Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact | PD 19 125Y

Opportunity Information: Apply for PD 19 125Y

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact (SoSDCI) program funds research that helps explain how science works and how it can generate greater public value. The core idea is to build stronger, evidence-based understanding of the processes behind scientific discovery, how scientific information is communicated, and how scientific activity translates into real-world outcomes such as social benefit, innovation, and better policy. SoSDCI is an expansion of NSF's earlier Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program, and it continues that tradition while putting added emphasis on discovery, communication, and measurable impact.

SoSDCI is broadly interested in rigorous, empirical studies that illuminate the social and structural mechanisms shaping scientific discovery. That can include research on how individuals, teams, organizations, and institutions produce knowledge; how collaboration networks form and affect productivity; how incentives, funding structures, and career pathways influence what gets studied; and how scientific fields evolve over time. The program is also looking for theories, frameworks, models, datasets, and indicators that improve understanding of scientific communication and outcomes, including how research findings move through formal channels (journals, conferences, peer review) and informal channels (media ecosystems, online platforms, professional networks), and how that movement affects credibility, uptake, and downstream effects.

A central theme is the societal benefits of science and the pathways through which science supports evidence-based policymaking and creates public value. Proposals can examine how scientific evidence is incorporated (or fails to be incorporated) into decisions, what improves the usefulness and accessibility of research for policy and practice, and how scientific institutions can better serve public needs. The program welcomes work spanning micro, meso, and macro levels, including complex systems perspectives that connect individual behavior to organizational structure and broader systemic outcomes. Interdisciplinary and multi-method approaches are encouraged, meaning applicants can draw from social science, data science, information science, economics, political science, sociology, organizational studies, scientometrics, and related fields, as long as the work is theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous.

In terms of what makes a competitive proposal, SoSDCI signals a preference for projects that do more than deliver incremental findings. NSF is explicitly looking for models, data resources, indicators, and analytical tools that could enable transformative advances in how the scientific enterprise is understood or improved. Proposals are also expected to include credible, rigorous assessment plans that address likely impacts as well as social and policy implications. Another strong expectation is a robust data management plan aligned with open science goals, with an emphasis on making resulting materials as usable, valid, reliable, and publicly accessible as appropriate.

The program highlights U.S. competitiveness and global leadership in science as a priority area. That includes research on strategies to strengthen and diversify the scientific workforce, improve participation and advancement, and cultivate high-impact discovery across sectors (such as academia, industry, government, and nonprofits). SoSDCI also strongly encourages convergent research and collaboration, meaning projects that integrate perspectives, data, and methods across disciplines or stakeholder communities to tackle complex questions about how science is produced and used.

Like other NSF opportunities, proposals are evaluated on intellectual merit and broader impacts, but SoSDCI places extra weight on thoughtful broader impacts planning. The program notes that broader impacts should be connected to tangible societal benefits and, where relevant, to specific desired policy outcomes. Additional guidance on broader impacts for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) proposals is referenced, signaling that applicants should be intentional about how their work will be translated, shared, or applied beyond academia.

SoSDCI also places a high priority on broadening participation in science and encourages proposals and teams that are inclusive and diverse. The solicitation explicitly welcomes participation from junior faculty, women, and members of historically underrepresented groups, and it encourages submissions from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Research Undergraduate Institutions (RUIs), and institutions in EPSCoR states. This emphasis applies both to who is leading and conducting the research and to what the research seeks to understand or improve about participation and opportunity in the scientific enterprise.

The opportunity is listed as a discretionary NSF grant under CFDA 47.075 with unrestricted eligibility. Supported proposal types include Standard Research Grants, Collaborative Research Grants, a focused track on the biomedical research enterprise (SoSBIO: A Science of Science Approach to Analyzing and Innovating the Biomedical Research Enterprise), and Conference Grants. The program also participates in certain NSF cross-cutting and cross-directorate funding activities, which can create additional avenues for aligned projects. The funding opportunity number is PD 19-125Y, and the original closing date shown is 2024-09-09.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.075.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-09-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-09. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for PD 19 125Y

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