Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences

The National Science Foundation Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences is a civilian sub-agency within NSF that awards federal grants and contracts to support research in psychology, cognitive science, economics, sociology, anthropology, and related behavioral disciplines.

The Division's contracting footprint is minimal relative to its grant-making mission. Since 2015, it has issued 22 contracts totaling $1.1 million in combined potential value to 17 distinct prime contractors, with awards declining in recent years—3 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 3 in 2023, 2 in 2024, and 1 in 2025. The most recent contract award is recorded as of January 1, 2025. Lyme Computer Systems, Inc., dominates the contracting base by award count, holding 4 of the last 5 years' 13 awards and $217 thousand in combined potential value. The contract portfolio is highly fragmented by value, with the top five primes accounting for 45% of combined potential value and the remaining contractors spread across small engagements. Ninety-one percent of awards carry no set-aside designation; a single 8(a) sole-source award and one small-business set-aside comprise the remainder.

Grant-making is the Division's primary funding mechanism. It has issued 2,673 grants obligating $600 million in federal dollars since 2001, with recent annual activity at 313 in 2022, 321 in 2023, 298 in 2024, 279 in 2025, and 12 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award closed on August 1, 2026. All grants are structured as Project Grants. Grant recipients are highly fragmented, with the top five universities by recent award count—Regents of the University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, The Pennsylvania State University, University of Florida, and The Regents of the University of Colorado—holding only 11% of awards and the top five by federal dollars holding 6% of combined federal dollars obligated. University of Michigan leads with 39 awards and $8.9 million obligated over the last five years; 353 additional recipients share the remaining $600 million. The Division funds research through Project Grants exclusively, with no Cooperative Agreements or other assistance types in the recent portfolio.

Contract opportunities at this Division are sparse and sporadic; prospective bidders should target the grant solicitation pipeline instead.

The Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences supports research that develops and advances scientific knowledge about the brain, human cognition, language, social behavior, and culture including research on the interactions between human societies and their environments. BCS programs consider both disciplinary proposals and interdisciplinary projects.