From The Chronical of Higher Education: Senate Moves to Limit NSF Spending on Political Science

Senate Moves to Limit NSF Spending on Political Science

By Paul Basken

Washington

Congress took a giant step on Wednesday toward easing the threat of another budget stalemate, but the price of securing that compromise will continue to be felt at research universities and especially at those involved in political science.

The Senate, by a vote of 73 to 26, approved a measure to finance the government through the end of the fiscal year, on September 30. The bill is expected to win approval in the House of Representatives.
But the legislation would restore very little of the 5-percent cuts in the budgets of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation that took effect on March 1 as a result of a process known as sequestration.

And the Senate included an amendment that broadly restricts the ability of the NSF to approve any grants involving political science unless the agency can certify them "as promoting national security or the economic interests of the United States."

Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program

The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program for 2012 is accepting applications until April 23, 2012. This program provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. Projects may include short-term seminars, curriculum development, group research or study, or advanced intensive language programs.

Projects must focus on the humanities, social sciences and languages, and must focus on one or more of the following areas: Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the Western Hemisphere (Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean), East Central Europe and Eurasia, and the Near East. Applications that propose projects focused on Canada or Western Europe will not be funded.

The estimated available funds for this program are $2,990,000. The estimated range of awards is $50,000–$125,000 for short-term projects and $50,000–$375,000 for long-term projects.

To read the full program announcement click here.

If you are interested in applying, please contact your department or unit's Proposal Manager in the Sponsored Programs Office.

Future Research in the Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

From the National Science Foundation:

The Directorate for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences of the National Science Foundation (NSF/SBE) seeks to frame innovative research for the year 2020 and beyond that enhances fundamental knowledge and benefits society in many ways. As a first step in engaging its community, NSF/SBE invited individuals and groups to contribute white papers in which we asked authors to outline pivotal questions that are both foundational and transformative – foundational because they reflect deep issues that engage fundamental assumptions behind disciplinary research traditions and transformative because they seek to leverage current findings to unlock new cycles of research.

The report, Rebuilding the Mosaic (October 2011), compiled out of 252 unique white papers submitted by experts in the field, sets forth major ideas, cross-cutting themes, and implications for the directorate’s programs.

Read the Report here.