Grants / National Science Foundation / U.S. National Science Foundation

NSF PD-16-004Y: Science of Learning

Closed Closed Opportunity NSF PD-16-004Y ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Major Research Instrumentation Program: (MRI) (NSF 27-500). Status: Closes January 29, 2027 (83 days left). It is in our archive of U.S. National Science Foundation notices from 2025.

• Award ceiling$600,000
• Award floor$300,000
• Total funding$5.0 million
• Expected awards25
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to any type of organization.

• Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses, individuals.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences awards averaged $247,002; this notice allows up to $600,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (87% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Science of Learning program supports potentially transformative basic research to advance the science of learning. The goals of the SL Program are to develop basic theoretical insights and fundamental knowledge about learning principles, processes and constraints. Projects that are integrative and/or interdisciplinary may be especially valuable in moving basic understanding of learning forward but research with a single discipline or methodology is also appropriate if it addresses basic scientific questions in learning. The possibility of developing connections between proposed research and specific scientific, technological, educational, and workforce challenges will be considered as valuable broader impacts, but are not necessarily central to the intellectual merit of proposed research. The program will support research addressing learning in a wide range of domains at one or more levels of analysis including: molecular/cellular mechanisms; brain systems; cognitive affective, and behavioral processes; and social/cultural influences. The program supports a variety of methods including: experiments, field studies, surveys, secondary-data analyses, and modeling. Examples of general research questions within scope of the Science of Learning program include: •How does learning transfer from one context to another or from one domain to another? How is learning generalized from specific experiences? What is the basis for robust learning that is resilient against potential interference from new experiences? How is learning consolidated and reconsolidated from transient experience to stable memory? •How does the structure of the learning environment impact rate and efficacy of learning? For example, how do timing, content, learning context, developmental time point and type of engagement (e.g., active learning, group learning) impact learning processes and outcomes? •How can we integrate research findings and insights across levels of analysis, relating understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning in the neurons to circuit and systems-level computations of learning in the brain, to cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral processes of learning? What concepts, tools, or questions will provide the most productive linkages of across levels of analysis? •How can insights from biological learners contribute and derive new theoretic perspectives to computational learning systems, neuromorphic engineering, materials science, and…

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, NSF 27-500, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.