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Conference Grants

NIDCD recognizes a responsibility to assist in supporting scientific meetings that are directed toward research objectives clearly within the field of communication sciences and disorders.

Funds for research conference support are provided through R13 grant awards following competitive review. Applicants must obtain prior permission from NIDCD before submitting an application, per the general R13 guidelines. This prior contact with NIDCD staff also allows potential applicants to discuss programmatic and budgetary issues before preparing an application, as funds allotted for conference support are limited. In planning, applicants are strongly encouraged to consider the feasibility of submission dates, possible funding dates, and the proposed conference dates with the realization that applications may need to be revised and resubmitted.

Beginning with April 2023 submissions, NIDCD’s R13 applications will have a budget cap of $60,000 in direct costs per year. Regardless of co-funding arrangements that sometimes occur between NIDCD and other NIH institutes or centers, the budget cannot exceed $60,000 in direct costs per year. Historically, NIDCD has provided supplemental funding post award to support efforts that diversify the meeting and increase the attendance of trainees. With the increased R13 budget cap, these supplements will no longer be provided, and conference planners are expected to build these opportunities into their budgets, which will undergo peer review. Costs associated with providing expected reasonable accommodations should also be included in the application at the time of submission.

NIDCD expects all its funded conferences to create a meeting that is open to all, diverse, and inclusive. Conference grant applicants (R13/U13) must include plans to enhance diversity during the selection of organizing committees, speakers, and other invited participants, such as session chairs and panel discussants; and outreach plans to ensure a diverse pool of attendees. Though the proposed plans will not be scored individually, they will be considered in the overall impact score (see Updated Guidelines on Enhancing Diversity and Creating Safe Environments in Conferences Supported by NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements, NOT-OD-21-053). In addition, as noted in the announcement, it is expected that organizers of NIH-supported conferences employ strategies that seek to prevent or mitigate the effects of discrimination and harassment, sexual and otherwise. In 2022, NIH issued additional application requirements designed to promote safe environments at conferences supported by NIH grants and cooperative agreements (NOT-OD-22-074).

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