Grants / National Science Foundation / U.S. National Science Foundation

NSF 18-580: Documenting Endangered Languages

Closed Closed Opportunity NSF 18-580 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Major Research Instrumentation Program: (MRI) (NSF 27-500). Status: Closes January 29, 2027 (83 days left). It is in our archive of U.S. National Science Foundation notices from 2025.

• Total funding$4.8 million
• Expected awards30
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: -<ul> <li>Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) - Two- and four-year IHEs (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the US, acting on behalf of their faculty members. Special Instructions for International Branch Campuses of US IHEs: If the proposal includes funding to be provided to an international branch campus of a US institution of higher education (including through use of subawards and consultant arrangements), the proposer must explain the benefit(s) to the project of performance at the international branch campus, and justify why the project activities cannot be performed at the US campus.</li> <li>Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.</li> <li>Unaffiliated individuals: scientists, engineers or educators in the U.S. who are U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the proposal deadline are eligible to apply for fellowships.</li> <li>Tribal organizations and other American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian serving organizations.</li> </ul> *Who May Serve as PI: For SENIOR RESEARCH GRANTS: There are no restrictions orlimits. For FELLOWSHIPS: U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for fellowships. Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the proposal deadline are also eligible to apply for fellowships. Applicants can be affiliated with an institution or be an unaffiliated individual. Applicants need not have advanced degrees. Individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible to apply. Applicants who have satisfied all the requirements for a degree and are awaiting its conferral are eligible for DEL Fellowships; but such applicants need a letter from the dean of the conferring school or their department chair attesting to the applicant’s status as of the DEL deadline listed in this solicitation. This signed letter should be uploaded in FastLane as a “Supplementary Document”.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Most of the money in the 3 programs behind this notice (83% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

This funding partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports projects to develop and advance knowledge concerning endangered human languages. Made urgent by the imminent death of roughly half of the approximately 7000 currently used languages, this effort aims to exploit advances in information technology to build computational infrastructure for endangered language research. The program supports projects that contribute to data management and archiving, and to the development of the next generation of researchers. Funding can support fieldwork and other activities relevant to the digital recording, documenting, and archiving of endangered languages, including the preparation of lexicons, grammars, text samples, and databases. Funding will be available in the form of one- to three-yearsenior researchgrants,fellowships from sixto twelve months, and conference proposals. Note: a conference proposal should generally be submitted at least a year in advance of the scheduled date of the conference. For additional information about creating and submitting conference proposals to the DEL program, please refer to Chapter II. D.7 of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, NSF 27-500, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.