Fund Details
The Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative, February 2020
Award Duration
Two years
Minimum Award Amount
$5,000
Maximum Award Amount
$40,000
Sponsor Name
Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative
Sponsor Deadline
2/29/2020

Brief Description:

Harvard University established the Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative as a funding mechanism to support transformative research in the social and behavioral sciences. These research funds provide seed grants to support interdisciplinary social science research projects based on innovative experimental or observational designs that make use of sophisticated quantitative methods. 




Description:

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Harvard University established the Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative as a funding mechanism to support transformative research in the social and behavioral sciences. These research funds provide seed grants to support interdisciplinary social science research projects based on innovative experimental or observational designs that make use of sophisticated quantitative methods.  Successful proposals promise to advance understanding of the social, institutional and biological mechanisms shaping human beliefs and behavior. 

The Fund is especially interested in reviewing and supporting research on the foundations of human behavior of the following kinds:
  • Interdisciplinary projects
  • Innovative projects
  • Exploratory projects
  • Projects with the potential to have an enormous impact on social science, policy, or human well-being
  • Research conducted with the collaboration of new investigators (although investigators at all career stages are encouraged to apply)
  • Research requiring seed funding, possibly to explore the viability of ideas for larger-scale, externally funded efforts
The Fund also supports seminars, conferences, and other research-related activities.

Application Information:

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  • Proposals are capped at 3000 words, including all exhibits, but excluding bio-sketches, references, and appendices.  (Research instruments should be included as appendices.)  Please submit all sections of proposals as one PDF.
Research proposals should have the following sections:
  1. Abstract (written to be comprehensible by non-experts – 300 word limit)
  2. Specific Aims (statement of research goals and/or hypotheses -- no more than one page)
  3. Significance and Innovation (no more than one page)
  4. Research Strategy (detailed description of methods)
  5. Budget (not counted towards word limit)
  6. Appendix to include research instruments (optional; not counted towards word limit)
  7. NIH-style bio-sketch for each co-investigator (not counted towards word limit)
  8. References (not counted towards word limit)
Other proposals (e.g., for conferences, seminars) should have the following sections:
  1. Abstract (written to be comprehensible by non-experts – 300 word limit)
  2. Specific Aims (statement of research goals and/or hypotheses -- no more than one page)
  3. Significance and Innovation (no more than one page)
  4. Research Activity (detailed description of proposed activity)
  5. Budget (not counted towards word limit)
  6. NIH-style bio-sketch for each co-investigator (not counted towards word limit)
  7. References (not counted towards word limit)
Proposals from doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows must also include:
  • Letter of support from faculty sponsor evaluating project and explaining its scientific merits; and
  • Doctoral students only: Documentation of successful completion of coursework and any required oral and written exams
 
BUDGET GUIDANCE
  • Permissible expenditures include subject payments, data acquisition costs, research assistant wages and fringe benefits (as appropriate), post-doctoral fellow wages (faculty-proposed projects only) and fringe benefits (as appropriate), and other costs directly related to the research project (e.g., travel to a field experiment site, travel to work with collaborators, travel to present funded research). 
  • The Fund does not pay for equipment (e.g., computers), space, or academic/summer salary support for PIs.
  • Expenses for conference/seminar/workshop proposals must be consistent with Harvard’s reimbursement rules, including class of travel restrictions, and meal/hotel caps. 



Eligibility Criteria:

  • Eligible grant recipients are Harvard University affiliates in the following categories: full time doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and ladder faculty. 
  • Applications from doctoral students must provide certification that they have successfully completed their coursework and any required oral or written exams. 
  • Applications from doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows must be sponsored by a member of the ladder faculty and accompanied by a detailed letter from the faculty member evaluating the project and explaining the scientific merits of the project. 
  • Collaborative proposals are welcome but the lead investigator on the application must hold a ladder faculty appointment at Harvard.
  • At HMS, this program is open to ladder faculty (instructors, assistant professors, associate professors, and professors) who have primary appointments in the HMS basic and social science departments AND whose laboratories are located on the HMS Quadrangle.
  • In HSPH, eligible PIs include primary Harvard Chan School ladder faculty whose research operation is based at the Harvard Chan School.



Review Criteria:

FHB strives to review proposals: 
  • Quickly, with constructive (anonymous) feedback in the review process.  Applicants should expect a response within two months of application deadline. 
  • Critically, with only the best proposals supported.
  • Reviewers are chosen by the FHB Fund Director from a Review Committee of tenured faculty from across the Social and Natural Sciences who possess clear and demonstrated interest in furthering the understanding of human behavior.

  • In the event that no member of the Review Committee is available and/or qualified to assess a given proposal, some outside reviewers may be recruited. 

  • The members of the Review Committee will be appointed by the University Provost and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in consultation with the deans of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), Harvard Business School (HBS), and Harvard Law School (HLS). 

  • The members of this Review Committee will normally serve for one-year terms, with the possibility of reappointment.  If a member of the Review Committee fails to review proposals in a timely way, their term of appointment may be shortened to less than a year.

  • During their term of service, members of the Review Committee are not eligible to submit proposals in which they are the principal investigator.

  • Reviewers will not be allowed to review the proposals of their recent students or coauthors (within the last five years).

  • Reviewers not only rate a proposal, but provide critiques including methodological advice and constructive criticism. Reviewers will be anonymous to applicants. 

  • Proposals receive one of three ratings: Decline; Revise and Resubmit; or Support. Proposals for $5,000 or less will have one reviewer; proposals between $5,001 and $40,000 will have two reviewers.  In the event that they disagree, a resubmission will be requested.  Resubmissions can only be rated Decline or Support.

  • One and only one cycle of revisions may be requested.   (If no revision is requested, no resubmission is allowed.)  Resubmissions may only be rated Decline or Support.  Resubmitted proposals are reassigned to the reviewers from the first round.  In the event of non-agreement between the second-round reviews, a third reviewer will be assigned.

  • There is no opportunity for appeal of declined proposals in the event that applicants are not satisfied with their reviews. Projects that are not funded may not reapply.



Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Foundations for Human Behavior at FHB@fas.harvard.edu

Search Filters:
Institution
  • Harvard Business School
  • Harvard Divinity School
  • Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Graduate School of Design
  • Graduate School of Education
  • Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Harvard Kennedy School
  • Harvard Law School
  • Harvard Medical School (Quad)
  • Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM)
    Position
    • Graduate Student
    • Postdoc/Fellow
    • Instructor
    • Assistant Professor
    • Associate Professor
    • Professor
      Type of Competition
      • Harvard Internal Funding
        Discipline
        • Humanities
        • Multidisciplinary
        • Social/Behavioral Science
          Type of Award
          • Career Development
          • Early Career
          • Research
            Begin Accepting Applications Date:
            4/13/2020
            Deadline Date (EST Time Zone):
            7/10/2020 5:00 PM