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Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC)

Table of Contents

gold button Research Opportunities
gold button Potential Topics
gold button Proposal Submission Information
gold button Participating Programs
gold button Special Research Opportunities in FY99
gold button Additional Information
gold button HDGC Awards Lists



Last Update: 4-13-99
E-mail: geowebmaster@nsf.gov
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Research Opportunities

The National Science Foundation supports basic research on the Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC). HDGC research focuses on the interactions between human and natural systems, with an emphasis on the social and behavioral processes that shape and influence those interactions.

Proposals for general research on HDGC must be clearly related to social, psychological, economic, demographic, anthropological, geographic, governmental, legal, institutional, and/or ethical aspects of global change including the development of statistical methodology and mathematics models. Although the emphasis is on global change, proposals for research on regional or local phenomena are welcome provided the implications for global effects are clearly specified in the proposal. Proposals should be well grounded in relevant social science theory, they should explain how the research will contribute to the enhancement of that theory, and they should clearly outline and justify the research methods to be used. Proposals to build or synthesize databases should include detailed research plans for use of the data.

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Potential Topics

Potential topics for research on HDGC, as identified by a federal interagency white paper on HDGC research, a federal interagency report on economics and global change, and a National Research Council report on priorities for HDGC, include, but are not limited to, research on:

  • impacts of population on the environment, including international migration
  • innovation and diffusion processes related to global environmental change
  • resource use and management, including land use, land cover, and land use technologies
  • anticipatory and reactive adaptation and mitigation
  • global collective action, institutions and governance, including the sociolegal and ethical dimensions of global phenomena
  • economic issues, including international trade patterns and global sectoral models
  • methodological issues, including non-market valuation, environmental accounting, and techniques for large-scale modeling

In addition to general HDGC research, NSF supports basic research on topics relevant to the formation and execution of environmental policies. The objective of policy sciences research for HDGC, as defined for the purposes of this competition, is to advance basic research on the processes, methodological tools, and formal models fundamental to the creation, implementation, and evaluation of environmental policies. The NSF encourages proposals that incorporate interdisciplinary approaches and/or interdisciplinary collaborations on research issues relevant to environmental policies. In addition to furthering basic research on environmental policy issues, the NSF seeks to support the communication and dissemination of results to the policy communities.

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Proposal Submission Information

HDGC is a coordinated activity sustained by the cooperation of programs in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) and the Office of Polar Programs (OPP). Proposals should be submitted to the most relevant program in these units in accordance with the guidelines in the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG), NSF 00-2.

HDGC projects that will produce data and information of value to the broader global change research communities must include a special information and supplementary documentation section (Proposal Section I) titled "Data and Information Availability." Section I is described in detail on page 10 of the GPG, and is not counted in the 15-page Project Description limitation. This discussion should describe the data and information products, the management plans for their validation, quality control and archiving, and the costs for these activities.

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Participating Programs

Archaeology, Archaeometry, and Systematic Collections
Arctic Social Sciences
Arctic System Science
Cultural Anthropology
Decision, Risk and Management Science
Economics
Geography and Regional Science
Human Cognition and Perception
Innovation and Organizational Change
  (Formerly Transformation to Quality Organizations)
Law and Social Science
Linguistics
Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics
Physical Anthropology
Political Science
Science and Technology Studies
Social Psychology
Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science, and Technology
  (Formerly Ethics and Values Studies and
  
Research on Science and Technology)
Sociology

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Special Research Opportunities in FY99

NSF/EPA Decision-making and Valuation for Environmental Policy
NSF/EPA Environmental Statistics
NSF/EPA Water and Watersheds

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Additional Information

People and the Arctic: A Prospectus for Research on the Human Dimensions of the Arctic System

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HDGC Awards Lists

FY 1997 Awards, Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research
FY 1997 Arctic Science, Engineering and Education Award List

FY 1996 Awards, Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research
FY 1996 Awards, Office of Polar Programs
FY 1995 Awards List for HDGC
FY 1995 HDGC Research Centers and Teams Awards List
NSF Press Release 96-40
  NSF Awards $16.8 Million to Study
  Human Dimensions of Global Change-
  Announcement of Centers and Teams Awardees

FY 1994 Awards List for HDGC
Search Award Abstracts via NSF Web

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