Biological Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards

The Biological Anthropology Program Senior Research Awards (BA-SR), administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), supports fundamental research that advances understanding of human and primate evolution, biological variation, and the interactions between biology, behavior, and culture. Managed within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences under the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, this program facilitates research that integrates biological anthropological and evolutionary theory using field, laboratory, and computational approaches. It embraces interdisciplinary methods and encourages work across molecular, organismal, population, and ecosystem levels, considering both short-term and evolutionary timescales. The program explicitly supports activities with broader societal impacts, including those that promote STEM participation among underrepresented groups, provide training and outreach, and yield public benefits. Awarded projects are expected to engage responsibly with ethical concerns, including data sharing, researcher safety, and community engagement. An ethics statement is a required component of all proposals, and data generated must be shared publicly within two years of final collection, unless ethical considerations preclude this. Eligibility is restricted to researchers with a Ph.D. or equivalent experience at U.S.-based institutions of higher education, certain non-profit research entities, and federally recognized tribal nations. Undergraduate and graduate students may be involved in the research but may not serve as principal investigators (PIs) or co-PIs. Each PI or co-PI may submit only one proposal per cycle, with declined proposals ineligible for resubmission for a year unless substantially revised. Applications must be submitted electronically through either Research.gov or Grants.gov and adhere to the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. Submissions require a comprehensive project description, budget, supplementary ethics document, data management plan, and a separate spreadsheet listing all involved personnel. Additional materials, such as letters of collaboration and documentation of human subjects or vertebrate animal protocols, may be necessary. A project personnel list must be emailed separately within one business day of submission. The program offers standard or continuing grants, with funding typically ranging from $200,000 to $600,000 over approximately three years. The estimated number of awards per cycle is between 20 and 40, with total program funding anticipated between $4 million and $5 million, subject to availability. Matching funds are not required. The program operates on a recurring biannual submission cycle, with windows open from January 20 to January 31 and July 20 to July 30 annually. Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. in the submitting organization's local time. Proposals are reviewed using NSF’s merit review criteria, evaluating intellectual merit and broader impacts. Notification of awards or declinations is typically made within six months of submission. While not currently accepting new proposals until a new solicitation is released, the program has a clearly defined recurring structure that guides future applicants in planning their submissions.

Include a clear ethics plan and data sharing strategy; revise thoroughly before resubmission; contact program officer with a project summary for scope feedback.