American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Federal and Private Funding Sources for Researchers

The following lists include several federal and private agencies that provide national-level funding of research in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). There are also local sources of funding, including intramural funds at your university, state funds, and local private agencies that limit funding to within their own geographic area. To maximize your likelihood of success in obtaining funding, choose a funding source and mechanism that best matches the topic, scope, and budget of your proposed research, as well as your career level. Private agencies can be good sources of seed money needed to collect preliminary data for larger scale federal funding. Several agencies offer email alerts when new funding opportunities become available; see individual agency websites for details. For grant writing tips, please see ASHA's Grantsmanship page.

Federal Funding Sources

Private Agency Funding Sources

The following table is not intended to be an exhaustive list of private funding agencies, but rather a guide to those that typically fund research in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Please check the agency's website directly for details, as eligibility requirements, funding mechanisms/priorities, and/or deadlines periodically change. If you are familiar with a private agency that supports CSD research on a national level that is not listed here, please let us know at research@asha.org.

 

Agency Career Stage Funded Scale of Funding
Pre-doctoral Post-doctoral Early-Career Researcher Mid-Career Researcher Small
(<$100K/yr)
Large
(>$100K/yr)
Alzheimer's Association
 
American Academy of Audiology Foundation
 
 
American Cancer Society
 
American Federation for Aging Research
 
American Head and Neck Society    

 

 
American Hearing Research Foundation
 
 
 
American Otological Society Research Foundation
 
 
 
American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO)  

 

 
American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation
 
American Tinnitus Association
 
 
Autism Science Foundation
 
 
 
Autism Speaks
The Capita Foundation
(auditory research)
 
 
 
Cleft Palate Foundation
 
Dana Foundation
(brain disease research)
 
 
 
Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
 
 
Foundation for Child Development, Young Scholars Program (research on development of children in immigrant families)
 
 
 
Grammy Foundation
(impact of music on the human condition)
 
 
 
 
 
Hearing Health Foundation  
 
International Dyslexia Association
 
International Essential Tremor Foundation        
 
International Reading Association
 
Knowles Hearing Center at Northwestern University
 
 
 
Little Giraffe Foundation (neonatal research)  

 

 
March of Dimes
(birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality research)
 
 
The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
(learning, memory, and other cognitive research)
 
 
 
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
 
Muscular Dystrophy Association
 
National Hearing Conservation Association
 
 
 
 
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
 
National Organization for Hearing Research
 
 
 
National Parkinson Foundation
 
 
 
National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association
 
 
Organization for Autism Research
 
 
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(health and healthcare research)
 
 

Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

 
 
The Spencer Foundation
(education research)
The Thrasher Fund
(pediatric medical research)
 
 
The Voice Foundation
 
 
 
 
 
William T. Grant Foundation
(research on the settings of youth ages 8 to 25)
 
 

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