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Mind-Body Interactions and Health Program Outcome Evaluation Report
Call for Papers on Systems Science Applications in Health Promotion and Public Health
New Federal Interagency Task Force to Promote Research on the Arts and Human Development
NIH Releases Best Practices for Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Research
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National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research Registry of Measures
National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) Catalog of Surveillance Systems
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February 22, 2011
Rockville, MD
PTSD: Treatment and Prevention by Dr. Barbara O. Rothbaum
March 19-20, 2012
Bethesda, MD
5th Annual NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation: Research at the Crossroads
March 27, 2011
Rockville, MD
LGBT Demographics: Policy and Practice by Dr. Gary Gates
June 10 - 15, 2012
Washington University, St.Louis
2012 Institute on Systems Science and Health (ISSH)
July 9, 2012
San Jose, CA
Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health
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Home > About OBSSR
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About OBSSR
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Funding and Training
The National Institutes of Health provides a significant amount of funding for research and training in the behavioral and social sciences. The
following information is provided for scientists interested in learning more about specific funding opportunities in the behavioral and social sciences,
as well as the policies regulating research and training supported by the NIH.
Definition of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
At the request of Congress, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research developed a description of behavioral and social sciences research
relevant to the mission of the NIH. According to this definition, behavioral and social sciences
research is a large, multifaceted field, encompassing a wide array of disciplines. The field employs a variety of methodological approaches including:
surveys and questionnaires, interviews, randomized clinical trials, direct observation, physiological manipulations and recording, descriptive methods,
laboratory and field experiments, standardized tests, economic analyses, statistical modeling, ethnography, and evaluation. Yet, behavioral and social
sciences research is not restricted to a set of disciplines or methodological approaches. Instead, the field is defined by substantive areas of research
that transcend disciplinary and methodological boundaries. In addition, several key cross-cutting themes characterize in social and behavioral sciences
research. These include: an emphasis on theory-driven research; the search for general principles of behavioral and social functioning; the importance
ascribed to a developmental, life span perspective; an emphasis on individual variation, and variation across sociodemographic categories such gender,
age, and sociocultural status; and a focus on both the social and biological context of behavior.
The definition is divided into two sections: Core Areas of Research, and Adjunct Areas of Research. The core areas of research are further divided into
basic or fundamental research and clinical research. It should be recognized that the basic and clinical research distinction serves more of an
organizational function for purposes of this definition, rather than representing firm boundaries within the field. Indeed, many studies have both basic
and clinical components. Moreover, basic and clinical research is often complementary. Basic research frequently provides the foundation for subsequent
clinical research, and clinical research often influences the direction of basic research. Adjunct areas of behavioral and social sciences research
include many types of neurobiological research and some research on pharmacologic interventions-areas that have implications for, and are often
influenced by, behavioral research.
Funding Opportunities for Research and Training
The NIH provides funding to scientists through a variety of mechanisms supporting research, training, and scientific conferences. For up-to-date
information on NIH granting policies and available research and training grant mechanisms, visit the Home Page for the
NIH Office of Extramural Research.
The NIH announces funding
opportunities through its Guide for Grants and Contracts, which you may search for specific topics.
- OBSSR's Initiatives
(RFAs, Program Announcements)
The OBSSR develops and coordinates funding initiatives with the NIH Institutes and Centers. Although the OBSSR does not have grant-making
authority, it has been active in organizing and, in some instances, providing funds to the NIH Institutes and Centers for trans-NIH and
trans-agency Requests for Applications (RFAs) and Program Announcements (PAs). Click here for a list of current and past OBSSR-sponsored
grant funding announcements and
training activities.
- Institutes' and Centers' Initiatives
(RFAs, Program Announcements)
Almost all of the NIH Institutes and Centers fund behavioral and social sciences research and training. You can obtain information about
the funding areas for each Institute and Center via their
Home Pages.
For a recent summary of the topics and levels of support provide, see the
NIH Report to the Senate, May 2000.
(The Adobe Acrobat Reader
is needed to view the report.) You can also search the NIH database of funded grants
(CRISP)
in order to discover, among other things, which Institutes and Centers support research and/or training in specific areas.
- Tips on the Preparation of Grant Applications to the NIH
Many NIH Institutes put out guides and tip sheets on their Web sites. Here are just a few.
- Resources for New Investigators
The Office of Extramural Research (OER) has developed a HomePage for new investigators.
BSSR Guide to Grants at the NIH
OBSSR provides an e-mail service for announcing NIH funding opportunities in the behavioral and social sciences. On a monthly basis, OBSSR distributes a
listing of and hyperlinks to recent funding announcements (Program Announcements, Requests for Applications, Notices) published in the
NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.
FundSource
You can also search for funding opportunities offered by governmental and private sources at
FundSource. The National Science Foundation was the original developer of FundSource, and the
Decade of Behavior is currently
maintaining this resource. It is the first searchable funding resource devoted exclusively to the behavioral and social sciences.
Grants.gov
This site allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies. Navigation
of the site is simple. The Find Grant Opportunities feature provides the ability to search for Federal government-wide grant opportunities and to
receive notification of future grant opportunities.
Funding Opportunities for Special Populations
From time to time, NIH Institutes issue funding announcements target at specific groups of scientists in order to facilitate their research and
training. Among these groups are new investigators, researchers from racial and ethnic minorities, women reentering their research careers
after an extended absence, and physically handicapped scientists. Contact staff at specific NIH Institutes
and Centers about current opportunities.
Linking Minority Students with Behavioral and Social Sciences Mentors: NIH has long been concerned about the underrepresentation of minority scientists
participating in biomedical and behavioral research. Through its Research Supplements for Underrepresented Minorities Program, investigators with NIH
grants may receive research support for underrepresented minorities on their grants. In order to facilitate the use of this program among behavioral and
social scientists, the OBSSR has developed a web page that will link underrepresented minority students with potential research mentors.
Scientific Review of Applications
Peer Review
In recent years, the NIH has implemented a number of refinements to its policies and procedures governing peer review of research
applications. The Office of Extramural
Research, NIH, manages and maintains a site that describes in detail all aspects of peer review policy.
The majority of research applications submitted to the NIH are reviewed by the Center for Scientific Review (CSR, formerly DRG), Its HomePage provides an overview of its functions as well as the roster of peer review panels.
New Review Panels
The Center for Scientific Review (CSR, formerly DRG) has recently undertaken an intensive reorganization of its structure for the review of grant applications. With the advice and feedback of the scientific community, the
reorganization of the review groups for the behavioral and social sciences was an early step in this extensive undertaking. Under the leadership of the
Director, CSR, the Directors of participating NIH Institutes established the Behavioral and Social Sciences Review Integration Working Group, charged
with developing an array of study sections to provide competent review of applications submitted to the NIH in the areas of behavioral and social
science. The working group, chaired by Dr. Virginia Cain, Special Assistant to the Director, OBSSR, recommended the creation of new study sections. CSR has integrated these recommendations into its process for
reorganizing all review committees.
Human Subjects and Use of Animals in Research
The NIH is placing increased emphasis on safeguarding human and animal subjects involved in research that it supports. The Office of Extramural Research
maintains an active Internet site devoted to human subjects and animal welfare, including policy changes affecting researchers
and grant applicants.
Protection of Participants in Behavioral and Social Research: Researchers conducting behavioral and social sciences research often have
questions about the applicability of their research to the Federal regulations protecting human subjects (research participants). Basic questions arise
including even “Am I conducting research that involves human subjects?” See information here for a discussion of the circumstances under
which approval of research by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) may or may not be required. The National Science Foundation's Interpreting the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects for Behavioral and Social Science Research provides additional useful
information, but keep in mind that the NIH subscribes to all subparts (i.e. the Common Rule, subpart A, and subparts B, C and D) of the Department of
Health and Human Services Protections of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 46.
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