Integrative Paleoanthropology Grants (IPG) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Paleoanthropology Grants (IPG) opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number PD 11 1393) was a discretionary, research-focused grant competition run through NSF's Physical Anthropology and Archaeology Programs. Its central purpose was to push the field toward genuinely innovative, boundary-crossing work that helps explain the underlying principles shaping hominin biological and behavioral evolution across deep time. In other words, the program was not just looking for another interdisciplinary paleoanthropology project; it was explicitly trying to incentivize ambitious syntheses that connect ideas, data, and methods in ways that substantially exceed what is considered typical practice in the field.

Funding was structured around a single expected award, contingent on the availability of funds. The planned award in 2011 had a maximum ceiling of $1,000,000 total, supporting a multi-year project of up to five years in duration. NSF also signaled that, depending on how strong the response was and how funding conditions evolved, the agency might turn this into a longer-term, annually recurring competition in future years. There was no cost sharing or matching requirement stated for applicants, and eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning proposals could come from any type of entity permitted under NSF's general rules (subject to any clarifications that might appear in the full program text).

A defining feature of IPG was its strict emphasis on integration and innovation as a review-critical requirement. The intellectual target area was relatively focused: proposals needed to address fundamental questions about hominin evolution over deep time, including biological and behavioral dimensions. However, the program deliberately placed few limits on the approaches investigators could use. NSF explicitly noted that tools and perspectives from outside the traditional paleoanthropology toolkit could be directly relevant, naming examples such as cognitive science, genetics, and mathematical modeling. Integration could take multiple forms: it could mean crossing disciplinary lines (for example, linking archaeological evidence with genetic inference and computational models), but it could also mean building broader comparative frameworks across regions or time periods, or developing synthetic approaches that unite multiple scales of analysis.

Because paleoanthropology often already involves interdisciplinary collaboration, NSF acknowledged that "integrative" can be hard to define. To address this, IPG required applicants to make the case plainly and specifically in the project description. Proposals were expected to devote up to two pages (within the standard 15-page project description limit) to explain (1) how the work is integrative and innovative beyond current norms, and (2) why the research could not be accomplished without the proposed integrative design. Reviewers and NSF program officials were instructed to place significant weight on this justification, making it a central differentiator between competitive and noncompetitive submissions.

Administrative instructions were straightforward but important. Applicants had to submit their proposal by April 15, 2011, and submit it to either the Physical Anthropology Program (PD 98 1392) or the Archaeology Program (PD 98 1391), following the standard guidelines of those programs except for the special IPG target date. Proposals needed to be clearly labeled by adding the "IPG" prefix to the application title. The competition used both external (ad hoc) review and a specially constituted panel, and standard NSF merit review criteria also applied in addition to the IPG-specific emphasis on innovation and integration.

Finally, the solicitation highlighted two NSF-wide compliance requirements that applicants needed to build into their submission package. Any proposal requesting postdoctoral support had to include a Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan. Separately, starting January 18, 2011, NSF required all proposals to include a Data Management Plan. Both documents were to be uploaded in FastLane under Supplementary Documents. These requirements were not optional add-ons; they were presented as proposal components that needed to be properly included for the submission to be compliant and review-ready.

Browse more opportunities from the same agency: National Science Foundation

Browse more opportunities from the same category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development

Next opportunity: OVC FY 11 2012 NCVRW Resource Guide

Previous opportunity: Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Fire Prevention and Safety Grants

USGrants.org Applicant Portal:

Are you interested in learning about about how to apply for this government funding opportunity? You can create a free applicant account and receive instant access to our applicant portal that many business owners like you have benefited from.

Apply for PD 11 1393

 

[Watch] how do funding administrators access proposals?

Applicants also applied for:

Applicants who have applied for this opportunity (PD 11 1393) also looked into and applied for these:

 

Grant application guides and resources

It is always free to apply for government grants. However the process may be very complex depending on the funding opportunity you are applying for. Let us help you!

Apply for Grants

 

 

Premium leads for funding administrators, grant writers, and loan issuers

Thousands of people visit our website for their funding needs every day. When a user creates a grant proposal and files for submission, we pass the information on to funding administrators, grant writers, and government loan issuers.

If you manage government grant programs, provide grant writing services, or issue personal or government loans, we can help you reach your audience.

Subscribe to Leads

 

Request more information:

Would you like to learn more about this funding opportunity, similar opportunities to "PD 11 1393", eligibility, application service, and/or application tips? Submit an inquiry below:

Don't forget to subscribe to our grant alerts mailing list to receive weekly alerts on new and updated grant funding opportunities like this one in your email.