National Academies and National Science Foundation on front lines of COVID-19 research

The National Academies of Science and Medicine, with funding from the National Science Foundation, has launched the Societal Experts Action Networkopens in new window, or SEAN, which will quickly provide local, state, and federal policymakers with research-based insights from the social and behavioral sciences, helping officials to quickly mobilize public action in the wake of COVID-19.

“This is a unique opportunity for the social and behavioral sciences to provide high-level, actionable information to policymakers seeking to make important policy decisions on a short timeline, based on the best available data,” said Jennifer Richeson, a Yale psychologist who serves on the group’s executive committee.

SEAN is poised to use research from the social sciences to help policymakers in a number of areas, including:

• Addressing loneliness and social isolation during times of social distancing.
• Improving forecasts of local social and economic activities during the process of re-opening.
• Increasing compliance with masks, social distancing and other protective behaviors
• Preventing the reinforcement of existing inequities in education instruction and facilities.

“SEAN will be working in partnership with psychological science organizations, when relevant, to ensure its recommendations are indeed grounded in the best empirical evidence available,” Richeson said. 

To facilitate dissemination of relevant information, SEAN also maintains an online, searchable, open-access archive of survey researchopens in new window on the COVID-19 pandemic that is updated weekly.

NSF is also the recipient of substantial COVID-19-related emergency supplemental funding from Congress. As part of the recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act legislation, widely known as CARES, NSF received $75 million to support pandemic-related research through its Rapid Response Research mechanism. Of the more than 600 RAPID grants already awarded as of mid-Juneopens in new window, almost 20% are to social and behavioral science researchers, including psychological scientists, who are investigating areas such as the impact of COVID-19 on child development and learning, racial discrimination, risk perception, emotional well-being, and social attitudes and behavior.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has advocated for the critical role of social and behavioral sciences in preparing for and responding to pandemics. Most recently, APA organized virtual briefings for the House and Senate committees that oversee NSF to present social and behavioral science insights that can inform the response to COVID-19. At the briefings, psychologist Jay Van Bavel and sociologist Robb Willer discussed recent research in several areasopens in new window (PDF, 1.21MB) including threat perception, science communication, and stress and coping.

In April, APA sent a letter (PDF, 115KB)opens in new window to the House Science Committee outlining ideas for future economic stimulus packages to address and mitigate the impacts of the current COVID-19 crisis, including support for a national or international research network on pandemics, natural disasters, and climate change. APA is also advocating for a NASEM-NSF collaboration to produce an analysis of behavioral and social science research relevant to multiple dimensions of pandemic response and other global public health crises.

For more information, contact Craig Fisher, PsyD, of APA’s Science Directorate.