Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Awards
U.S. National Science Foundation
Deadline: TBD
Summary
The Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program aims to support basic scientific research on the spatial distribution of human activity and environmental processes, emphasizing the integration of diverse methodologies and theoretical contributions to geographical science. Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education in the U.S., with proposals requiring a principal investigator and a co-principal investigator, typically involving doctoral students. To apply, proposals must articulate how they contribute to geographical theory and demonstrate generalizability beyond specific case studies.
Full description
Description
The objective of the Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program is to support basic scientific research about the nature, causes and/or consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity and/or environmental processes across a range of scales. Contemporary geographical research is an arena in which diverse research traditions and methodologies are valid. Recognizing the breadth of the field's contributions to science, the HEGS Program welcomes proposals for empirically grounded, theoretically engaged, and methodologically sophisticated, generalizable research in all sub-fields of...
geographical and spatial sciences.
Because the National Science Foundation's mandate is to support basic scientific research, the NSF Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences program does not fund research that takes as its primary goal humanistic understanding or applied research.HEGS welcomes proposals that creatively integrate scientific and critical approaches, and that engage rigorous quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods in novel ways.However, a proposal that applies geographical/spatial methods to a social problem but does not propose how that problem provides an opportunity to make a theory-testing and/or theory expanding contributions to geographical science will be returned without review. HEGS supported projects are expected to yield results that will enhance, expand, and transform fundamental geographical theory and methods, and that will have positive broader impacts that benefit society.A proposal to the HEGS Program must also articulate how the results are generalizable beyond the case study.
It should be noted that HEGS is situated in the Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate at NSF. Therefore, it is critical that research projects submitted to the Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program illustrate how the proposed research questions engage human dimensions relevant and important to people and societies.
A proposal that fails to be responsive to these program expectations will be returned without review.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants
Miscellaneous
- Other
Additional information
*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
-
The PI must be the advisor of the doctoral student or another faculty member at the U.S. university where the doctoral student is enrolled. There is no limitation on the number of times that an individual may be the principal investigator on a DDRI proposal submitted to HEGS, either during a specific competition or over the course of her/his career.
A doctoral student may submit a DDRI proposal to HEGS to support her/his dissertation research only twice during her/his lifetime. A student and her/his advisor therefore should carefully consider what times during the student's graduate program are most appropriate forsubmission ofa DDRI proposal.
- Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.
The PI must be the advisor of the doctoral student or another faculty member at the U.S. university where the doctoral student is enrolled. There is no limitation on the number of times that an individual may be the principal investigator on a DDRI proposal submitted to HEGS, either during a specific competition or over the course of her/his career.
A doctoral student may submit a DDRI proposal to HEGS to support her/his dissertation research only twice during her/his lifetime. A student and her/his advisor therefore should carefully consider what times during the student's graduate program are most appropriate forsubmission ofa DDRI proposal.
Grantor contact information
Description
NSF grants.gov support
grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov
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Apply on official siteUpdated Oct 30, 2025
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