Linguistics
The NSF Linguistics Program supports basic research on human language including syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and more, but doesn't fund clinical or applied research.
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Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: January 15, 2027 (Full proposal target) | July 15, 2027 (Full proposal target)
Funding Amounts: $6,000,000 estimated total program funding; no cost sharing or matching required
Summary: Supports basic research on human language and its intersections with cognition, computation, neurobiology, and society.
Key Information: Research primarily aimed at clinical practice, applied policy, or language-instruction methods and tools is not supported.
Description
NSF’s Linguistics Program supports basic science investigating the grammatical properties of individual human languages and natural language in general. Research areas include syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and phonology. Administered within the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, the program encourages interdisciplinary methodological and theoretical perspectives that address questions across disciplinary boundaries.
Supported research questions include the psychological processes underlying language production, perception, and comprehension; computational properties enabling fluent production, incremental comprehension, and rapid learning; and the acoustic, physiological, and neurobiological foundations of language. The program also supports investigations of language development across the lifespan and the social and cultural factors underlying language variation and change. It accepts research, doctoral dissertation research improvement, CAREER, and conference proposals.
