High-Risk Research in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology
Small NSF grants support feasibility assessment for clearly high-risk biological anthropology or archaeology projects that could lead to a larger research program.
⚑ Applicants must contact the cognizant NSF Program Director before submission. · No deadline stated in the notice. · Award ceiling is $35,000. · Proposals must be clearly high-risk and feasibility-oriented.
This is a biological anthropology/archaeology feasibility program, which is outside IPPRA’s social-behavioral portfolio. The team’s strengths are public opinion, risk communication, education policy, and weather/energy security research, so there is no plausible PI-level fit here.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-07-07
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 65 good | outside portfolio topics; signature methods: community engaged; social/behavioral work is central; funds applied research; capped at 65 (limited social-science role) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 55 good | technical depth: minor; funds applied research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 20 weak | funds applied research |
Description
Anthropological research may be conducted under unusual circumstances, often in distant locations. As a result the ability to conduct potentially important research may hinge on factors that are impossible to assess from a distance and some projects with potentially great payoffs may face difficulties in securing funding. This program gives small awards that provide investigators with the opportunity to assess the feasibility of an anthropological research project. It is required that the proposed activity be clearly high risk in nature. The information gathered may then be used as the basis for preparing a more fully developed research program.
Investigators must contact the cognizant NSF Program Director before submitting an HRRBAA proposal. This will facilitate determining whether the proposed work is appropriate for HRRBAA support.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: U.S. National Science Foundation <grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · National Science Foundation conventions SEE AN NSF EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — National Science Foundation's document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.