Science of Organizations

The Science of Organizations (SoO) program is an initiative of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), a leading federal agency dedicated to supporting fundamental research across all fields of science and engineering. The NSF operates under the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), with this particular program housed in the Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES). The SoO program reflects NSF’s broader mission to advance national health, prosperity, and welfare by investing in basic research that contributes to scientific understanding and real-world impact. The SoO program supports research aimed at enhancing the theoretical and empirical understanding of organizations. This includes the development, formation, and operation of organizations across public, private, for-profit, nonprofit, formal, informal, established, and emergent contexts. The program is rooted in the belief that organizations play a vital role in producing goods and services, achieving social goals, and driving societal well-being. By funding rigorous and generalizable research, SoO seeks to generate a foundational evidence base that can be applied by practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to improve organizational effectiveness. The scope of eligible research is broad, encompassing topics such as organizational behavior, governance, coordination systems, innovation, change dynamics, competitiveness, and more. Methodological diversity is encouraged, with both qualitative and quantitative approaches welcome. These may include archival research, case studies, network analyses, simulations, and experimental designs. Intellectual perspectives drawn from disciplines like economics, sociology, psychology, information sciences, entrepreneurship, and public administration are also appropriate for SoO proposals, so long as they contribute to fundamental theory building. Importantly, the SoO program is focused on basic research rather than applied program evaluation. Proposals must emphasize theoretical contributions and methodological rigor, rather than simply implementing and assessing organizational training or change interventions. Successful applications will present a strong case for intellectual merit and broader societal impacts. While NSF values potential for real-world benefits, the majority of proposal space must be dedicated to articulating theory, hypotheses, data, and methodological design. Applications to the SoO program must follow the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) in effect at the time of submission. Proposals can be submitted either via Research.gov or Grants.gov, adhering to the specific formatting and procedural guidance of each platform. Applicants are responsible for ensuring full compliance with all submission requirements. No pre-application stages such as letters of intent are specified for this program. At the time of this writing, the SoO program is not actively accepting applications and is awaiting the publication of a new program solicitation (PD 11-8031). There is no publicly posted application deadline or next anticipated opening, but researchers interested in submitting are encouraged to monitor the program's NSF page. The primary program contact is Songqi Liu, reachable via email at [email protected] or by phone at (703) 292-2542. As SoO is a recurring program, prospective applicants should plan to check back in the future for updated deadlines and solicitations.