Integrative Paleoanthropology Grants  (IPG)

CONTACTS

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Apply to PD 12-1393 as follows:

For full proposals submitted via FastLane: standard Grant Proposal Guidelines apply.
For full proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide; A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide)

Important Notice to Proposers

A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 13-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this funding opportunity.

Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.

A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.

SYNOPSIS

The Biological Anthropology and Archaeology Programs are pleased to invite investigators to apply for an "Integrative Paleoanthropology Grant."  In 2012, contingent on availability of funds, the Programs plan to make a single award for a maximum of $1,000,000 to support a multi-year project of up to five years in duration. 

The goal of the competition is to further innovative, integrative research to elucidate the principles which underlie hominin biological and behavioral evolution over deep time. While the intellectual scope of the competition is thus constrained, the potential methodologies and disciplines are not. It is understood, for example, that fields such as cognitive science, genetics or mathematical modeling may be directly relevant to such an endeavor.  The competition is intended to stimulate integrative research which crosses normal disciplinary and intellectual boundaries in original ways and this aspect is a central criterion and requirement of the competition.  Competition organizers recognize the difficulty in defining concepts such as "innovative integrative research" since much paleoanthropological research is currently interdisciplinary and integrative in nature.  "Integration", for example, need not only be cross-disciplinary but might encompass broader perspectives on regional and large scale comparative issues. Proposals are required to address this issue directly in the project description by using up to two pages of the 15 to specifically speak to how the proposed research is both integrative and innovative beyond norms currently in practice and how the proposed research could not be accomplished otherwise.  Reviewers and Program Officials will place significant weight on this criterion.

Applicants should submit their proposal to either the Biological Anthropology or Archaeology Programs by 4/18/2012. Proposals should follow standard Program guidelines (except for the listed target dates) that are available on the Program's web site, and should be identified by the inclusion of the "IPG" prefix in the application title. Please note the NSF requirement that proposals requesting postdoctoral support must include a postdoctoral mentoring plan.  Also, NSF requires that all proposals contain a data management plan.  Both of these plans have a specific place under Supplementary Documents on the Form Preparation screen in Fastlane.  Proposals will be evaluated through both outside review and a specially constituted panel. In addition to the specifics discussed above, standard NSF review criteria apply.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Archaeology and Archaeometry

Biological Anthropology

THIS PROGRAM IS PART OF

Anthropological Sciences

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program