Cultural Anthropology Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants | 19 560

Opportunity Information: Apply for 19 560

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Cultural Anthropology Program Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRI) opportunity is designed to strengthen and improve PhD dissertation research in cultural anthropology by supporting projects that contribute to basic scientific knowledge about human social and cultural variation. The program is explicitly oriented toward research that explains the causes, consequences, and complexities of socio-cultural diversity, and it welcomes a wide range of research traditions as long as proposals are empirically grounded, theoretically engaged, and methodologically rigorous. In practice, that means the strongest projects do more than describe a case or document a problem; they use evidence to test, refine, or expand anthropological theory in a way that advances the broader field.

A central feature of this opportunity is its emphasis on NSF's basic research mission. Projects whose primary aim is applied outcomes such as improving clinical practice, producing primarily humanistic or interpretive understanding, or directly informing policy as the main goal are not a fit for this program. NSF is clear that proposals centered on a social problem will be returned without review if they do not explain how that problem creates an opportunity for theory-testing or theory-building contributions to cultural anthropology. Applied relevance can exist, but it cannot be the primary rationale; the proposal needs to be framed around generalizable scientific insight and clear contributions to anthropological knowledge.

The program highlights a broad set of research priorities, signaling the types of questions and domains it is especially interested in supporting. These include socio-cultural drivers behind major human-driven environmental and social processes (for example, deforestation, desertification, land cover change, urbanization, and poverty), as well as the resilience and robustness of socio-cultural systems. It also encourages research on the scientific principles shaping conflict, cooperation, and altruism; the relationships among economy, culture, migration, and globalization; and variation and change in kinship and family norms and practices. Additional priority areas include cultural and social drivers of health outcomes and disease transmission, social regulation and governmentality (including violence), and the origins of complexity in socio-cultural systems. The program is also interested in language and culture topics such as orality, literacy, sociolinguistics, and cognition, along with empirically grounded ethnographic work that advances understanding of human variation. Methodologically, NSF welcomes sophisticated quantitative and computational approaches, including social network analysis, agent-based modeling, multi-level models, and integrated approaches that combine simulations with geographic information systems (GIS).

The DDRI component is specifically meant to enhance doctoral dissertation projects conducted by PhD students enrolled at U.S. institutions of higher education. The intent is to help students carry out stronger science during dissertation research, reinforcing NSF's broader goal of integrating research and education. An important practical note in the solicitation is that the program discourages dissertation projects that send students back to a previous site of employment or volunteer work unless there is a compelling scientific justification for why that particular site is necessary for the research contribution.

Administratively, this is a discretionary NSF grant opportunity in the science and technology research and development category (CFDA 47.075), listed under Funding Opportunity Number 19-560. The original closing date shown in the source information is August 15, 2019, and the agency anticipated roughly 50 awards. The listed award ceiling is shown as 0 in the provided record, which typically indicates that applicants should rely on the full program solicitation and current NSF guidance for budget expectations and limits rather than treating the summary field as a definitive cap.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cultural Anthropology Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.075.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 26, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 15, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 19 560

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