Decision, Risk and Management Sciences | PD 23 1321

Opportunity Information: Apply for PD 23 1321

The National Science Foundation's Decision, Risk and Management Sciences (DRMS) program is a discretionary grant opportunity focused on improving how decisions are made and carried out by individuals, teams, organizations, and society as a whole. The central aim is scientific research that explains, predicts, or improves decision-making behavior and outcomes, with an emphasis on work that is both theoretically grounded and broadly generalizable rather than narrowly case-specific. DRMS is positioned within the social and behavioral sciences, so proposals are expected to be built on established or emerging theory and to use rigorous social and behavioral science methods to advance fundamental knowledge while also speaking to important societal problems and producing strong broader impacts.

DRMS supports both disciplinary and interdisciplinary projects, meaning it can fund work rooted in a single field (such as psychology, economics, sociology, organizational behavior, political science, or related areas) as well as research that integrates multiple perspectives and methods. The program invites proposals across several main topic areas: judgment and decision making; decision analysis and decision aids; risk analysis, risk perception, and risk communication; societal and public-policy decision making; and management science and organizational design. In practice, this creates room for research on how people perceive and respond to uncertainty, how groups coordinate and resolve tradeoffs, how organizations structure incentives and processes to improve decisions, and how policies can be designed and communicated in ways that better reflect real human behavior.

In addition to standard research grants, DRMS funds Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIGs) intended to strengthen dissertation projects by improving the quality and feasibility of the research plan, data collection, and analysis. Applicants pursuing DDRIG support are directed to follow a separate DRMS-DDRIG solicitation that provides the detailed preparation requirements and expectations specific to dissertation improvement proposals. The program also supports conferences, which can be used to build research communities, synthesize evidence, set research agendas, and accelerate progress on key questions in decision, risk, and management sciences.

A notable feature of the program is its willingness to use special NSF funding mechanisms when the research situation calls for it. DRMS supports RAPID proposals for time-sensitive research involving ephemeral data, most commonly in connection with disasters or other unexpected events where key information would be lost without immediate study. Much more rarely, DRMS will consider EAGER proposals, which are meant for highly unusual, proof-of-concept, high-risk projects that could be transformational if successful. Specific rules for RAPID and EAGER mechanisms are handled through the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), referenced in the solicitation.

DRMS also draws an important boundary around what it will and will not fund. While it includes management science and organizational design, proposals that are purely algorithmic in nature are not considered a fit for DRMS and should instead be submitted to NSF's Operations Engineering (OE) program. In other words, DRMS is looking for management-science research that remains connected to behavioral or organizational theory and that advances understanding of decision processes and outcomes, rather than proposals focused only on algorithm development without a substantive social or behavioral science contribution.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include the funding opportunity title "Decision, Risk and Management Sciences," opportunity number PD 23 1321, and CFDA number 47.075 under the National Science Foundation. The funding instrument type is a grant, the activity category is "Science and Technology and other Research and Development," and eligibility is listed as unrestricted. The original closing date provided is 2024-08-19. The listing does not specify an award ceiling or expected number of awards in the provided fields, so applicants typically need to consult the full NSF program page and current PAPPG guidance for budget norms, submission windows, and any updated programmatic priorities.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Decision, Risk and Management Sciences" 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 2023-05-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for PD 23 1321

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