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Perception, Action & Cognition (PAC)

Important information about NSF’s implementation of the revised 2 CFR

NSF Financial Assistance awards (grants and cooperative agreements) made on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the applicable set of award conditions, dated October 1, 2024, available on the NSF website. These terms and conditions are consistent with the revised guidance specified in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024.

Important information for proposers

All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

Supports theoretically motivated research aimed at increasing understanding of human perception, action and cognition and their interactions.

Supports theoretically motivated research aimed at increasing understanding of human perception, action and cognition and their interactions.

Synopsis

The aim of the PAC program is to support empirically grounded, theoretically engaged and methodologically sophisticated research in a wide range of topic areas related to human perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes and their interactions. The PAC program welcomes a wide range of perspectives and a variety of methodologies (including computational modeling if the goal is to expand explanatory theories of human perception, action, or cognition). PAC strongly encourages proposals that examine human behavior in realistic (or real-world) scenarios, with more inclusive subject populations than have been used historically. It is expected that knowledge gained from PAC-supported projects will have a clear and direct path towards benefitting society. PAC is open to co-review of proposals submitted to other programs both within the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate and across other directorates.

Note: Proposals may be returned without review if the primary goal of the research is to understand (1) structure/function mappings between PAC processes and neural activity; (2) clinical populations per se; or (3) behavior of non-human animals without a clear and direct impact on our understanding of human perception, action or cognition. Before submitting a proposal, investigators are encouraged to email sbe-pac@nsf.gov with a one-page summary of the proposed research (modeled after the Project Summary page of a standard proposal and including a description of both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts) in order to confirm appropriateness of the work for the PAC program.

PIs are strongly encouraged to submit the Single Copy Document titled “List of Suggested Reviewers” with their full proposal. Sharing of data and other materials is an expectation for funded research. Please consult the NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Effective Practices for Data for more details.

Interested in talking with a program director? Send a one-page description of the proposed research to sbe-pac@nsf.gov.

Program contacts

Betty K. Tuller
Program Director
btuller@nsf.gov (703) 292-7238 SBE/BCS
Simon Fischer-Baum
Program Director
sfischer@nsf.gov (703) 292-8740 SBE/BCS
Angelica T. Brewer
Program Specialist
abrewer@nsf.gov (703) 292-4636 SBE/BCS

Awards made through this program

Browse projects funded by this program