Perception, Action Cognition

The Perception, Action & Cognition (PAC) program is a federal research funding opportunity administered by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences. The PAC program supports theoretically motivated and empirically grounded research designed to improve scientific understanding of human perception, motor behavior, cognition, and the interactions among these domains. The program has existed since at least 2002 and continues to support advanced interdisciplinary scientific research across psychology, cognitive science, behavioral science, computational cognition, and related human-centered fields. NSF notes that all proposals must comply with the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and associated NSF award terms and conditions. The primary purpose of the PAC program is to fund methodologically sophisticated research that advances explanatory theories regarding human perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes. The program explicitly welcomes a wide range of theoretical perspectives and research methodologies, including computational modeling when such methods are used to expand understanding of human perception, action, or cognition. NSF strongly encourages proposals that examine human behavior in realistic or real-world settings and proposals that include diverse subject populations. The agency further states that projects funded through PAC should demonstrate a clear and direct pathway toward societal benefit. The program is also open to co-review arrangements with other NSF programs and directorates when research spans multiple scientific disciplines. The announcement identifies several research areas that may not be appropriate for PAC funding unless they clearly contribute to understanding human perception, action, or cognition. NSF warns that proposals may be returned without review if the primary goal is to understand neural structure-function mappings, study clinical populations as the primary focus, or examine non-human animal behavior without a direct impact on human cognition research. To reduce the likelihood of submitting an inappropriate proposal, investigators are encouraged to contact the PAC program before submission by emailing a one-page project summary that includes both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts statements. Program staff also encourage investigators interested in discussing research concepts to contact the program directly using the official PAC email address. Although the PAC page does not specify a fixed award ceiling, floor, total annual funding amount, or expected number of awards, the program functions as an ongoing federal research grant opportunity under NSF’s standard full proposal submission process. Proposals may be submitted either through Research.gov or Grants.gov, and applicants must follow the relevant NSF proposal preparation guidelines depending on the submission platform selected. The opportunity currently indicates that there are no upcoming due dates and that Program PD 09-7252 is awaiting a new publication. This suggests that the opportunity may be temporarily inactive while remaining part of NSF’s recurring research funding portfolio. The announcement does not identify a rolling submission policy, but the continuing program structure and publication history indicate that future solicitations or updated program guidance are expected. The program is open nationally to eligible U.S.-based institutions and organizations permitted to apply for NSF funding under standard NSF eligibility policies. While the page does not explicitly enumerate all applicant categories, NSF research grants are commonly submitted by institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and other qualified research entities. The program also highlights expectations for funded researchers regarding data sharing and dissemination practices. NSF specifically references its Dear Colleague Letter on Effective Practices for Data and notes that sharing of data and research materials is an expectation for funded projects. Principal investigators are strongly encouraged to submit a “List of Suggested Reviewers” as part of the Single Copy Documents section of the proposal package. The PAC program provides multiple contact and support resources for prospective applicants. The primary program contact is listed as SBE PAC, with the official program email address of sbe-pac@nsf.gov and telephone number (703) 292-8740. Additional program resources include links to related NSF initiatives, reviewer volunteer opportunities, mailing list subscriptions, and Dear Colleague Letters addressing broader impacts, language science diversification, computational cognition, and student research assistantships. Because no active due date is currently posted, applicants are advised to monitor NSF funding announcements for updated publication guidance and future proposal deadlines associated with Program PD 09-7252.

Emphasize empirically grounded and theoretically engaged research with clear societal benefit, realistic human behavior scenarios, diverse participant populations, and strong methodological sophistication.