Update on the Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Economic Systems (DISES) program

The Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES) program has evolved since its initial beginnings as a part of the Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) program. The current iteration is a progression of the Coupled Natural and Human Systems program, which grew out of BE in Fiscal Year 2006. Nearly 20 years of impactful projects have spawned several new areas of research and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Recognizing the growth of research into human-environmental systems and analyzing how NSF supports this area of research, NSF has decided to conclude the DISES program after awards made in Fiscal Year 2024. 

Although there will be no funding for new DISES awards in Fiscal Year 2025, support for research on interactions between human and environmental systems will continue through other programs across the agency.

Programs that may be of interest to researchers in this area include: 

• Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet, which will support community champions and academic researchers to co-design projects that deliver evidence-based, actionable solutions that reduce the risk from earth system hazards to safeguard communities and ecosystems for a resilient planet.
• Civic Innovation Challenge is a multi-agency program that supports the transition of foundational research to practice and emerging technologies into communities through civic-engaged research. 
• Centers for Research and Innovation in Science, the Environment and Society, which supports interdisciplinary research to create evidence-based solutions that strengthen human resilience, security and quality of life by addressing seemingly intractable challenges that confront society. 
• Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases is a multi-agency program that supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, organismal and social drivers that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, including through international collaborations.
• Growing Convergence Research, which supports team research that integrates across disciplines to develop highly innovative solutions to complex research problems or societal needs.

Other programs that support aspects of the work supported by DISES include the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice in collaboration with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies; the Smart and Connected Communities program; Strengthening American Infrastructure; and Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks. 

Researchers can also find other programs, including relevant core programs, by using the NSF Funding Search tool.

Researchers wishing to submit proposals to these programs and/or in this area of research are encouraged to speak withprogram officers within the Directorates for Biological Sciences; Geosciences; and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, including those listed as contacts on the above-linked program pages, about their proposed research to determine within which program it best fits. A one-page concept outline can help program officers determine if the proposed research is a good fit to the scope of their program and assist principal investigators in finding additional NSF funding opportunities they may wish to consider.