SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
U.S. National Science Foundation · Opportunity 23-500
≈ 20 awards expected
Who can apply
- Others
*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: - Proposals must be submitted by the individual and not the host institution. NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship proposals are submitted directly by the postdoctoral fellow to NSF and the award is made directly to the postdoctoral fellow. Awards are not made or transferred to the host institution under any circumstance. Each postdoctoral fellow must identify one sponsoring scientist and host institution (with whom the sponsoring scientist is affiliated) at the time of proposal submission. Fellowship proposers may propose to hold the fellowship at: <ul> <li>Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members.</li> <li>Nonprofit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.</li> </ul> *Who May Serve as PI: Fellowship candidates must meet all of the following eligibility requirements: <ul> <li>The proposer must be a U.S. citizen, national or legally admitted permanent resident alien of the United States as of the proposal deadline.</li> <li>The proposer must have obtained a doctoral degree in the SBE scienceswithin the 3 years prior to the proposal deadline or will obtain a doctoral degree within 12 months after the proposal deadline but before the anticipated start date.</li> <li>The proposer cannot already hold a full-time tenure-track faculty appointment.</li> <li>The proposer cannot submit the same research to another NSFprogram.</li> </ul> Proposals must be submitted by the individual and not the host institution. NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship proposals are submitted directly by the postdoctoral fellow to NSF and the award is made directly to the postdoctoral fellow. Awards are
About this opportunity
The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) offers Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to encourageindependence earlyin the fellow'scareerby supporting his or herresearch and training goals.The research and training plan of each fellowship must address important scientific questions within thescope of the SBE directorate and the specific guidelines in this solicitation. The SPRF program offers two tracks: (I) Fundamental Research in the SBE Sciences (SPRF-FR) and (II) Broadening Participation in the SBE Sciences (SPRF-BP). See the full text of the solicitation for a detailed description of these tracks.
Portfolio context — this listing covers more than this opportunity
This opportunity is funded under Assistance Listing 47.075 (“Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences”), a broad federal program that made about 824 new awards per year over the last five fiscal years (median award $204k). Those figures describe that whole portfolio — not this specific solicitation, so we don't show them as if they were this opportunity's track record.
Applicant counts per solicitation are not published by any federal agency — no one can honestly sell you that number. NSF publishes funding rates by directorate in its Merit Review Digest — source.
Don't want to hunt for grants like this one? Get free deadline alerts for your state and focus areas.
Consultant or grant writer? See the client-ready Opportunity Brief for this grant — actual award sizes vs. the advertised ceiling, who wins, printable "prepared for your client" version.
Similar grants still open
| Opportunity | Agency | Deadline | Award ceiling | Eligible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Science of Science Approach to Analyzing and Innovating the Biomedical Research Enterprise | U.S. National Science Foundation | September 9, 2026 0d left | $250k | Nonprofits |
| Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund Grant Program – Solutions for AI-Native RAN | National Telecommunications and Information Admini | September 9, 2026 0d left | — | |
| Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE): Future Computing Research | U.S. National Science Foundation | September 10, 2026 1d left | $12M | |
| DoW Vision, Mentored Clinical Research Award | Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA | September 10, 2026 1d left | — | Nonprofits |