Law & Social Sciences  (LSS)

Special Announcements

The National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice are pleased to announce signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines a framework for cooperation and collaboration in the social, behavioral, and forensic sciences.  For more information concerning the announcement of this partnership, see its Dear Colleague Letter.

LSS Program Clarifications

• Please note that the competition for DDRIG proposals is annual, and the next due date is January 15.  Please see the LSS DDRIG web site for additional information.

• Please attend to the Law & Social Sciences Postdoctoral Fellows announcement in the solicitation.  Please note that the fellowships are project-based, and that they require at least two PIs from different disciplines.  PIs are to have a project upon which a postdoctoral fellow will work.

• Please note the description of conference and workshop awards.  Law and Social Sciences will make awards that promote interactions among scholars from multiple disciplines and that will include younger scholars and increase the participation of members of underrepresented groups, in keeping with NSF policy.

CONTACTS

PROGRAM GUIDELINES

Solicitation  12-507

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.

DUE DATES

Full Proposal Target Date:  August 1, 2013

August 1, Annually Thereafter

Full Proposal Target Date:  January 15, 2014

January 15, Annually Thereafter

SYNOPSIS

The Law & Social Sciences Program considers proposals that address social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules.  The program is inherently interdisciplinary and multi-methodological.  Successful proposals describe research that advances scientific theory and understanding of the connections between law or legal processes and human behavior.  Social scientific studies of law often approach law as dynamic, made in multiple arenas, with the participation of multiple actors.  Fields of study include many disciplines, and often address problems including though not limited to:

1. Crime, Violence and Punishment
2. Economic Issues
3. Governance
4. Legal Decisionmaking
5. Legal Mobilization and Conceptions of Justice
6. Litigation and the Legal Profession

LSS provides the following modes of support:

1. Standard Research Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research
2. Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants
3. Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowships
4. Workshop and Conference Proposals

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

Map of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

News