|
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
About BCS
The Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) supports research to develop and advance scientific knowledge about humans spanning areas of inquiry including brain and behavior, language and culture, origins and evolution, and geography and the environment. In addition to the core program areas, BCS sponsors several additional crosscutting and NSF-wide funding opportunities.
Special Announcements
Strategic Plan Prepared for the Geography and Spatial Sciences (formerly Geography and Regional Science) Program Following a series of iterations over recent years, former Geography and Regional Science program officers and other NSF officials have developed a Strategic Plan for what has been renamed the Geography and Spatial Sciences Program. The strategic plan can be accessed via this link. Implementation of recommendations in the strategic plan started in February, 2009. GSS program officers expect the functional implications of this change to be minimal for investigators who are submitting proposals to the program or who have awards managed by the program. Questions or comments regarding the strategic plan may be directed to the GSS program officers: Thomas Baerwald (tbaerwal@nsf.gov, 703-292-7301); Scott Freundschuh (sfreunds@nsf.gov, 703-292-4995); and Kenneth Young (kryoung@nsf.gov, 703-292-8457). A Unique Panel Data Set Just Released: A Rural Indigenous Population in the Bolivian Amazon Integrating to the National and International Market Economy The Tsimane' Amazonian Panel Study (TAPS) has just released a unique annual panel data set 2002-2006 (inclusive) that follows a native Amazonian horticultural and foraging society experiencing rapid integration to the rest of the world. The study of those changes through panel observations can yield very valuable information about how processes such as globalization, market exposure, or trade opening affect cultural (identity, local ecological knowledge), economic (income, consumption), psychological (happiness), and biological (health, nutrition, growth) dimensions of well-being. Funded largely by the program of Cultural Anthropology of the National Science Foundation, the panel study has been tracking about 1,500 native Amazonians in about 250 households of 13 villages along the Maniqui River, Department of Beni, Bolivia, and has introduced agricultural development projects. TAPS surveys take place every year during June-August. The first five-years of data, 2002-2006 (inclusive), are now available to the public in STATA. TAPS has been receiving widespread attention and was recently featured in The Economist and a BBC report. Research from TAPS has appeared in journals in human biology, anthropology, history, psychology, and development economics. To date, the TAPS data have been mainly used in cross-sectional analysis, but the data is now ready for use as a panel. To request access to the 2002-2006 panel data set and its documentation, go to the following web site at (http://people.brandeis.edu/~rgodoy/research/pgs/panel.html) or contact Ricardo Godoy (781-736-2784, rgodoy@brandeis.edu).
Programs and Funding Opportunities
Key:  Crosscutting |  NSF-wide
Featured NSF-wide Programs
View All NSF-wide Programs
NSF Educational Opportunities by Audience
For Undergraduate Students
For Graduate Students
For Postdoctoral Fellows
For K-12 Educators
|
