South Asia Language Resource Center Grants Competition 2009-2010

The South Asia Language Resource Center at the University of Chicago announces a Request for Proposals from scholars and teachers of South Asian languages. The SALRC grants are intended to meet critical pedagogical needs at all levels of university instruction. The grants are intended to spur innovation in developing and presenting pedagogical tools and materials directed at South Asian languages, to promote collaborative approaches in the scholarly community, and to build upon the previously funded projects. We encourage the submission of grants with a primary or significant focus on digital tools and accessibility. Applicants are requested to follow the technical specifications precisely and closely. Any questions can be directed to SALRC.

The South Asia Language Resource Center is a collaborative effort funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's International Education and Graduate Programs Service. The Language Resource Center at the University of Chicago is one of fifteen nationwide that exist to improve the capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively. SALRC primarily focuses on the needs concerning South Asian language pedagogy in American universities.

About the Proposals

SALRC supports projects to create and disseminate new resources for teaching and research on South Asian languages. Specifically, SALRC commissions integrated course materials for language instruction, graded readers, and digitization of language reference works such as grammars and pedagogical dictionaries.

The pedagogical and linguistic approaches should be clearly defined. The proposal should include details on the nature of the materials, the approach, the plan of work including a timeline, and plan for dissemination/adoption.

The digital aspect of the project should include details on appropriate technologies used. Be certain to consult the published SALRC Technical Guidelines. SALRC hopes to provide technical consultation to the successful grantees (if needed), as well as a digital sandbox for developmental purposes.

Collaborative projects are highly preferable, since materials that have been prepared collaboratively tend to receive wider use.

The proposal will be reviewed by committee consisting of experts in language pedagogy and technology.

To better serve those submitting proposals, SALRC has posted sample grant proposals to serve as references.

Budget

Allowable costs include release time and benefits, professional fees for consultants and reviewers, technical and clerical staff including graduate student support, travel (if crucial to the success of the project), reasonable materials, and, in very special cases, equipment. After the completion of the project any equipment will remain the property of the relevant department or program in South Asian languages or studies and in no case be the property of the project director. Salary for tenured faculty members will ordinarily not be granted. Please note that there is no overhead expenses permitted to the PI's home institution on SALRC grants.

Proposal Submission Process

Please download the Grant Application below. The completed application is due to the SALRC . There is no paper application. Forms to be submitted

Deadlines

Proposal review will commence on October 1st, 2009. The final date for proposal submission is Oct 15th, 2009. SALRC expects to contact successful projects starting November 1st, 2009. It is certainly possible that reviewers will ask for or suggest alterations to your proposal and/or budget.

Further questions and concerns should be directed to salrc@uchicago.edu.

Please consult our previously funded proposals on our Awards page.