The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories. NSF was established in 1950 by Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.
The Accountable Institutions and Behavior (AIB) Program aims to support basic scientific research that enhances the understanding and knowledge regarding a wide variety of issues tied to attitudes, behavior, and institutions that relate directly to public policy and service provision. This grant seeks theoretically motivated, conceptually clear, methodologically sound, and empirically based research proposals. Supported substantive areas cover individual and group decision-making processes, political institutions (whether appointed or elected), attitude and preference formation and expression, electoral processes and voting, public administration, and public policy. Research may concentrate on a singular case study or employ a comparative approach, be it temporally or cross-sectionally. Although the program does not support applied research, it does encourage proposals that offer research experiences for undergraduates and projects that develop new methodologies or infrastructure. The program also points applicants towards other potentially relevant NSF programs within the Law and Science (LS) and Security and Preparedness (SAP) domains.