The Linguistics Program under the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation offers Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grants to support fundamental research in linguistics. These grants are designed to enhance the quality and impact of dissertation research conducted by doctoral students at institutions of higher education in the United States. Research areas covered include syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, phonology, and pragmatics. The program encourages interdisciplinary projects that integrate theoretical and methodological perspectives from fields such as cognitive science, psychology, computer science, and anthropology. However, it does not fund clinical research or projects focused on language instruction methods.

Eligible applicants for this grant include accredited two- and four-year institutions of higher education in the United States, which must apply on behalf of their doctoral students. Each proposal must have a principal investigator, who is typically the student's faculty advisor, and a co-principal investigator, who is the doctoral student. There are no restrictions on the number of proposals a faculty advisor may submit over their career, but doctoral students are limited to two submissions during their graduate studies. Additionally, proposals involving international research must justify why the activities cannot be conducted at a U.S. institution and should explain the benefits of conducting research abroad.

Funding for the program ranges from three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand dollars per year, with an expected twenty-five to thirty-five awards annually. Each awarded project can request a maximum of twelve thousand dollars in direct costs, excluding indirect costs, and projects can have a duration of up to twenty-four months. These funds can be used for research expenses such as travel to field sites, data collection, specialized equipment, research participant payments, and conference travel for presenting preliminary findings. However, funds cannot be used for stipends, tuition, advisor travel, or publication costs.

Applicants must submit full proposals through Research.gov or Grants.gov following the guidelines in the National Science Foundation Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. Required components include a project description of up to ten single-spaced pages, biographical sketches for both the student and advisor, a data management plan, and a budget justification. A signed statement from the principal investigator affirming the student's readiness to undertake the research is also required. Letters of recommendation and transcripts should not be included.

The evaluation process follows the National Science Foundation's standard merit review criteria, which assess proposals based on intellectual merit, or the advancement of linguistic knowledge, and broader impacts, or societal contributions. Applications are reviewed by panels and ad hoc experts, and funding decisions are typically communicated within six months. Successful proposals must clearly define their research questions, theoretical framework, methodology, and expected contributions to the field.

Deadlines for submission occur annually on January fifteenth and July fifteenth. Prospective applicants should ensure that they comply with all requirements and contact program officers for further clarifications. More information, including submission guidelines and review procedures, is available on the National Science Foundation website.