National Science Foundation
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences (SBE)
Division of Social and Economic Sciences

In fiscal year 2011, NSF made eight awards in response to proposals submitted to the NSF-Census Research Network Program Solicitation (NCRN; NSF 10-621). A list of awards is available at: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503587&org=SES&from=home.

This joint funding opportunity was supported by NSF and the U.S. Bureau of the Census to establish a set of research nodes conducting interdisciplinary research and educational activities on methodological questions of interest and significance to the broader research community and to the Federal Statistical System, particularly the U.S. Bureau of the Census. These activities are expected to advance both fundamental and applied knowledge as well as further the education of current and future generations of researchers in research skills of relevance to the statistical measurement of economic units, households, and persons and their behaviors.

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter is to advise you about funding opportunities at the National Science Foundation for the research community to propose a coordination body for these new projects. Coordinating responsibilities must include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

• Facilitate communication, information sharing, and collaboration among researchers within the network.
• Facilitate interactions with relevant members of the community outside of the network.
• Organize the biannual meetings of the research network leaders as specified in the NCRN Program Solicitation.
• Facilitate node interactions with staff from the U.S. Census Bureau and other relevant Federal Statistical System agencies.
• Host and maintain a web site for public dissemination of research findings.

This is not a new program. Except as modified here, submitted proposals should follow the guidelines outlined in the NSF Research Coordination Networks (RCN) Program Solicitation (NSF 11-531). Investigators should submit their proposal via FastLane to the Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) Program by March 1, 2012. The MMS Program plans to make one NCRN coordination award. The award is expected to be five years in duration, with a maximum total budget of $750,000.

Sincerely,

Dr. Myron Gutmann
Assistant Director
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, & Economic Sciences

MMS Program Officer Contact Information:

Dr. Cheryl L. Eavey
Phone: (703) 292-7269
Email: ceavey@nsf.gov