Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: July 15, 2025 | January 15, 2026 | July 15, 2026 | January 15, 2027
Funding Amounts: Up to $12,000 in direct costs per award (plus indirect costs); project duration up to 24 months; 25–35 awards/year; total program budget $300,000–$400,000/year.
Summary: Supports doctoral dissertation research that advances basic science in human language, including grammar, language properties, and interdisciplinary linguistics.
Key Information: Proposals to document endangered languages must be submitted to the Dynamic Language Infrastructure (DLI-DDRI) Program.
Description
This opportunity supports doctoral dissertation research improvement (DDRI) projects in linguistics. The program aims to advance basic scientific understanding of human language, including the grammatical properties of individual languages and natural language in general. Supported research areas include syntax, semantics, pragmatics, morphology, phonetics, and phonology. The program encourages interdisciplinary projects that address questions at the intersection of linguistics and fields such as psychology, neuroscience, computation, and social sciences.
Projects may address topics such as:
- Psychological processes in language production, perception, and comprehension
- Computational properties of language and language processing
- Acoustic and physiological properties of speech
- Neurobiological bases of linguistic capacities
- Language development in children
- Social and cultural factors in language variation and change
The program does not support clinical research, nor the development or assessment of pedagogical methods or language instruction tools. Proposals focused on documenting endangered languages should be submitted to the Dynamic Language Infrastructure (DLI-DDRI) Program.
Due Dates
- July 15, 2025 (Full Proposal Target Date)
- January 15, 2026 (Full Proposal Target Date)
- July 15, 2026 (Full Proposal Target Date)
- January 15, 2027 (Full Proposal Target Date)
Proposals are accepted annually on these dates.
Funding Amount
- Maximum direct costs per award: $12,000 (plus indirect costs as per the institution’s negotiated rate)
- Project duration: Up to 24 months
- Estimated number of awards: 25–35 per year
- Total program budget: $300,000–$400,000 per year
Budgets should be appropriate to the scope of the proposed research. DDRI awards are intended to improve dissertation research, not to cover all costs of a doctoral project.
Eligibility
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Who may apply:
- Proposals must be submitted by U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs), including two- and four-year colleges and universities (community colleges included), accredited and with a campus in the U.S.
- The PI must be the doctoral advisor or another faculty member at the U.S. IHE where the student is enrolled.
- The doctoral student must be listed as a co-PI.
- Doctoral students are limited to two DDRI submissions during their graduate career.
- No limit on the number of proposals per institution or per PI (advisor).
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Who is not eligible:
- Individuals (students or advisors) may not apply directly; applications must be submitted through the institution.
- Proposals for clinical research or language pedagogy are not eligible.
Application Process
- Submission platforms: Research.gov or Grants.gov
- Proposal preparation: Follow the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) and the program solicitation (NSF 20-538).
- Required documents:
- Project summary and description (10 single-spaced pages for description)
- Biographical sketches for both student and advisor
- Data management plan (max 2 pages)
- Signed statement from the PI (advisor) affirming the student’s readiness to undertake the research
- Budget and justification (direct costs only; no student stipends or tuition)
- Supplementary documents as needed (e.g., letters of collaboration, if applicable)
- Allowable costs: Research-related travel, data collection, equipment, payments to research subjects, materials and supplies, and travel to one domestic conference (up to $1,000).
- Unallowable costs: Student/advisor stipends or salaries, tuition, textbooks, advisor travel, publication costs (except in specific cases), and costs not directly related to dissertation research.
Additional Information
- Review process: Proposals are reviewed for intellectual merit and broader impacts, following NSF’s standard merit review criteria.
- Reporting: Annual and final project reports are required.
- Award conditions: Standard NSF award conditions apply.
- No cost sharing required.
- Indirect costs: Allowed in addition to the $12,000 direct cost cap, per the institution’s negotiated rate.
External Links
Contact Information