# EAGER: Gamified Behavioral Experiments for Responsible and Secure Collaboration

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Clemson University (SC) · $300,000

## Abstract

Research security mandates are being created and implemented across multiple sectors, and this creates a need for systematic and empirical insights into how these policies affect compliance and collaboration decisions of U.S. researchers. Traditional surveys fail when probing sensitive behaviors: participants doubt the provided anonymity guarantees and tend to underreport non-compliance. This project will create a gamified behavioral experiment to establish base rates for security compliance behaviors and formulate researchers’ compliance decision-making. This approach will overcome the prevalent reluctance among researchers to participate in “Research on Research Security.” The decision rules revealed via the behavioral data in this project will enhance theoretical models of human-policy interaction, offering transferable paradigms for behavioral studies in other sensitive domains. This project will establish methodological best practices and empirical benchmarks to advance the research security field. Findings of this project will help policymakers, funding agencies, and research institutions with evidence-based insights to craft adaptive security policies that preserve scientific openness while mitigating risk. This project will also train graduate students in the field of Research on Research Security.  

This project will create a novel approach that combines interviews with gamified scenario-based behavioral experiments to mitigate biases in self-reported data and to 

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2536467
- **Awardee organization:** Clemson University (SC)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** H2BMNX7DSKU8
- **PI:** Chao Fan
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** EAGER, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES
- **Estimated total:** $300,000
- **Funds obligated:** $300,000
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 09/01/2025 → 08/31/2027

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2536467

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2536467, EAGER: Gamified Behavioral Experiments for Responsible and Secure Collaboration. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-08 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2536467. Licensed CC0.

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