Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences

The National Science Foundation Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS) is a civilian federal agency that supports basic research in the cognitive, psychological, anthropological, geographic, and social sciences. BCS funds research to develop and advance scientific knowledge focusing on human cognition, language, social behavior, cultural evolution, human origins, and interactions between humans and their environments. The division provides financial support through a variety of mechanisms including research grants, fellowships, workshops, and conferences, with particular emphasis on doctoral dissertation research and projects that involve interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human behavior and cognition.

The Division's recent contract awards demonstrate investments in administrative training and information technology equipment. In January 2025, BCS awarded a $14,611 firm fixed-price purchase order to Management Concepts, Inc. for the delivery of "Appropriations Law" training, indicating a need for specialized federal budgetary education for agency staff. The remaining contract awards were allocated toward IT equipment acquisitions, with two delivery orders placed under the Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement V (SEWP V) government-wide acquisition contract in July 2024. These orders include a $14,984.01 award to Lyme Computer Systems, Inc. and a significantly larger $77,133.77 award to New TECH Solutions, Inc., an 8(a) certified Subcontinent Asian American owned business.

The contracting data reveals that BCS maintains relatively modest contract spending in comparison to its grant-making activities, with total contract awards in the provided data amounting to approximately $106,729. The agency appears to primarily use the SEWP V vehicle for IT procurement needs, suggesting that vendors with access to this contract might have advantageous positioning for future opportunities. None of the recent contract awards were designated as small business set-asides, though the agency did engage with a small business and an 8(a) certified firm for its IT equipment needs, indicating some level of commitment to supplier diversity despite the absence of formal set-asides.

The Division's grant awards reflect its core mission funding scientific research in behavioral and cognitive sciences, with particular emphasis on doctoral dissertation research. The grants awarded between February and April 2025 predominantly support doctoral dissertation projects across diverse disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and environmental sciences. These grants typically fund field research, data collection and analysis, and laboratory studies. Common research methodologies supported include ethnographic techniques, cognitive testing, isotopic analysis, neuroimaging, archaeological excavation, and various computational approaches to analyzing human behavior and cognition.

Most grant awards focus on understanding human adaptation, cognition, language development, social dynamics, and ecological interactions. Recurring themes include investigations of climate adaptation, resource management, social structures in ancient and contemporary societies, language acquisition and processing, and evolutionary biology. Several projects specifically examine how indigenous and traditional communities adapt to changing environmental and social conditions. The division also supports conference and travel grants to facilitate knowledge exchange and professional development within the scientific community, such as the Vision Sciences Society meetings. These investments demonstrate BCS's commitment to advancing fundamental understanding of human behavior and cognition while developing the next generation of researchers through substantial support for doctoral dissertation research.