NSF Funding For Integrative Research on Behavioral Science and Cybersecurity

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soliciting proposal submissions for the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program, which addresses security and privacy challenges through integrative research, seeking new methods for designing and operating cyber systems, protecting current systems, and educating the public about cybersecurity.

SaTC will fund investigators via the Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award, which grants recipients with up to $300,000 for two years. Current scientific and practical applications of cybersecurity involve behavioral science elements, so EAGER proposals require collaboration between principal investigators in the fields supported by the NSF Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate, such as psychological scientists, and investigators conducting work related to NSF’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate.

NSF will fund up to 10 EAGER awards to researchers doing CISE or SBE-type work who have not previously received a SaTC award. The proposed topic must be interdisciplinary, in early stages of exploration, and new to the SaTC program. Suggested topics, which include themes in behavioral science and usability and human interaction, can be found in a recent SaTC program solicitation (NSF 18-572), but other relevant topics are welcomed by NSF.

Prior to submitting a proposal, scientists are asked to send an email and one-page summary of the project to the program directors, who will review the described research and inform applicants if they are encouraged to apply. Approved proposals should describe the contributions of the SBE and CISE disciplines to the topic and the intellectual benefits of the research for the SaTC community. Ideal proposals will support untested but transformative new approaches, applications of expertise, or use of novel integrative perspectives.

Proposals are due December 12, 2018.

For details and instructions for submission, view the NSF Dear Colleague Letter proposal announcement, “Enabling Early-Stage Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) Socio-Technical Interdisciplinary Collaborations.”

To learn more about the intersection of psychological science and cybersecurity, be sure to read the November 2017 Observer cover story, “Psyber Security: Thwarting Hackers with Behavioral Science.”