Division of Social Behavioral and Economic Science

The National Science Foundation Division of Social and Economic Science is a civilian sub-agency within NSF that funds research in economics, sociology, political science, and related fields through grants and selective contract work. The Division operates under NSF's broader research-funding mandate and pursues both grant and contract mechanisms to advance social and economic science inquiry.

Contract activity at the Division is minimal. The portfolio includes a single contract award closed in November 2021: Lynker Corporation received a $24 million potential-value contract with $22.4 million obligated. No open contract opportunities are recorded.

Grant activity dominates the Division's federal funding footprint. The Division has awarded 2,099 grants cumulatively since 2010, obligating $586.6 million in federal dollars (with $592.8 million in combined federal and non-federal matching funds). Recent grant volume has declined: 224 awards in 2022, 207 in 2023, 222 in 2024, 139 in 2025, and 8 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent grant award is dated July 2026. Grant recipients are highly fragmented, with the top five recipients accounting for 16 percent of recent awards and 10 percent of federal dollars. The National Bureau of Economic Research Inc. leads by both award count (46 awards, $24.8 million federal dollars) and by federal-dollar value, followed by the Regents of the University of Michigan (18 awards, $20.5 million), Arizona State University (20 awards, $6 million), the University of Chicago (21 awards, $5 million), and Cornell University (22 awards, $4.8 million). The long tail of 290 additional recipients reflects the Division's practice of distributing funding across a wide range of academic and research institutions. The assistance-type mix is predominantly Project Grants (2,097 awards, 100 percent of recent activity), with negligible Cooperative Agreement activity (2 awards total in the portfolio history).

The Division offers no set-asides on contract activity; the single closed award was unrestricted. Recent grant opportunities are not recorded in the source.

The Division of Social and Economic Sciences seeks to enhance the understanding of individual, social, and organizational behavior by creating and sustaining social science infrastructure, and by supporting disciplinary and interdisciplinary research that advances knowledge in the social and economic sciences.