnership to develop metrics related to outcomes of science and technology investments. Leadership from OSTP, NIH, NSF Bring together as partners Agencies Universities Researchers in the science of science and innovation policy Make use of Administrative data from the agencies and universities Data enclave available to all partners Public datasets on publications, patents, etc. New mechanisms for describing and assessing investment portfolios

16. Suggestions for European Partnering Set up a science of science policy working group in Europe – counterpart to the interagency working group in the US. Create a research program comparable to the Science of Science and Innovation Policy program at NSF. Collaborate on an infrastructure similar to that of the STAR METRICS program Contribute to mechanisms for developing unique researcher ids

17. Contact Information • Judy Sunley, Deputy AD, SBE • jsunley@nsf.gov • 703-292-4561