Advancement and Innovation in Measurement of Language Development and Predictors (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The grant funds research to create new tools measuring language development in children, focusing on environmental factors and cultural responsiveness.
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Due Dates: November 16, 2026 (Resubmission/Revision) | February 16, 2027 (New) | March 16, 2027 (Resubmission/Revision) | June 16, 2027 (New) | July 16, 2027 (Resubmission/Revision) | September 7, 2027 (Listing closes)
Funding Amounts: Up to $275,000 in direct costs over two years, with no more than $200,000 in any year
Summary: Supports community-engaged exploratory research developing strengths-focused, culturally and linguistically responsive measures of children’s language development and its predictors.
Key Information: A Community Engagement Plan is required; clinical trials and intervention development or implementation are not allowed.
Description
This NIH R21 opportunity supports exploratory, developmental, and pilot research that expands how researchers understand and measure children’s language development and the environments that support it. Participating institutes include the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The goal is to develop strengths-focused, culturally and linguistically responsive, generalizable tools that improve understanding of language development, impairment, and their predictors.
Both conceptual research and practical tool development are within scope. Examples include dynamic assessments, culturally responsive measure validation, automated measurement, person-centered outcomes, and measures of gesture, signed language, or augmentative and alternative communication. Meaningful community collaboration must extend throughout the research process. Projects need not focus specifically on late talkers or language delay, and preliminary data are not required.
