Perception, Action & Cognition

U.S. National Science FoundationAmount not specifiedClosed

Researchers Schools & universities Nonprofits Broad eligibility

Deadline: Aug 3, 2026
Posted: Mar 6, 2009
Award amount: Amount not specified
Focus areas: Science and Technology and other Research and Development

In plain English

The U.S. National Science Foundation's Perception, Action & Cognition (PAC) program supports empirical and theoretical research on human perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes and their interactions. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, open to any entity type, though awards typically go to universities and research organizations. Proposals focused mainly on neural structure/function mapping, clinical populations, or non-human animals may be returned without review. Award amounts are not specified here.

AI-generated summary to help you decide quickly — verify the official eligibility rules before applying.

Who can apply

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

About this grant

The aim of the PAC program is to support empirically grounded, theoretically engaged and methodologically sophisticated research in a wide range of topic areas related to human perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes and their interactions. The PAC program welcomes a wide range of perspectives and a variety of methodologies (including computational modeling if the goal is to expand explanatory theories of human perception, action, or cognition). PAC strongly encourages proposals that examine human behavior in realistic (or real-world) scenarios and that include varied subject population. It is expected that knowledge gained from PAC-supported projects will have a clear and direct path towards benefitting society. PAC is open to co-review of proposals submitted to other programs both within the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate and across other directorates. Note: Proposals may be returned without review if the primary goal of the research is to understand (1) structure/function mappings between PAC processes and neural activity; (2) clinical populations per se; or (3) behavior of non-human animals without a clear and direct impact on our understanding of human perception, action or cognition. Before submitting a proposal, investigators are encouraged to email sbe-pac@nsf.gov with a one-page summary of the proposed research (modeled after the Project Summary page of a standard proposal and including a description of both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts) in order to confirm appropriateness of the work for the PAC program. PIs are strongly encouraged to submit the Single Copy Document titled “List of Suggested Reviewers” with their full proposal. Sharing of data and other materials is an expectation for funded research. Please consult the NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Effective Practices for Data for more details. Interested in talking with a program director? Send a one-page description of the proposed research to sbe-pac@nsf.gov .

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Perception, Action &amp; Cognition