NSF HEGS Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Award (HEGS-DDRI)

The primary objective of the Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences (HEGS) Program, formerly the Geography and Spatial Sciences (GSS) Program, is to support basic scientific research about the nature, causes, and/or consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity and/or environmental processes across a range of scales. Projects about a broad range of topics may be appropriate for support if they enhance fundamental geographical knowledge, concepts, theories, methods, and their application to societal problems and concerns. Recognizing the breadth of the field's contributions to science, the HEGS Program welcomes proposals for empirically grounded, theoretically engaged, and methodologically sophisticated geographical research. National Science Foundation's mandate is to support basic scientific research. Support is provided for projects that are most effective in grounding research in relevant theoretical frameworks relevant to HEGS, that focus on questions that emanate from the theoretical discussions, and that use scientific methods to answer those questions. HEGS supported projects are expected to yield results that will enhance, expand, and transform fundamental geographical theory and methods, and that will have positive broader impacts that benefit society. The HEGS Program recognizes that geography is a broad discipline that includes the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. However, HEGS does not fund research that is solely humanistic, non-science. A proposal to the HEGS Program must explain how the research will contribute to geographic and spatial scientific theory and/or methods development, and how the results are generalizable beyond the case study. It should be noted that HEGS is situated in the Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate at NSF. Therefore, it is critical that research projects submitted to the Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program illustrate how the proposed research is relevant and important to people and societies. A proposal that fails to be responsive to these program expectations will be returned without review. DDRI awards supported by HEGS may not exceed $20,000 in direct costs; indirect costs are in addition to this maximum direct cost limitation. The direct costs requested in a DDRI proposal must be allowable costs that will improve the conduct of dissertation research. Student stipends, tuition expenses, assistantships, and the doctoral advisor's travel expenses are NOT eligible for support. Travel to conferences to disseminate the results of research and obtain constructive feedback prior to completion of the dissertation may be included in the proposal, but DDRI awards recommended by HEGS should not have direct conference travel costs that exceed $1,000 for one conference or a total of $1,500 for two conferences. HEGS will not recommend funding of DDRI awards solely to support travel to conferences to disseminate research results. DDRI awards may be up to two years (24 months) in duration. The dissertation does not have to be completed during that time period, but costs associated with research activities to be reimbursed with DDRI funds must be incurred when the award is active. There are no proposal-submission deadlines. A doctoral student may submit a DDRI proposal to HEGS to support his/her dissertation only twice. A student and his/her advisor therefore should carefully consider what times during the student's graduate program are most appropriate for submission of a DDRI proposal. During a fiscal year, HEGS expects to recommend (either on its own or through co-funding with one or more other NSF programs) a total of 20 to 30 doctoral dissertation research improvement (DDRI) awards.

Discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences

Eligibility: Two- and four-year Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members may submit proposals. DDRI proposals must be submitted with a principal investigator (PI) and a co-principal investigator (co-PI). The PI must be the faculty member serving as the doctoral student's dissertation advisor, and the co-PI is the doctoral student. The doctoral student must be enrolled at a U.S. institution, but need not be a U.S. citizen.

Academic level: Doctoral

Citizenship: U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident, International

Award amount: Up to $20,000

Award category: Research

Award cycle: N/A (no deadline)

Population:

Contact: HEGS Program Officers gss-info@nsf.gov If you are interested in submitting an application for a DDRI Award, you must contact The Graduate College's External Funding Coordinators at gcexternalfunds@txstate.edu.