Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models

The Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM) program is a collaborative effort among the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division (CDC/CORVD). Administered primarily through NSF’s Directorates for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, and Biological Sciences, this grant opportunity seeks to enhance epidemiological modeling by integrating social and behavioral processes. It is motivated by insights from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed significant gaps in existing epidemiological models due to insufficient incorporation of human behavioral patterns. The IHBEM program encourages interdisciplinary research projects that combine mathematical modeling with social, behavioral, or economic sciences. It supports collaborative projects with at least one principal investigator from each of these domains and invites additional participation from the biological sciences. The program targets significant research challenges such as modeling behavior changes over time, accounting for diverse political and social environments, integrating population heterogeneity, and identifying data requirements for robust model validation. It also supports non-human pathogen studies as long as human behavior and social factors are modeled. A total of $4 million to $6 million is available annually, with individual project budgets capped at $1 million over three to four years. Funding decisions may be made by either NSF or NIH, based on agency discretion, and award conditions will follow the policies of the awarding body. The program expects to fund approximately 10 to 15 proposals annually. Cost sharing is not permitted, and indirect cost limitations are not specified. Clinical trials are not allowed under this funding opportunity. Eligibility is limited to accredited U.S.-based two- and four-year institutions of higher education, including community colleges, that submit on behalf of their faculty. International branch campuses of U.S. institutions must justify their inclusion. There are no restrictions on who may serve as principal investigator (PI), but an individual may only be listed as a PI or co-PI on one proposal. NIH/NIDA and CDC/CORVD personnel are not permitted to participate as collaborators or in any form in proposals submitted under this solicitation. The application process requires full proposals, to be submitted via Research.gov or Grants.gov, by July 14, 2025, no later than 5:00 p.m. local time of the submitting organization. Letters of intent and preliminary proposals are not required. Proposals must include a Management Plan and may require additional supplementary documents depending on whether the research involves human subjects or vertebrate animals. The proposal should clearly state the roles of all personnel, outline communication plans, and detail mentoring strategies for students and postdoctoral researchers. Proposals will be evaluated using NSF’s standard merit review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, along with additional criteria specific to the program such as the extent of integration between disciplines and the soundness of the project management plan. Proposals selected for NIH funding will need to be reformatted and resubmitted according to NIH guidelines. Contact information for program officers across participating agencies is provided, including for NSF (e.g., Zhilan J. Feng, zfeng@nsf.gov) and NIH/NIDA (e.g., Diek Wheeler, diek.wheeler@nih.gov), as well as CDC (e.g., Phillip Salvatore, pgx5@cdc.gov).